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Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by cush on Sunday March 06, 2022 @09:04PM (#30583402)
One of the better ways of preventing the theft of a bike in a city (aside from bringing it indoors), is to use an old, junky, beater bike. The Yerka’s unique design is an absolute thief-magnet that’s begging to be stolen.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by zw123456 on Monday March 07, 2022 @01:27AM (#30584763)
When I was in college, I didn't have much money, like a lot of us when going to school, so I bought a beater bike at a garage sale for $5. It was a 3-speed type with big tires back before that became cool. The security mechanism was not only that it was ugly, but the 3-speed shifter mechanism was messed up and the pedals only worked if you had it just so between 2nd and 3rd gear, sort of halfway in between, otherwise the pedals would slip if you stood up on them or put much pressure on them. I never locked it. I would just put it in 1st gear and walk away. On campus I don't think anyone tried to swipe it except I noticed a few times it was laying on the ground instead of the bike rack. One time I went to the 7-11 just to grab a soda and while I was in there I hear a scream outside. I went out and saw my bike laying on the ground and some guy hobbling away grabbing at his groin. My friends would ask me "how can you ride that thing" and I would say, very carefully.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by djmips on Monday March 07, 2022 @01:47AM (#30584879)
Where I live, your bike would still be stolen. Bike thieves here don't generally ride the bikes they steal, they ride their own bike and kind of hold the stolen bike with their other hand and tow it along. Also they would steal any bike.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by zw123456 on Monday March 07, 2022 @01:56AM (#30584918)
Ya, I heard in some big cities now days they drive around in trucks with bolt cutters and grab the bikes and toss them in the back of the pickup and are gone in seconds.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by dddw on Monday March 07, 2022 @04:46AM (#30585882)
I've witnessed that happen to my own bike. Seems to happen in university cities where lot of student have bikes.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by eloisant on Monday March 07, 2022 @03:53AM (#30585586)
Where I live it's not the fancier bike that gets stolen, it's the easiest to steal.

If they can flip it for $10, so be it! They're not going to find the customer who accepts to put $500 in a quality stolen bike anyway.

Also, sometimes people steal a bike just to use it for a few kilometers then throw it in a ditch when they no longer need it.

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by zw123456 on Monday March 07, 2022 @07:27PM (#30595099)
ya, just like on the internet, crooks go after stuff that is the easiest to crack usually.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by bipson on Monday March 07, 2022 @07:46AM (#30587097)
I had a bike like that (quote a friend of mine after borrowing it for someone else: "That bike is plain dangerous!") stolen after I left it on a bike rack on the sidewalk for a few days, since I needed it out of the flat. And it was locked - but with a flimsy lock.

The best deterrent I found? No air in the tires. Bike will remain there for weeks.

Had a loved bike stolen from me on the bus stop since I had no time to lock it. My brother found it in the schoolyard on his way to work with empty tires (tube lost air very slowly).

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by glandium on Sunday March 06, 2022 @11:54PM (#30584351)
A friend of mine had an old junky beater bike, with a fancy new lock. He once found the bike where he left it... but, I shit you not, the lock was gone! (that was > 20 years ago)
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by tromp on Monday March 07, 2022 @02:36AM (#30585151)
In my younger days, I would sometimes consider a combination lock on a bike as a nice puzzle to solve. If I managed to unlock it, I would reattach it in an obviously different place to let the owner know they need a lock upgrade.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by Gigachad on Sunday March 06, 2022 @11:29PM (#30584230)
My favorite method was the guy who doesn't lock his bike at all and just sticks airtags on it and when it goes missing, calls the police who recover the bike and collect the thief

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-fn0yCdqHg

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by tgsovlerkhgsel on Sunday March 06, 2022 @11:43PM (#30584300)
Assumes police that gives a shit (and has the resources to give a shit).
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by numlock86 on Monday March 07, 2022 @03:31AM (#30585455)
Be careful with that. Depending on where you live this can be seen as "incitement for robbery" (or whatever the correct term is) which is a crime in itself at some places even.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by chrischen on Monday March 07, 2022 @04:00AM (#30585636)
Boo, this is victim blaming. Is this actually a real crime? Or are you referring to when police do it?
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by bluGill on Monday March 07, 2022 @08:24AM (#30587417)
In some places. If in yours start complaining to local politicians. Ideally with a group of people.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by rlpb on Monday March 07, 2022 @11:44AM (#30590026)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrapment

Read up for yourself, but I don't think that merely leaving a bike unlocked would be entrapment in any jurisdiction. The law generally requires something more, like a police officer inviting someone to go steal a bike for them.

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by couchand on Sunday March 06, 2022 @09:22PM (#30583515)
A friend clarified this strategy for me the other day... Apparently you walk a fine line between beater not worth the effort to take and assumed abandoned and so fair to strip.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by cush on Tuesday March 08, 2022 @07:54PM (#30609634)
It’s easy to tell an abandoned bike from one that’s in use. Abandoned bikes become rusty, tires are deflated, they get kicked over, etc etc.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by _jstreet on Monday March 07, 2022 @05:48AM (#30586263)
You're basically saying "don't own something nice if you don't want it stolen".

More needs to be done to tackle bike theft. Be that education, physical deterrants (cameras, good quality bike lockup locations, etc).

I've had a bike stolen, and the police can do nothing. A bicycle is small, easy to disassemble, relatively low-value, and they are untraceable items.

A car is higher-value, but more easily traced than a bike - due to a large number of factors; size, colour, shape, insurance/legal documents to prove ownership, ANPR cameras, etc.

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by dazc on Monday March 07, 2022 @06:09AM (#30586383)
> A bicycle is small, easy to disassemble, relatively low-value, and they are untraceable items..

I once followed a bike thief to his home, phoned the police explaining what had occurred and that I am stood outside his house right now.

Nothing happened.

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by cush on Monday March 07, 2022 @11:49AM (#30590086)
No, I’m actually basically saying, don’t leave expensive bicycles unattended.

If you want to choose a bike based on theft resistance, a cheap one is much better than the Yerka.

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by hallway_monitor on Monday March 07, 2022 @06:26AM (#30586501)
A better strategy for this and other problems might be "don't live in a city".
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by dotancohen on Monday March 07, 2022 @08:59AM (#30587838)
Then you need a car or motorcycle, not a bicycle, to get to the place you were trying to go to.

That said, I live in a small village myself.

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by dan-robertson on Monday March 07, 2022 @08:41AM (#30587598)
I’m not sure how true this is. I think in general thieves steal things they can easily sell rather than things that are expensive. I would guess one could more easily sell an ordinary looking bike than a fancy looking one but maybe it can be converted into valuable easily sold parts or it just isn’t that hard to sell.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by cush on Monday March 07, 2022 @10:18PM (#30596053)
> in general thieves steal things they can easily sell rather than things that are expensive

I’m not following your logic. An expensive item is much easier to sell than a cheaper one. Easiness to sell is correlated to value.

Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by loeg on Tuesday March 08, 2022 @08:02AM (#30599397)
Value on the legal market is distinct from value as a stolen item.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by cush on Tuesday March 08, 2022 @08:09PM (#30609770)
So? How does that support your argument? Even a black market operates as a market. If the value of an item increases, demand will increase, all else equal.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by dazc on Monday March 07, 2022 @06:06AM (#30586358)
Sadly, this is the answer to many of the problems of modern life. Having nice things just isn't worth the hassle anymore.
Re:Yerka bike uses frame as lock by cestith on Monday March 07, 2022 @09:22AM (#30588113)
Did you recently have kids?