Advanced Theft Prevention and a Fun Video!

Here's a nifty lil video that goes into some of the basics of theft prevention:

Working at a shop in a high-theft-rate area that's been burgled several times, I've had a lot of opportunities to talk with police and do my own research into how bike thieves work. I've also had a very fancy bike stolen myself, so I know it can happen to anyone, not matter how much prevention planning you think you've done. This video is a good primer, but if you really want to keep your bike from getting jacked, there are a few more tricks to keep in mind.

 Know your bike thieves. There are basically 2 types of bike thieves: opportunists and pros. If you follow the rules of the video above, you'll be safe from opportunists. For this article I'm going to focus on protecting your bike from professionals. To save yourself from a pro, you need to know how they work, and their main tool is preparation.

Pros stalk. If you get hit once by a pro, you'll probably get hit again. At the shop I used to work at about one in ten bikes would get stolen within their first couple months of ownership. In these cases the bike was somewhere secure, like a garage or a storage closet, but it either got broken into OR they waited for the vic to open the garage for work then snuck in while it was closing. The shop I used to work for got hit a few times and one of the groups went as far as to put plastic cups over the motion detectors the day before. Just like robbers, professional bike thieves do their research and know your habits.

So knowing that if you buy a new bike there is a good chance you've been spotted by the local thief what do you do? For starters, ride the bike home if you can. Thieves like to hang out in their cars by shops and wait for a good target with a nice bike to follow home, but bikes are hard to follow in a car without looking completely obvious. Also, if you can't have your bike in the house or apartment with you, vary where you put it. Closet one day, garage the next, locked to the fence in back- keep the thief guessing. And even if you keep your bike indoors, lock it up. There was a story a while back about a cycling coach that would learn where his clients kept their bikes by coming over for house visits, then break-in while he knew his customers were away. A simple bike lock would foil that, though your computer might not be so lucky.

Know where to lock your bike. Whenever you park your bike for the night, think about what that area will look like at 4 AM. That brightly lit subway station might just be spotlighting your bike once everyone has gone to bed. Sometimes that dark, shadowy nook between buildings is the perfect place. Bonus points if you can lock to something off the ground. It's harder to operate lock-cutting tools if you have to worry about the bike falling down on you as soon as you cut it free. Again, don't park in the same place every day. Thieves thrive on dependability.

Don't lock up to wood! In the video they say a tree is a bad thing to lock to, but they don't say why. The main reason is that you might damage the tree's bark, but wood is an awful thing to lock to anyway because it can be cut through so easily. This applies to wooden porches and stair banisters too. In the former's case the thief just needs to unscrew it and there ya go, no need for power tools or noise.

Also, don't park your bike in public for more than a day. There is a special grey area of bike thievery that I call reCycling. reCyclers look for abandoned bikes to scavenge, which is at best a victimless crime. But there is a bold line between abandoned and waiting that reCyclers sometimes overlook.

Know your bike locks. Not all U-locks are good and not all chain-locks are bad. In general, if you live in a big city you need to invest at least $75-$200 in your bike lock, regardless of your bike's value. Buy it at an authorized dealer too so they can save your lock's serial number in case you lose the key. Here's a pro tip: get a weird lock. Professional thieves practice on the most common locks in their area, so if you get something bizarre that a thief has no experience with, he'll likely move on to something he's done before. Abus makes a good weirdo lock called to Bordo.

Invest in accessories. I LOVE my Pinhead lock-nuts. I honestly think everybody in Chicago, or any city, should invest in good component locks. There are a few companies out there who make special component fasteners that need a key to turn, but I think Pinhead is the best for the money. Sometimes I lock my bike by just the wheels, such is my confidence in Pinhead lock-nuts.

If you're tech savvy, invest in a hidden GPS. This is a great way to reduce bike theft for everybody because it doesn't prevent theft, it catches thieves after they've committed their crime. Busting one good thief can save society tens of thousands of dollars in stolen goods and wasted time down the line. I'm a fan of the BikeSpike because it disguises well.

You don't have to spend money to secure your bike components though. An old trick is to take a used single-speed chain and connect it around your saddle rails and frame. Most people wrap it in an old tube to prevent scratching, but I like the look of electrical tape.

Register your bike. The way a lot of bike thieves work is they steal for a while until they have a good collection of bikes, then they truck them off to a new market and sell them all at once. If the thief gets caught in the meantime the police will raid their house and catalog everything they find and check the serial numbers with online databases. Also, reputable pawn shops and re-sellers check serial numbers too. I've had one bike returned to me but I've also had a bike show up at a re-seller market in Colorado, unfortunately the seller caught wind and escaped with the stolen merch.