The indignity of the snow bound bicycle

Wheel bent beyond use by some passing knob or an overzelous snow plow and a vulgar sticker slapped on the crooked seat.  Poor, poor bicycle.

Super motivated jackass bike thieves

Think your bike is safe locked in your car?  Think again.

SF resident Alexandra had her bike stolen from inside a locked car, inside a locked garage in the Dogpatch neighborhood by a man/woman duo.  They were caught on the garage's camera.

It is a 54cm white and pink Specialized Dolce.  If you see it, reply to this Craigslist ad.  

You've got to be kidding me

Somebody stole Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's bicycles.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090112/ap_on_fe_st/odd_presidential_bikes_stolen

Whoever this is stole bikes from:

a) a couple of great grandparents
b) a Nobel Peace Prize Winner
c) a guy who, if he wasn't so damn nice, could have the thieves sent to Guantanamo

Better give 'em back man, and maybe wash them and lube the chains first.

Photo from Wikipedia

Bike theft - I've got a plan

Bike thieves suck. However, unless we can institute sharia law, they're probably not going away. I've been thinking about the issue of bike theft since someone I know just had her brand new hybrid bike (and child seat) stolen right out of her employer's building. Tell me, what kind of loser steals a woman's bike with a child seat? Somebody who didn't get enough love and attention from mom, that's who.


Craigslist is great. However, it also serves as a giant flea market which makes the movement of stolen bicycles easier. It also allows the recovery of stolen goods as the listings are searchable and viewable by anyone. Just take a look at this example of a stolen Guru Tri Bike that was recovered by browsing Craigslist.

Here's my plan: make Craigslist the ultimate stolen bike recovery tool, or at least take it out of the thieves toolbox by requiring posters to include a picture and/or the serial number of the bike. Here's the message I just sent to Craigslist through their feedback form:

Craigslist is a great tool for selling bicycles and bike parts, but can also be used by thieves to sell stolen equipment. Why not make this impossible (or at least harder to do)? Can you make it a requirement that each bicycle ad must contain a picture of the product (making it easier to identify stolen goods) or require that each bike ad post the serial number of the bike (discouraging thieves)? This last option would dovetail nicely with the Stolen Bicycle Registry website here: http://www.stolenbicycleregistry.com/

Thanks!

Think about it, maybe send some feedback of your own. Write down the serial numbers of your stuff, register your bike, take photos and save them, engrave your initials on your bottom bracket. Thieves are stupid, exploit them for it. Link to this post, pass it on, be part of the solution!

Photo taken by me at the Truckee Tour de Fat

Scene of the crime

You'll never believe what I found on my commute home tonight. I was riding through an industrial (to put it politely) section of Redwood City, CA and saw something funny against a chainlink fence as I rolled into a left hand turn. I went back to check it out and discovered a cross frame, painted silver, blending into the fence backdrop leaning there. I picked it up. It had clearly been rattle-canned and had lots of paint chips and a piece of masking tape stuck over one of the headset races. It was tig welded, and a decently built frame. The rear brake cable was routed on the top tube and it appeared that some braze ons had been ground off the seat stays before the last low tech paint job. No head badge was present, but it looked like there was a blue paint job hiding under there. I looked around and spotted a wheel under a tree and went to check that out. A steel rim with a Velox rim strip and a French looking quick release. I'm no crime scene investigator, but I suspect fowl play. I couldn't bring it home with me because I was on my bike, but I held it up to my 58cm frame and figured it was about a 56. Email me at paul -at- nippleworks.com if you want to go check it out.

Now for the low res cell phone camera shots: