Author Topic: I wish there was some way to Encrypt my bike so it won't be stolen (Read 18,320 times)

patteo · « **on:** December 14, 2006, 03:31 PM »

Lost two (old) but good quality mountain bike over the last few years.

So I thought the best solution was to buy a cheapo bike. Got one at a Hypermart that was about US$50; good enough for a quick ride to the local train station. Surely nobody will want to steal a US$50 bike. But for a good measure, I went looking for a good lock; didn't want to buy a cheap job from one of the emerging economies.

So I bought a lock with a specially hardened steel chain - EU made so I was told - but at US$20, I thought it was OK - strong enough to deter the average crook since it was about 40% the cost of the bike.

Today, yikes, I discovered how bad my statistics were.

Someone swipe the bike in broad-daylight and it was chained to a big metal pole. Maybe they had a bump key.

It's not going to break the bank - but it is downright frustrating, trying to beat the bike thieves.

Looks like I need to buy another US$50 - no maybe US$40 bike and protect it with a US$120 lock.

So let me see - the lock is about 300% of the bike. Maybe they will steal the lock instead - but I may have no choice. I hate to be buying another bike every other month.

Anyone can recommend a good lock - maybe a Kryptonite U lock

http://www.kryptonitelock.com/inetisscripts/abtinetis.exe/PublicArticleFind@Public

I know. I know, they had a real shocking problem not too long ago but I think they got their act together again - I hope.

Kryptonite Evolution 2000 U- Lock hacked by a Bic pen - Engadget
"Kryptonite Evolution 2000 U- Lock hacked by a Bic pen"
http://www.engadget.com/2004/09/14/kryptonite-evolution-2000-u-lock-hacked-by-a-bic-pen/

Any suggestions/sharing of experience is most appreciated.

Redhat · « **Reply #1 on:** December 14, 2006, 04:59 PM »

Is an armed personnel guarding the bike 24/7/365 a viable option for you?

Jokes aside.. I am sorry to hear this.. some people don't realise the effect their actions have on others. I believe f0dder lost his bike too (am I right f0dder??

). I don't cycle much so can't suggest a solution.. but I offer my sympathy

Ruffnekk · « **Reply #2 on:** December 14, 2006, 06:24 PM »

Where I live in Holland, its quite normal to have your bike stolen once a month. And I wish I was kidding. But then again, the general policy is too just steal someone else's *G*

mitzevo · « **Reply #3 on:** December 14, 2006, 06:30 PM »

Even if you encrypted your bike I'm sure it would *still* get stolen

Only, they wouldn't be able to ride it

mouser · « **Reply #4 on:** December 14, 2006, 09:13 PM »

lol all replies

Gothi[c] · « **Reply #5 on:** December 14, 2006, 09:41 PM »

Quote

Where I live in Holland, its quite normal to have your bike stolen once a month. And I wish I was kidding. But then again, the general policy is too just steal someone else's *G*

This is true, in Belgium (Holland's neighbor)it is the same way.
This is NOT a joke, after getting his bike stolen many times, a friend of mine decided to report it to the police. The police officer said, "oh just go steal yourself a new one at the station, there's plenty there." In Belgium bicycles are like public property nowadays, if you need one you just grab the first one you see. I also had my bike stolen many times, I also tried to go to the police with it once, because it was a particular expensive one, but they just laughed at me pretty much. They told me to go check out the 'found property' once a month where you can get one for free if you just say it's yours, and that was pretty much it.

Deozaan · « **Reply #6 on:** December 15, 2006, 05:09 PM »

Yikes that's scary news. I've heard of people (in the USA) that bought really nice bikes but just wrapped them up with Duct Tape so they looked old and falling apart, and those bikes never got stolen.

Can't say that would work in a country where the police tell you to just steal someone else's.

mouser · « **Reply #7 on:** December 15, 2006, 05:36 PM »

Gothic, rofl

f0dder · « **Reply #8 on:** December 17, 2006, 05:12 AM »

Yup, my (locked) bike was stolen in broad daylight, and I was only away from it for an hour.

Had to buy a new one, since otherwise I'd have no way to get to work (no public transportation going on at four in the morning, and ~12km was too long to walk) - so I borrowed some money from my girlfriend and got a nice new bike. And finally got my act together and signed up for some insurance.

Now the funny part... after a month or so, I got a letter from the police, they had found my old bike. Still in good condition, only the saddle was ruined and it was a bit dirty. And still locked. Pretty weird stuff. But it's nice enough having an extra bike, in case my new one gets stolen >_<

As for police laughing at you, I once turned in a wallet with money in. The police officer asked me if I was stupid since I hadn't grabbed the money myself... I'm pretty sure the owner of the purse got his purse and credit cards etc. back, but I'm also pretty sure mister cop had a 'bonus' that month.

app103 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 17, 2006, 09:00 AM »

I have had 2 bikes stolen over the years...both from my basement.

The first one was an old vintage 10 speed from the 70's made by KIA (yeah, they make cars now)
It was locked and chained to a pole. They took the bike and left the lock.

The second one was really weird...

Someone stole our snow shovel...then 6 months later they returned it and took a bike...

They stole my husband's brand new 10 speed racing bike and left a falling apart one in its place...without a front wheel and the back tire was flat. It wasn't a complete theft...it was an unauthorized trade.

Funny that they never seem to want my expensive 12 speed mountain bike with the hideous double basket contraption on the back.

But someone did steal the milk crate that was attached to the basket thing...and the bungee cords that were holding it in place.

jgpaiva · « **Reply #10 on:** December 17, 2006, 10:01 AM »

@app: there are some strange robbers in your residence area, i see

@fodder: that's sorry to know, policeman should be honest people, at least as long as they are on duty

cranioscopical · « **Reply #11 on:** December 17, 2006, 10:57 PM »

Quote

f0dder: I once turned in a wallet with money in. The police officer asked me if I was stupid since I hadn't grabbed the money myself... I'm pretty sure the owner of the purse got his purse and credit cards etc. back, but I'm also pretty sure mister cop had a 'bonus' that month.

Good on you for your honesty. Nowadays, too many are willing to debase their personal integrity for a handful of dollars!

f0dder · « **Reply #12 on:** December 18, 2006, 11:57 PM »

Quote from: cranioscopical on December 17, 2006, 10:57 PM

Quote
f0dder: I once turned in a wallet with money in. The police officer asked me if I was stupid since I hadn't grabbed the money myself... I'm pretty sure the owner of the purse got his purse and credit cards etc. back, but I'm also pretty sure mister cop had a 'bonus' that month.
Good on you for your honesty. Nowadays, too many are willing to debase their personal integrity for a handful of dollars!

Well, sorry to say, but that incident did chip my integrity. If I found a wallet today, I would take the money before turning it in... I would still make sure to turn it in at a police station though, to make sure somebody with even lesser moral fibre wouldn't abuse credit cards etc.

mouser · « **Reply #13 on:** December 19, 2006, 06:48 AM »

you know it's always productive to look for isomorphisms between different domains.

if we ask, what would it look like to "encrypt" a bike, a novel idea comes to mind..

you see how some people remove the seat from their bike and take it with them so that no one can steal and ride away with their bike. but a downside is you have to carry the seat around with you.

well what if instead of carrying the seat with you, you just "scrambled" the bike parts, by making a bike where you could easily swap the seat for the handlebars, and lock them in place. seems to me because they are build in pieces of the bike you could make some very strong locks that would lock the pieces in place and make the bike not very useful to a thief..

cranioscopical · « **Reply #14 on:** December 19, 2006, 02:42 PM »

Quote

mouser: if we ask, what would it look like to "encrypt" a bike, a novel idea comes to mind

You can be its spokesman and peddle it!

app103 · « **Reply #15 on:** December 19, 2006, 02:44 PM »

Quote from: cranioscopical on December 19, 2006, 02:42 PM

You can be its spokesman and peddle it!

pun intended?

cranioscopical · « **Reply #16 on:** December 19, 2006, 04:36 PM »

"You can be its spokesman and peddle it!"

Quote

app103: pun intended?

Yes, both of them -- I can hear the groans from here!

vixay · « **Reply #17 on:** December 26, 2006, 12:14 PM »

Quote from: jgpaiva on December 17, 2006, 10:01 AM

@app: there are some strange robbers in your residence area, i see

@fodder: that's sorry to know, policeman should be honest people, at least as long as they are on duty

Actually they should be honest, even when off-duty. The have higher powers compared to civilians and thus should have even better integrity than the normal folk.

Anyway my bike was stolen while in Chicago too, was an $80 bike, had it for a week, had a cheapo $20 cable lock, was locked in front of dorm room, gone the next morning. Didn't buy another though.

...

I have a cool new mtb now $300 gary fisher wahoo '07, and i keep it in my room

, no more parking outside and letting it out of my sight, learnt my lesson. It sees a lot of action once a month at least (www.bangkokbikehash.com).

Anyway I'd read a few articles online about locks, sounds like good advice.
http://www.slate.com/id/2140083

But the bottomline is to a dedicated thief most bike's aren't a problem.
The key is to make your bike harder to get to and look less attractive that the bikes around it... one of the other posters had the right idea, duct it up and all that. One more thing i remember our campus had was Bike registration, maybe your police station or something has a program like that? If not you can still try and see if you can get it implemented, that way at least if it is ever found you can be contacted.

And you know the usual advice, don't park in seedy areas ...etc. Take your bike indoors and park it inside if possible? I have managed to drag my bike indoors in some places and leave it there...

On the more creative side you can also try putting stickers on your bike like:
"This bike has a GPS locater", "God will hurt you real bad if you steal this bike here", "There is a time bomb in the bike tubes"...

On another freaky note, I've heard that in India when bikes get stolen, they chop it up and use the smooth barrels to create temporary impromptu pistols... scary stuff

masu · « **Reply #18 on:** December 26, 2006, 12:23 PM »

Unfortunately the video link is down. Does anyone know an alternative link for this video?

http://www.engadget.com/2004/09/14/kryptonite-evolution-2000-u-lock-hacked-by-a-bic-pen/

tomos · « **Reply #19 on:** December 26, 2006, 04:59 PM »

I used live around the corner from a market where you could order a bike of your choice -
& they would have it for you within the hour - while I was then less upstanding than i am now, that was just taking things too far ..

Re locks - i dont think theres any that hold out for long - it's a bit like virus & antivirus etc.