What Happens to Stolen Bicycles? • Hacker News Board

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#41

Post by blacksmith_tb » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:29 PM UTC

slurgfest wrote: post #8

If the price of bikes hadn't gone through the roof within the last 20 years there wouldn't be so much incentive to steal them. As it is you can hardly buy a new bike for less than $800 at most shops. Even if I could attach a weatherproofed Macbook to a pole with a U-lock, it would still be really unwise to do so. This is a pitiful commentary on our society and law enforcement

Hmm, as a dedicated bike commuter I am almost inclined to agree, but I can't really get that excited about property crimes when rates of violent crime have been decreasing.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#42

Post by andrewtbham » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:31 PM UTC

My experience has been most bike thieves are kids. It's a training in a way for car thieves. They chop the bikes up, and paint them, then ride or sell them. bikes are a valuable commodity in bad neighborhoods cuz lots of people can't afford cars and public transportation might not take them where they need to go.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#43

Post by ketralnis » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:31 PM UTC

pilsetnieks wrote: post #36

dmm wrote: post #10

Cities should levy a bike tax and use it to fund some snipers that shoot assholes who steal bikes.

Although I believe that summary executions are in bad taste, I want to point out that, au contraire, the tax should be levied on car owners (to encourage cycling).

Not everyone can choose to bike instead of drive. When my driving commute was an hour longer than it is now, such a tax would not have encouraged me to cycle instead.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#44

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:32 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #28

agumonkey wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 casu…

Sometimes I don't see a reply link on certain comments; clicking on the direct link for those comments, though, shows me the "reply" button.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#45

Post by ketralnis » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:33 PM UTC

rosser wrote: post #35

dmm wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

And what happens when an owner who lost his key gets shot for cutting his own lock?

Call me crazy, but I'm going to guess that the sniper suggestion was in jest.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#46

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:33 PM UTC

brk wrote: post #25

agumonkey wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 cran…

Isn't this something that would be trivially bypassed by passing a big spark through the frame? Burn out all electronics, without harming the rest of the bike.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#47

Post by markbnine » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:35 PM UTC

If Goldman Sachs didn’t have more profitable market inefficencies to exploit, they might be out there arbitraging stolen bikes.

Funny how no explanation is needed for this line. Goldman Sachs (and hence, Wall Street) is now the poster child for risk-free crime.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#48

Post by laserDinosaur » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:38 PM UTC

I've always wanted to buy a cheap bike and create a quick release bolt on the rear wheel that unspools as the wheel turns. I figure the culprit could get 3 or 4 revolutions before the back wheel falls off. Or maybe attach a length of wire to the front brake cable that wraps around the rear axel. Suddenly the wire snaps tight and yanks the front brakes. I figure it would make a good youtube series. My main fear is being stabbed to death by an angry bike thief...

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#49

Post by karpathy » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:41 PM UTC

One of the links hidden away in the article is actually quite amusing: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/opinion/bike-thief.html?_r... It is a video if a guy stealing a bike a few times with saw/crowbar etc. (Except it's actually a hidden camera setup and it's his bike. Spoiler alert: Many people walk by, noone cares)

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#50

Post by JonnieCache » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 6:43 PM UTC

rosser wrote: post #35

dmm wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

And what happens when an owner who lost his key gets shot for cutting his own lock?

We did that a couple of times with a mains-powered angle grinder and a mini generator. In the middle of the afternoon, in a shopping street. Got some funny looks, I can tell you. Nobody said anything though. Certainly didn't get shot.