What Happens to Stolen Bicycles? • Hacker News Board

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#121

Post by simba-hiiipower » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:05 PM UTC

elliottcarlson wrote: post #110

simba-hiiipower wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

considered drugs in this case, but couldn't figure out how that would work; how would you prevent theft (from your would-be customer)?

there’s no conceivable way i can think of to present a drug for someone to ‘check-out’ without enabling that person to steal it..

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#122

Post by zurn » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:06 PM UTC

moe wrote: post #115

zurn wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, the department store bikes are garbage, but you can get a perfectly good brand name basic city bike for well under $1000. Bikes mass is marginal compared to your body weight especially if you're average weight. A basic bike is 34 lbs and you are 175 lbs. And the weight only makes a big difference when climbing hills. You're much better off losing a few pounds of fat than spending a few grand to get 10 lbs off t…

And the weight only makes a big difference when climbing hills For most people the weight makes the biggest difference when climbing stairs (with the bike on your shoulder).

Ah, heh. I can't imagine doing that... would get mud, snow and grease all over even if I could be bothered with all the wrangling.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#123

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:06 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #83

pavel_lishin wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A pair of low-res cameras - one pointing forward, and one pointing upward - would result in some fantastic shots as well. (Though there may be privacy and legal concerns.)

With recent circuit sizes we could all turn our bikes into wheel powered google cars. distance sensors front,back,driver cameras automatic brakes gyroscope balancer whatever ...

I think a bike is already a gyroscope balancer. And I do not want my bike to put on the brakes for me - that seems like a great way to send me flying into whatever obstacle it detected.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#124

Post by defen » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:07 PM UTC

monkeyfacebag wrote: post #3

The "risk" as described here seems to account for only single incidences of bicycle theft. Seems like the more professional the bike thief, the larger the inventory of stolen bikes, thus the greater the penalty for being caught. Given that the value of stolen bikes on the market is relatively low, this might explain why there is no bike thief kingpin: at a certain point the risk exceeds the reward. As an aside: I am…

Kidnapping is a capital crime in some jurisdictions.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#125

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:08 PM UTC

kevinalexbrown wrote: post #77

It makes sense that large-scale operations are common in locations with a big bike scene. These will likely require a distribution network, so fighting bike theft might benefit from focusing on infiltrating those networks. I had a friend who bought a bike lock that was insured against any thefts (whether they were quick with the insurance, I don't know). When he went to register it, he saw that there were two excepti…

> Likewise, delegating to underlings to sell the bikes also seems too risky, as several people now know about the enterprise.

It seems to work for drug dealers.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#126

Post by agumonkey » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:09 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #123

agumonkey wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With recent circuit sizes we could all turn our bikes into wheel powered google cars. distance sensors front,back,driver cameras automatic brakes gyroscope balancer whatever ...

I think a bike is already a gyroscope balancer. And I do not want my bike to put on the brakes for me - that seems like a great way to send me flying into whatever obstacle it detected.

Right but it can only do so much. I was just wondering how far could we go, a foot driven segway ?

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#127

Post by seany » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:12 PM UTC

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…

"- Police in the greater Vancouver area have had a lot of success with bait cars, but I'm not aware of bait bikes being used more than experimentally"

I know Santa Clara PD has (is?) using bait bikes to some extent. AFAIK the units themselves are made by pegtech.com .

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#128

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:13 PM UTC

wtvanhest wrote: post #117

pavel_lishin wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friend who was transferred out of the holding tank into jail actually said it was much nicer once he was processed, and assigned a cell.

I wish I had an extra $10k so I could pay you to get arrested and go to jail for 5 days to see if you would actually agree to it.

I do, too - I think I have five vacation days saved up, and I could use the $10k.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#129

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:14 PM UTC

jlgreco wrote: post #58

mynameishere wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Booby traps are usually illegal.

Would that really be a booby trap though? Both sound more like (funny) anti-theft devices, since neither are intended to maim.

It depends on where the brakes locked up. This could easily toss someone tumbling into traffic.

Re: What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?

#130

Post by lmm » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 8:14 PM UTC

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.

There's always a choice. Maybe you'd've taken a different job - or maybe that job would've relocated somewhere more accessible.

(I don't believe in "punitive" taxes on cars, but I do think gas should be taxed enough to cover the cost of cleaning up its CO2/other pollution, and the resulting money spent on doing that).