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Boneheaded biker of the day award?

Repack

Turbo Monkey
Nov 29, 2001
1,889
0
Boston Area
So I'm in Boston this morning. I'm wlaking back to the train station on my way home when I see a Seven Duo on a roof rack. Full '04 XTR, discs, SID World Cup. What the hell was this person thinking??? The rack was an older Thule "jaw" style. Bikes are easy to rip out of those. Not to mention the fact that I can open a Thule lock with a scredriver almost as fsat as with the key.

Stupid people. I have no sympathy for people like that. Trusting a $6,000 bike to a $2 suitcase lock? :confused:
 

punkassean

Turbo Monkey
Feb 3, 2002
4,561
0
SC, CA
Transparent said:
people like that have money to spare. if it got ripped off I bet they'd go buy a new one the next day
no more likely, if it got ripped off he'd either

a) quit riding (or at least not get another bike because to say he quit riding is to imply he ever actually rode) and get into some other cool "Xtreme" sport like river boarding or whatever's next.

b) try to sue Thule for making an "unacceptable" rack that was grossly incompetent in upholding it's duty to secure his bicycle...or some crap like that anyway

c) claim it through his insurance and over estimate the value and use the money to invest in Haliburton and further his getting rich at other peoples expense mentality.
 

Kornphlake

Turbo Monkey
Oct 8, 2002
2,632
1
Portland, OR
I keep my bike on my thule rack with the suitcase lock. Of course that's just when driving from home to trailheads, and a couple of minutes running into the 7-11 for a powerade. Isn't leaving any high end bike unattended locked or not kind of stupid??? Really it only takes one 5mm allen wrench to dismantle most of the bike, so you didn't get your frame stolen, wow, instead you lost a $1200 fork, a $70 stem, a $70 saddle, a $65 seat post, a $15 quick release seat binder, $75 shifters, $60 handlebar, $10 grips, $70 derailur... it all adds up to a lot of money you can grab with just one wrench in just a few minutes time.
 
Feb 14, 2004
831
0
SoCal
yeah, I've always wondered how fast most of these bike "supposedly" locked down would get jacked. The wheels are easy unless you lock those, but then you lose your brakes shifters, everything cornflake said.
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
Kornphlake said:
I keep my bike on my thule rack with the suitcase lock. Of course that's just when driving from home to trailheads, and a couple of minutes running into the 7-11 for a powerade. Isn't leaving any high end bike unattended locked or not kind of stupid??? Really it only takes one 5mm allen wrench to dismantle most of the bike, so you didn't get your frame stolen, wow, instead you lost a $1200 fork, a $70 stem, a $70 saddle, a $65 seat post, a $15 quick release seat binder, $75 shifters, $60 handlebar, $10 grips, $70 derailur... it all adds up to a lot of money you can grab with just one wrench in just a few minutes time.

Thats a pretty determined theif!
 

Repack

Turbo Monkey
Nov 29, 2001
1,889
0
Boston Area
Too few people realize just hoe easy it is to break a bike lock. ANY cable lock can be chewed through in a matter of seconds when using either cable cutters (faster) or Diagnal cutters (just a little slower). Any U-lock with the key hole at the end of the bar can be broken with a pipe short enough to conceal in you pants or under a shirt. U-locks with the lock in the side are MUCH stronger. They normally require soemthing much stronger than your garden-variety bolt cutter to cut through. Thule locks are a joke. I do trust mine though for quick runs into the store. They are easy to break with the correct tools, but the the ods of having a tool-equiped bike thief walk by during the 2 minutes that you are inside of the store getting your loto tickets is slim. To break a Thule lock, all you need to do is hammer a flat-bladed screwdriver into the tumbler, then turn it with a wrench. The actual clasp that locks is small. But for the downdube clamp style rack (what the Sevan guy had) could probobly be broken fastest by using a pair of bolt cutters on the leg with the lock. There is a metal rod that runs through it. Once that rod is cut, the jaws will open.

I am sure that most of you will think that I am a bike thief. That is FAR from the truth. Working as a mechanic, you encounter dozens of people who have lost keys or forgotten combinations. I have also installed/fixed just about every rack system that Thule made from 1996-2002. An easy way to upsell someone is to show them how flimsy their old lock is. In a ~perverted kind of way, I looked forward to cutting off locks with a pair of housing cutters that easily fit into a pocket. The customer would assume that I was coming forward to take the bike out back so that I could use a dyegrinder or something. Then before they knew what had heppened the lock was gone. Then they would normally replace their $20 cable lock with a nice U-lock.

The only locks that I have come across that I trust are the Kryptonite Evolution 2000 and the New Yorker U-lock/chain.
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
Repack said:
The only locks that I have come across that I trust are the Kryptonite Evolution 2000 and the New Yorker U-lock/chain.

I've got the NY 2000, that is pretty solid! And all you need to break a U-lock is a car jack, but, I digress....

I sold a $1,600 Bike to some guy today, and he asked me which lock I recomended for him :eek:
 

Repack

Turbo Monkey
Nov 29, 2001
1,889
0
Boston Area
BigMike said:
I've got the NY 2000, that is pretty solid! And all you need to break a U-lock is a car jack, but, I digress....
No lock is theft-proof, but I never lock my bikes in areas where individuals carrying car jacks go unnoticed!

Where do you lock your bikes up?

The more I think about it, bike races are the only place that I lock my bike. Other than that, I am riding them, or they are locked in my basement.
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
No lock is theft-proof, but I never lock my bikes in areas where individuals carrying car jacks go unnoticed!

Where do you lock your bikes up?

The more I think about it, bike races are the only place that I lock my bike. Other than that, I am riding them, or they are locked in my basement.
I dont lock my bikes up..... anymore. I had one stolen at school, and thats why I got the lock, to lock up my POS. I have since gotten rid of the POS, and my roommate has been using my lock.

And, the portable car jacks that come with your car are quite easy to conceal in a jacket or backpack