someone ripped off my front headlight while i was at work on friday. my bike was parked at the rack in from of the carnegie lib in oakland. it was there when i got back from lunch at 3 and not there when i got off work at 5.30
i have one major gripe:
i probably helped give this person free stuff from the library.
f you, you g d a hole, whoever you are
It seems like more bikes are being stripped today than in the past.My cousin and and a neighbor's bike was also stripped within the past 2 weeks.My bike was also stripped a month ago in Shadyside.You were lucky that's all was taken.My front headlight,bike pump and 2 sets of panniers were stolen.When I ride in the future,and have to get off the bike, I will make sure to keep it in sight.
i remember reading about your incident. that really sucks, especially when you are obviously depending on the items that have been stolen.
the front light was the only thing that could have been stripped without a tool. im gonna be sure to keep my bike in the hidden and video-taped employee bike parking space from now on.
That's why I keep a yard of electrical tape wrapped around my light. Doesn't prevent it from being taken, but would slow them down and make the thing uber sticky. Also makes the brand name harder to see, if that makes any difference.
bike tamperers are scum. My list of stolen items:
2x clip on rear fenders
5x rear blinkies
2x expensive-ish front lights
thanks for the suggestions stu, but i generally only have one light that gets shared regularly between the 3 or 4 ponies i use most from the stable. i should have just taken the 2 seconds it woulda taken me to pop the darn thing off.
im going to chalk this one up to my ignorance and bike tampering scum. next time the light's comin with me...
My list of stolen items include a handlebar bag, two frame pumps, a few lights. I've taken to stripping the bike of all these liftable things when I walk away.
I don't feel bad for you at all. It takes 2 seconds to remove the light and slip it into your pocket when you get off the bike.
youre right, and if you looked above your post you would see i said the same thing. thanks for your support!
D'oh! I skim a lot when reading.
I feel bad that anyone has to strip their bike every time they get off it, and that there are assholes out there that feel that anything not locked down and sometimes stuff that is locked down is theirs for the taking.
You can spout shoulda woulda couldas all day, but in the end, it sucks.
^ what he said.
It's funny, back when nobody in Pittsburgh was riding bikes, I never worried about having stuff stolen off my bike.
That said, maybe this is a way to get some lights to all the ninja in Oakland.
For all the people who ride without lights it's a wonder anyone bothers to steal them.
^
hahahahaha
they are probably for raves. i bet somewhere deep in a basement there is one guy with about a thousand blinkies (all synchronized, of course) jammin to techno music with a huge smile on his face...
i think hes going for something like this
It used to be that kids from up near Trees Hall would go past the racks at Pitt and just pull lights off to use as flashlights. I've seen it happen.
Last time I had a light stolen, it ended up the next day on the handlebars of the homeless guy in Oakland who rides a bike. He stalked me for a few creepy months after I mildly confronted him about it. Yesterday, he had a great pair of matching expensive-looking lights. I bet he'll have a new light when the batteries wear out.
I make sure that my name is written on my lights. If the same thing happened again, I would not confront him, but I would insist the police do something.
Mick
