Oh man -- Yale, sorry to hear about your bike!
2012-11-09 02:55:56
22
"Bike Thefts in City on Pace to Reach Record Number"
http://sports.yahoo.com/video/bike-thefts-city-pace-reach-000300907.html
Glad to see that the news is reporting on this.
It seems that they always show people riding on sidewalks (did they make you do that, becca?.. though i think you were actually riding over to the rack that you have to ride on the sidewalk to get to.. and thanks for looking happy on your bike!)
I wonder if Yale had his bike stolen during the challenge and still managed to win?
2012-11-09 01:39:52
Ha, did you post this on Craigslist? I just clicked on it from there.
I don't think anyone in that entire video had their saddle at the proper height, my knees hurt just watching. 
2012-11-09 02:57:55
2012-11-09 04:03:06
yale rode the neighborhood ride during bikefest on a crappy specialized crossroads. it happened to be the same frame as my commuter, which i'd bought over ten years ago, and upon my commenting he said he was forced to ride that because his was stolen. so yeah, i think his bike was stolen during the challenge.
2012-11-09 07:31:43
Ha! Are bikes really being "chopped up?" "Hey man, I got a shipment of hot derailleurs!" Also, what did Scott say "without a doubt" in relation to?
2012-11-09 16:52:24
Pierce: He asked if people actually thought I was sexy with that scruff on my face.
2012-11-09 19:12:59
Oh. I was thinking perhaps you meant that you had no doubts. About anything.
2012-11-09 19:17:02
@scott:He asked if people actually thought I was sexy with that scruff on my face
Paging Erok...I sense a new front-page poll.
2012-11-09 19:20:09
I seem to recall a thread where someone warned other cyclists of this. Seems he was spot on.
Goodness I just read that thread and someone even called him chicken little. Wow.
2012-11-10 16:25:59
Interesting the only moving bikes in the story were on sidewalks.
2012-11-10 16:43:52
buys mountain bike
rides on sidewalk
2012-11-10 19:23:38
Hm.
I'm curious if there are more bikes in the city now than in the past?
More bikes = more thefts = consistent theft rate?
2012-11-12 02:15:49
I'm with ALMKLM on that...
2012-11-12 02:36:54
Might be that the camera person only thought to look for bikes on the sidewalk. Plus, they're usually moving slower.
2012-11-12 05:32:21
what's it matter if the "rate" is higher if more bikes are stolen. One can also say that since our population has stayed about the same that the rate per person has gone up.
2012-11-12 15:13:56
I kept saying this over and over and over again in the interview: "Even though there may be a higher NUMBER of thefts, we don't know if there is a higher RATE of thefts. In other words, if there are 5000 more bikes in Pittsburgh this year than last year and there are 50 more thefts then in actuality is it actually a lower rate of theft than before? We don't know."
They chose to not quote me on that as it didn't fit their story that the NUMBER of thefts is rising.
2012-11-12 15:23:48
Yes, Yale's bike was stolen in June from the rack at Trader Joe's. He was without wheels for a few days, but finished the Endomondo Pittsburgh Bike Challenge on another bike, and won first place. His prize:
I told him he could start locking his bike to it.
2012-11-13 19:37:57
For a high crime zone, tips on how to lock a bike (video from NYC): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryY-qMFLcfo
That video recommends locking everything that can be removed: front wheel, seat, panniers, light, pump, water bottle, ... and shows how to replace bolts that use standard hexagonal allen wrenches with pentagonal ones! To me, some of these precautions seem extreme for Pittsburgh.
What I used to do when I lived in Berkeley CA (very high bike theft rate) was remove my front wheel and then lock frame, rear wheel, and front wheel to a pole with my Kryptonite lock. I just got in the habit of doing this all the time.
I haven't been doing that in Pittsburgh. But if my bike were not 20 years old, and if it looked more desirable to thieves, I might resume.
2012-11-13 19:58:11
@gg
The thread in question neglected to point out how bicycles were stolen, if I recall correctly.
As far as I know, no properly locked bikes have been stolen, which I'm assuming is why somebody referenced chicken little because the bikes in question in that thread were not properly locked.
2012-11-13 19:59:52
Doesn't matter Pierce. Bottom line is a fellow cyclist was trying to convey, lock you bike well because bikes are being stolen. That being said, just lock your bike because theft is going on. Not that big of a deal. Just realize you can't throw your bike on a rack with a Walmart lock and expect that to be enough. These things feed on each other. Just play it safe is all.
Anyway, as cycling increases theft will increase because bikes become a target. Not rocket science.
2012-11-13 22:11:17
“You allegedly steal someone's bike and, uh, it looks like there was some street justice carried out"
(warning: contains graphic photo)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/keith-kirk-alleged-bicycle-thief_n_2145616.html
2012-11-17 17:13:00