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A comment on I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief. Parent comment

Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by aigo on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @03:24AM (#29390083)
We have had this level of professionalism in London for some time now. It's not necessarily true that you must ride an older, uglier bike, though this will work.

All that is needed is to be the least stealable bicycle in the rack. In my case this means two locks of different kinds. It's a big deterrent and they will move on to other, easier targets.

If you can avoid being the lowest hanging fruit, you will probably be alright.

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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by mcv on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @04:10AM (#29390329)
Professionalism in bike theft isn't so much about tools, but about organisation. Professional bike thieves will have a van, load it up with exactly the bikes they already know they can sell, and drive their load to the other side of the country (if your country is small like Netherland, that is), and sell them there. Or maybe sell them in a different country.

I've noticed that sometimes more expensive bikes simply don't get stolen while cheap ones do. I assume that's because of an easier market to sell them. There was a period when my son's children's bikes got stolen all the time, while my far more expensive cargo bike wasn't, despite it being only locked with a ring lock, and no chain. But of course a kid's bike is also much easier to pick up, and it had a very light lock.

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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by aigo on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @04:39AM (#29390472)
That's really interesting and completely the opposite to here.

In London, most stolen bikes are expensive (or expensive-looking) and they are primarily resold within London.

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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by Freak_NL on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @04:24AM (#29390405)
In the Netherlands they won't attempt to sell them here. Too much risk with frame numbers etched in and other ways of marking it. The safest bet is to move them out of the country on the day they steal them; way out to Eastern Europe.
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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by pmontra on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @03:52AM (#29390237)
Another tip: lock your bike close to more expensive ones.
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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by techdragon on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @05:21AM (#29390677)
This is the bike theft version of “I don’t have to outrun the bear/tiger, i just have to outrun the slowest other person.”
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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by usrusr on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @08:27AM (#29391834)
> All that is needed is to be the least stealable bicycle in the rack.

So true. Many people seem to imagine bike locks as an arms race between owners and thieves, but it's an arms race between owners and other owners. The role of thieves in that arms race is more like that of a judge than like that of a participant. Well, unless they refuse acting in that role and just pick up the entire rack...

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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by spicybright on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @01:55PM (#29395935)
Off topic, but this reminds me of that bit from Trailer Park Boys where they steal a rack. So good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODIkw4MAeVg

(language warning if you've never seen the show)

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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by zimpenfish on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @12:28PM (#29394763)
Yeah, if I lock mine up anywhere in London (even in workplace bike stores), I always use three (different) locks. Faff and heavy to carry but, touch wood, no-one has stolen a bike of mine yet in 20 years.
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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by fy20 on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @03:56AM (#29390258)
I had a bike stolen 10 years ago from an underground garage, they just ignored the locks and cut through the rack
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Re:I became the internet’s most notorious bike thief by spicybright on Tuesday November 30, 2021 @01:54PM (#29395912)
Had 2 stolen so far, cut the bike lock off. I buy my bikes around $50 each or fix up side of the road ones. Basically disposable, given that I enjoy the process of fixing.
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