Anyone have anything they'd like to rant about?

[jackstraw]

We immediately knew the garage door had been opened, because we were in the house: no app needed. The only thing that would have helped last night is a smart opener that disables the system during certain hours, unfortunately a video camera wouldn't have done much good other than giving us a better view of the thieves stealing my bikes.

That blows. Sorry to hear that.

My wife was told by a coworker not to keep the garage door opener in the car. I had never even thought about it before. Wtf. We just removed ours a few weeks ago.

Thieves suck.

[Roxtar]

I am not advocating violence or someone lose their life over a bike, but if a stranger is in my garage and looking me in the eye....I am at least grabbing a pick axe out of instinct and chasing them. If I had something else in my hand...it would be tough in that moment to be calm.

My dogs are not very scary and wouldn't scare anyone away.....but lets just say I don't advise someone opening my garage door in the middle of the night.

Exactly. It's not about losing the bikes.
Those fuckers broke into your house while your family was there! Your wife could easily have been face to face with someone she shouldn't be. That could have gone very very badly.
When someone asks why I own a firearm, I tell then its due to literacy. I can read the news.

[nickwm21]

drill a hole in the door so they could pull the emergency release,

I removed the rope off the e pull on my garage for this exact reason….



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[frorider]

Thieves suck. Our two cars live in the garage (along with 9 bikes) but the Alltrack doesn't have a programmable door opener rear view mirror like the Subaru, so on the rare occasions when the Alltrack is parked outside I move the garage remote to an even less visible location. Seems like I've been hearing stories of that kind of theft for 20+ years now. It's like the 'don't crush your bikes on the roof rack when you drive into the garage' lore that's part of bike culture.

While we're on the garage door topic, seems that many don't consider that the manual disconnect pin (usually a T handle on a 3 ft cord) gets activated easily by thieves with a broom handle or anything long and thin -- stick it in above the top of the roller door. So remove that plastic handle & tie a big knot. Or shorten the cord.

[El Chupacabra]

Do any of you have special insurance coverage for bikes, skis, whatever other outdoor gear that's pricey? Curious what that kind of special endorsement costs in addition to a standard homeowner policy - or if it's ever really needed in practice.

[Foggy_Goggles]

It is very difficult to make an electronic garage door opener secure. They are easy to hack. I went down this worm hole when it happened to one of my customers. Short of padlocking the door, the best option is the "lights and horns" style of home security.

Getting thieves on camera is limiting. Cops often don't investigate or even if they do and find the perm, you are unlikely to get your stuff back.

Oh and about the guns and home protection. Just remember, training aside, you need to be prepared to shoot someone if you go that route.

[smmokan]

Do any of you have special insurance coverage for bikes, skis, whatever other outdoor gear that's pricey? Curious what that kind of special endorsement costs in addition to a standard homeowner policy - or if it's ever really needed in practice.

I think they're just covered under most standard HOI policies...

[Canada1]

What do the cops do if they don't go after this sort of thing?

A visa worker in town for Vail stole my identity and took out some loans. I was able to figure out who, because a bank worker broke rules and let me know where the money went, and it was to his moms account in South America. The local cops gave me a flyer about what to do in a case of ID theft. I literally hand delivered them a felony arrest, and they gave me a flyer.

If the cops aren't spending time going after what is probably a $30 K theft based on his builds he sells here, what are they doing? Seriously, I care alot more about someone going into peoples houses and taking stuff, then a rolling stop, or five over the limit or expired tags, or cyclist not stopping at stop signs, or idling violations, I see the local cops enforcing every day around here.

I guess thats why it's a rant thread. Now I'm awanting to go all vigilante on bike thieves!!

[skaredshtles]

<snip> or cyclist not stopping at stop signs

In a number of states, this is legal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop

[smmokan]

What do the cops do if they don't go after this sort of thing?

A visa worker in town for Vail stole my identity and took out some loans. I was able to figure out who, because a bank worker broke rules and let me know where the money went, and it was to his moms account in South America. The local cops gave me a flyer about what to do in a case of ID theft. I literally hand delivered them a felony arrest, and they gave me a flyer.

If the cops aren't spending time going after what is probably a $30 K theft based on his builds he sells here, what are they doing? Seriously, I care alot more about someone going into peoples houses and taking stuff, then a rolling stop, or five over the limit or expired tags, or cyclist not stopping at stop signs, or idling violations, I see the local cops enforcing every day around here.

I guess thats why it's a rant thread. Now I'm awanting to go all vigilante on bike thieves!!

FWIW in my case (this happened in Boulder County), the police seem to be taking it more seriously than I expected. They had an officer at my house within 10-15 minutes after it happened, they came out the following morning, and I received multiple follow-up phone calls yesterday as well. That said, bike theft happens so often these days that my guess is the investigations are mostly going through the motions with very little success. Personally, I'm not expecting them to catch anyone, and I doubt I'll ever see those bikes again.

[toast2266]

If the cops aren't spending time going after what is probably a $30 K theft based on his builds he sells here, what are they doing? Seriously, I care alot more about someone going into peoples houses and taking stuff, then a rolling stop, or five over the limit or expired tags, or cyclist not stopping at stop signs, or idling violations, I see the local cops enforcing every day around here.

The problem is the bike industry is in the shitter and bike values are so low right now that this theft was just a misdemeanor.

I kid. This obviously sucks.

But I think the bar for the type of crime that gets actual detective work is pretty high. The clearance rate for property crimes is usually pretty low. Like 15% are solved, and I'd guess a healthy percentage of that 15% is from criminals that are so dumb that they basically caught themselves. Police departments are on a budget, and I'd guess it just doesn't really pencil out to throw a bunch of resources at low 5 figure thefts. Seems reasonable to assume that the thieves are also very aware of this.

So in the meantime, cops document the crime and file the paperwork away, so every once in a while when the stumble across a bike theft ring they can build a better case against whoever they catch.

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[Touring_Sedan]

Even if the video evidence doesn't help you get your bikes back it gives ammunition to the prosecutor when these assholes eventually get caught. If they can link the thief to several thefts they're significantly more likely to get jail time and not just a slap in the wrist.

[singlesline]

My personal bike theft+cop experience was pretty lackluster.

Bike was stolen from inside an apartment so it was a full on inside-home "burglary" (rather than a "larceny" of a bike getting pulled off a rack or something). I didn't expect much cop involvement like a CSI squad dusting for prints...but they at least took info and assigned a detective. That's what you'd need to make your insurance claim or whatever...seemed fine.

The bad part was when my bike turned up again. Local shop owner (of a sort of messenger/fixie/community shop) saw it for sale on a private facebook group in the hands of someone he knew had some previous involvement with stolen bike parts.

Cops wouldn't do shit. Despite being a 1-off full custom frame with distinctive paint/build (that the shop owner immediately recognized as something this kid shouldn't have and was able to track me down and alert me)...how could they know it was the same bike? Not enough info to go on. Zero interest in investigating further, talking to the bike shop to confirm this is 100% the bike, etc. So that lead just fizzles out.

A while later...frame shows up again for sale on facebook, this time on some public groups. Campy groupset and wheels are gone, but it has still got one brake and a fork that has been chopped to within an inch of its life (guy was a lot smaller than me). Surely now the cops will assist in recovering this stolen property? The detective will jump at the opportunity to help a citizen AND bump up his burglarly clearance rate without having to do any actual detective work, right?

Nope. Cops will not help to arrange a transaction/set a trap/etc. Their suggestion is to meet the seller, confirm the bike is actually mine (again...it is 100% mine), find an excuse to step away and then call 911 and hope they will actually send me a patrol car to assist...WTF? That's your suggestion? Tell an ordinary citizen to meet up with a potential criminal, then call the police, and hope you can stall long enough for them to bother to show up?

I did end up getting it back myself with no help from the cops, but the whole situation left me pretty pissed off. I could have had it back much earlier and with $$$ in parts still attached if they had been willing to do the most basic parts of their job.

Good luck with the process smmokan--most likely just an insurance claim, but there IS a chance, and I'd hope that Boulder cops are willing to do a little more leg work.

[nickwm21]

Meh…. Any defense lawyer with a pulse could walk right around some shitty Ring Camera footage…

I too am surprised the police are actually giving smmokan the time of day. In most jurisdictions; only violent crime is actually investigated. Everything else is just documentation…


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[rideit]

In a number of states, this is legal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop

i’M A sOvErIeGn sHiTiZEn!!

[nickwm21]

I didn’t know the Idaho Stop was a named / legal thing in places. I did that in Chico CA and was pulled over on my bike and ticketed.


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[smmokan]

The problem is the bike industry is in the shitter and bike values are so low right now that this theft was just a misdemeanor.

Due to the value of the bikes, I was told it's felony burglary.

[toast2266]

Due to the value of the bikes, I was told it's felony burglary.

Oh, definitely. I was just making a joke. The threshold in most states is $1,000.

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[rideit]

On my to do list: update detailed pictures of all of our bikes, with serial #, descriptions of components, upgrades, and make a spreadsheet type thing.
Receipts if possible, etc.
Non of our good bikes are remotely stock, this could be extremely helpful to recover true replacement value, especially if you have not-obvious upgrades (Luftkappe, PUSH shock, etc, etc).

Also a good excuse the check tire sealant, tire pressure, brake pad wear, etc. on all of them.

[jackstraw]

Meh…. Any defense lawyer with a pulse could walk right around some shitty Ring Camera footage…




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How does that work? Just not a clear enough video?

This happened a couple months ago which was a bright spot. I thought about hiding a gps tracker on my bikes.

https://pajaronian.com/stolen-bikes-found/

[sfotex]

I thought I had a major rant in the making:

So I got a set of chinese carbon wheels with DT 350 hubs for $150.
The rear one was cracked, but the seller had a warranty rim with it, so I was like great deal if you can relace a rim + the hubs are worth it

So I got it home and realized its one of the rims without spoke holes in the rim bed. I figured it was going to be the biggest pain in the ass to deal with.

Messed around with it last night, there was a little bit of trial and error getting the magnet and magnetic bit in the nipple setup, but it went pretty smooth after that.
I started off with some tiny bolt threaded in the nipple, but the thread was too long and it caused the nipples to 'capsize'. I cut off a small piece of the thread with a dremel and threaded that into the nipple.
That way when the magnet picked it up it was oriented correctly and clicked into the spoke hole in the right orientation.

Definitely got better at it in the end, but I had the new rim laced up in a few hours. I don't think I would buy a rim like this vs. a regular one all things equal, but
it wasn't really as bad as I though it would be

(insert Murphy's law of bike repair here)

Kind of like building a ship in a bottle or something.

[Dantheman]

In a number of states, this is legal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop

As it should be. You aren't allowed to blow stop signs with impunity and still have to yield ROW. Since bikes have no blindspots and travel at low speeds treating stops as yields is entirely appropriate.

[skaredshtles]

As it should be. You aren't allowed to blow stop signs with impunity and still have to yield ROW. Since bikes have no blindspots and travel at low speeds treating stops as yields is entirely appropriate.

Yup - agreed on all counts.

And then we can tell whiny drivers complaining about a biker they saw going through a red light to STFU.

[nickwm21]

How does that work? Just not a clear enough video?

The quality of the standard consumer WiFi camera is not great. The thief has to be like <10’ away, moving slow, face towards the camera, in light, etc… for you to actually see who they are let alone lead to an actual positive ID….


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[evdog]

I too am surprised the police are actually giving smmokan the time of day. In most jurisdictions; only violent crime is actually investigated. Everything else is just documentation…

I'm sure that is the case in a lot of places but sometimes there are cops who do take it seriously. Much more likely when it is a break in to a home than a vehicle or a locked up bike that was stolen though.

A friend of mine here in SD had her bike stolen off the car bike rack at a grocery store a few years ago. She tracked it down on CL and called police. They set up a sting where she met the seller, and once she confirmed it was her bike they arrested the guy. He was convicted and was sentenced to 27 months in jail (no idea how many he actually served). Probably an unusual case but shows you can get their attention at times.

I've posted this before but keep an eye on all the marketplaces and all geographic areas using a single search using Searchtempest.com. My friends bike showed up on San Francisco CL even though it was still in SD.