Some how bike stealing seems to have tremendous sentimental/symbolic value attached it ... the woman talking about her kid's bike reminds me of Ladri di biciclette [The bicycle thief].
What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
21–30 of 356 posts
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
it's very common for the US to export scrap metal back to China (or any number of manufacturing countries)-- http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/13/business/china-s-need-for-...
When I was younger, I worked for a company that exported cardboard back to China.
I've heard that was a very lucrative business for a while.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#23Cities should levy a bike tax and use it to fund some snipers that shoot assholes who steal bikes.
How would the sniper be supposed to distinguish the robber from the owner?
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#24Cities should levy a bike tax and use it to fund some snipers that shoot assholes who steal bikes.
How would the sniper be supposed to distinguish the robber from the owner?
The thief is using a battery powered angle grinder to remove the u-lock. The owner uses a key. The snipers will be well trained to distinguish between the two.
Hmm. Maybe this would be a good application of unmanned drones?
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would love for someone to do a long form sting. Install gps on 10 bikes and follow them as they get stolen and passed around.
I now have napkin designs of just this. I got hit by what seems to be some kind of paradox: old casual bikes are targeted more often than expensive flashy ones.
Me too. Especially of it were a factory installed option. You could probably encapsulate the electronics in one of the frame tubes, which would mean it would be welded in to the bike. Impossible to detect casually, and nearly impossible to easily defeat without destroying the bike itself.
Given the ratio of hours ridden to power draw of a small tattletale device, you could probably put a couple of magnets on the crank assembly (inside the tube the connects the crank to the frame), along with a couple hundred coils of wire and create a very nice charging circuit. It might take even 100 hours of riding to build up an initial charge, but I'm guessing that would be no problem in a typical scenario, even if it took 2 weeks to get there.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#26I've heard rumors that lots of stolen bikes are exported on container ships leaving the US. The argument is that the shipping is basically free, since most ships are carrying large deliveries to the US and are empty on the return trip. Does anyone know if this is fact or fiction?
I was at a Wal-Mart in Shenzhen China and noticed a lot of used bicycles. I couldn't explain why they stocked used bicycles. Could have nothing to do with what you're saying, or they could have been stolen bicycles from somewhere else. In the US, bicycles sold at retail stores like Wal-Mart are new. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyatkinson/392577801/
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#27This is an area where a disruptive technology is due. Imagine if even 10% of bikes had technology that wirelessly sends out GPS coordinates or can identify the owner via an embedded RFID tag. Suddenly stealing bikes is not nearly as risk free and the incentive to participate is greatly reduced.
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would love for someone to do a long form sting. Install gps on 10 bikes and follow them as they get stolen and passed around.
I now have napkin designs of just this. I got hit by what seems to be some kind of paradox: old casual bikes are targeted more often than expensive flashy ones.
For a reason I can't reply to you brk but I used the same ideas.
My last question was about communicating openly or not about it.
- Openly would make robber aware and probably come up with attacks
or blocking means, but that would surely render their activities
a lot more complicated. Could be mass-produced.
- Secretly a few people would have it and use it as bait, and
authorities being aware of the scheme would casually catch robbers
later. No mass-production
Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?
#29This is an area where a disruptive technology is due. Imagine if even 10% of bikes had technology that wirelessly sends out GPS coordinates or can identify the owner via an embedded RFID tag. Suddenly stealing bikes is not nearly as risk free and the incentive to participate is greatly reduced.
...assuming that thieves will actually be punished.