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What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

blog.priceonomics.com

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Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#101

Post by samstave »

alanfalcon wrote: post #73
laserDinosaur wrote: post #48

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 bei…

This brings to mind Alan Turing's bicycle in Cryptonomicon: "So Turing can leave his bicycle anywhere and be confident that, if stolen, it won’t go more than a fifth of a kilometer before the chain falls off." The whole passage (it relates eventually to Enigma and Cipher Text) is a good read: http://www.euskalnet.net/larraorma/crypto/slide18.html Of course, the whole book is a good read, so skip the link and head to…

Any pics of this mechanism?

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#102

Post by daveman »

sixQuarks wrote: post #11

Does anyone actually use priceonomics.com? I'm sorry, but I don't find the service useful at all. They come up with viral blog posts all the time, but the service is not actually something that I would use.

When I was looking to buy an Aeron chair, I used it to learn the range of market prices, and even was able to negotiate the seller down with the information from the site. I wouldn't have been able to get such a comprehensive view (in any reasonable amount of time) by just reading through CL. So yes it has been pretty useful to me.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#104

Post by brokentone »

mrclark411 wrote: post #7
lallysingh wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not terribly hard to find out -- the bike generates its own power, and is run outside. A few bikes with GPS and call-home device (powered by the bike) would draw traces to their destinations pretty quickly.

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.

Agreed. I would fund this on Kickstarter, such stings should be positive externalities in the metro they are set up in. I wonder if there have been any sting initiatives on Kickstarter thus far and what laws would allow for (it's been done before, to catch a predator, anyone?)

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#105

Post by mootothemax »

frankus wrote: post #81

Bike theft seems like one of those quality-of-life crimes (like graffiti and coercive squeegee-monkeys) that's begging for some kind of creative enforcement strategy. - If there's an open-air bike market at 7th and Market, it seems like you could use some of the same strategies that have been used to shut down open-air drug markets. - Police in the greater Vancouver area have had a lot of success with bait cars, but…

I think the problem is not catching the bike thieves, more that the punishment given for stealing bikes is minimal, so it's not worth the police doing much about it.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#106

Post by dasil003 »

ketralnis wrote: post #43
pilsetnieks wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Your commute is over an hour? Man, I had a 45 minute commute once for a few months and I vowed never again.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#107

Post by justincormack »

mseebach wrote: post #87
lallysingh wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not terribly hard to find out -- the bike generates its own power, and is run outside. A few bikes with GPS and call-home device (powered by the bike) would draw traces to their destinations pretty quickly.

A bike doesn't generate it's own power. An in-hub generator is rather expensive and thus rare, so might serve as a hint to the sophisticated thieves to check the bike for the phone-home device.

I doubt they would think of it. Mind you they should sell those generators with GPS included, sealed in. I would buy one.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#109

Post by Retric »

enraged_camel wrote: post #60
Jun8 wrote: post #55

I think a useful tactic to curb loss of expensive bikes would be to legally target the people who buy them, these are the people that cause the market to exist and perpetuate the situation. My guess is that most of these people are not crooks, i.e. they are just young people who want to but can't afford a nice bike and they know exactly what they are buying. I don't understand anything about bikes so can't give an ex…

How can you tell if a bike you are buying is stolen? It would be pretty easy for a bike thief to post an ad on Craigslist saying they are selling their used bike. >>Tangentially, and pardon my ignorance, I'm not a biker: I can't understand people who shell out thousands of dollars for a bike, are these so much better than a $500 one? It makes a huge difference. More expensive bikes are built from lighter and stronger…

I would argue it's often more about falling into the same trap as 'audiophiles' as it is about direct benefits. Few people notice the added weight from drinking 2lb of water but people spend hundreds of dollars shaving 1/10th of that from their bike.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#110

Post by elliottcarlson »

simba-hiiipower wrote: post #100
elliottcarlson wrote: post #76

There is a bike seller in Manhattan who uses an interesting system in reselling his (more than likely) stolen bikes. Once a buyer contacts him via craigslist, he finds out the persons general vicinity, brings the bike to the area and locks it up with a combo lock based chain. He will give you the address of the bike, and if you like it, can make the purchase online and you receive the combination. If you don't want i…

interesting; i’d say that's pretty damn brilliant. then again, if the risk of being caught (and punished) is as low in NY as it appears to be in SF, that seems like a bit of an overkill; wonder what the scale of his organization is..?

This same concept was debated within the realm of drug trade - which obviously is at a different risk level. With special compartment style locks on a chain, the same concept is possible - without a dealer having to ever interact directly with the buyer. Same concept can also exist for hiding information (whistle blowers hiding a SD card with data, a key, who knows what).

I don't know about SF, but it is not uncommon to see just a bike chain hanging on a post - it just fits in to the environment and no one will notice someone just walking up and taking their chain with the right combination.

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