A Dragnet for Pee-Wee • Hacker News Board

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#31

Post by streptomycin » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 8:34 PM UTC

Camillo wrote: post #22

Let's say a bike would normally last you ten years, but it gets stolen every two. Each time you buy a new one. Therefore, there are now five as many bikes as needed. But then, why isn't the market saturated? How can it sustain such a high churn rate? It seems to me that bike thieves need a way to get bikes out of the market, too. They can do it in two ways: by hoarding bikes ( http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/FO…

But then, why isn't the market saturated?

Because the price isn't fixed. If you dump a whole bunch of bikes on the market, you'll have to lower your prices to sell them.

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#32

Post by andrewtbham » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 8:34 PM UTC

Makes me think of this:

25. A Craigslist competitor. Craiglist is ambivalent about being a business. This is both a strength and a weakness. If you focus on the areas where it's a weakness, you may find there are better ways to solve some of the problems Craigslist solves.

http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#33

Post by marquis » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 8:43 PM UTC

I'd propose another feature: you can upload a picture of your stolen bike (make one now!) and crowd-source finding a match. Like others have said here: even if one person finds their bike on this service it's worth it. I've had bikes and bike parts stolen all over the world and I won't buy another one as I can't keep it indoors where I live at the moment. This service won't make me change my mind to buy another one but I might spend a few minutes a week comparing bike pictures as a good samaritan.

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#34

Post by msrpotus » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 9:20 PM UTC

nym wrote: post #25

thaumaturgy wrote: post #19

Looks like HN is cranky this morning. I like it! A bike used to be my primary means of transportation back in the Bay Area, and I used to pay for good ones. Every single one of them got stolen. Every one. The last one I owned had a state-of-the-art lock on it, so the thieves cut the bike rack . People that don't rely on a bike seriously underestimate what it means to a bike owner when their bike is stolen; to a lot o…

Have you ever tried putting a GPS in your bike? http://www.gizmag.com/spybike-gps-tracker/22999/

Or just buying a cheaper bike on the assumption that you'll need to get a new one sooner or later?

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#35

Post by msrpotus » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 9:23 PM UTC

streptomycin wrote: post #31

Camillo wrote: post #22

Let's say a bike would normally last you ten years, but it gets stolen every two. Each time you buy a new one. Therefore, there are now five as many bikes as needed. But then, why isn't the market saturated? How can it sustain such a high churn rate? It seems to me that bike thieves need a way to get bikes out of the market, too. They can do it in two ways: by hoarding bikes ( http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/FO…

But then, why isn't the market saturated? Because the price isn't fixed. If you dump a whole bunch of bikes on the market, you'll have to lower your prices to sell them.

Also, people need new bikes. Bikes break, people want a new bike, people stop riding and just store their bikes, and people whose bikes are stolen need new bikes. Neither supply nor demand is absolutely fixed.

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#36

Post by digisth » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 9:37 PM UTC

More private garages that accept bikes would go a long way towards mitigating the problem. They've just started appearing here in NYC (the muni garages are/were free, but maintenance and sanitation seemed like major issues) so I've started using them. I've been using Parkfast (http://www.parkfast.com/) for about 6 months and have been very happy with them. Your bike gets some protection from the elements too. $20/month

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#37

Post by Natsu » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 9:47 PM UTC

Weird. The story with the YouTube video of the bike theft sting has apparently been taken down for violating the YouTube ToS.

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#38

Post by subsection1h » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 9:53 PM UTC

thaumaturgy wrote: post #19

Looks like HN is cranky this morning. I like it! A bike used to be my primary means of transportation back in the Bay Area, and I used to pay for good ones. Every single one of them got stolen. Every one. The last one I owned had a state-of-the-art lock on it, so the thieves cut the bike rack . People that don't rely on a bike seriously underestimate what it means to a bike owner when their bike is stolen; to a lot o…

    [...] I used to pay for good ones.
    Every single one of them got stolen.

When I didn't work from home, I biked to work. None of my bikes were stolen. But they were folding bikes that I carried indoors. ;-)

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#39

Post by pmahoney » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 9:56 PM UTC

msrpotus wrote: post #34

nym wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever tried putting a GPS in your bike? http://www.gizmag.com/spybike-gps-tracker/22999/

Or just buying a cheaper bike on the assumption that you'll need to get a new one sooner or later?

I don't know how it is in "nicer" climates, but where I am, my commuter bike has gradually accumulated various things:

- taillight which I don't bother to remove

- expensive headlight which I do remove when parked (but I leave the mounting bracket)

- pedal straps (a must, in my opinion, for safe riding in traffic; feet slipping off pedals can mean a crash)

- thorn resistant tires

- stronger wheel (I'm above-average height and not fat, but the cheapo wheels kept getting bent)

- fenders to reduce splashing in the rain

- rack to hold saddle bag

The bike itself is rather old and worth less than $100. All the accessories add up to maybe another $400. So, I do have a cheap bike, but it's still not so cheap to replace, and doing so is a rather big time commitment.

Re: A Dragnet for Pee-Wee

#40

Post by cjfont » Tue, Oct 16, 2012, 10:05 PM UTC

I've always thought that bicycles should have a standard ID number similar to how vehicles have a VIN (a BIN maybe?). This would go a long way in allowing victims to search for their bike in a registry, and also allow buyers to confirm the bike they're buying from some flea market wasn't nabbed the week prior somewhere. To me this would be the first step no-brainer to helping discourage this kind of theft.