Oops! I meant the thief or thieves tried to pick the lock, not my college!
How to Deter and Annoy Bike Thieves
Bicycle and scooter theft is a huge problem in Beijing, as I found out first-hand last Monday. I'm usually pretty careful, but I got complacent and there are definitely things I can do better for next time. Learn from my experience and read the following tips for securing your bike.
- Always lock your bike to something stationary. When I first got to China, it boggled my mind that most bikes were only locked to themselves. I eventually adopted this bad habit for convenience's sake, but I won't make this mistake again.
- Use more than one lock. By extension, use more than one type of lock. If a thief can break one chain lock, they can certainly break the second chain lock.
- Don't skimp on locks. Make sure their value is proportional to the value of the bike.An avid cyclist friend swears by US-based Kryptonite, the pioneer of the U-lock (some products available on Taobao). Natooke, the fixed-gear bike store, also sells sturdy locks by German manufacturer ABUS (see their Taobao shop here).
- Learn how to lock your bike properly. There are plenty of online guides with pictures: Lifehacker, Bicycling, and Bicycle Habitat are just a few.
- Lock your bike somewhere with a lot of foot traffic. Though Sanlitun SOHO's bike parking lot is used by a lot of people, it's not particularly well-lit and there was one security guard patrolling the whole area. Security cameras aren't likely to help.
- Whenever possible, put your expensive bike indoors. This may not possible in every office or apartment building, but it's a no-brainer.
- Mark up your bike. Bike thieves try to shift stolen bikes as soon as possible; the more distinctive yours is, the harder that will be. Put packing tape around the frame, scratch your initials into it, put zebra stripes and tenacious Spongebob Squarepants stickers all over it – anything to really annoy and deter bike thieves. Stupid bike thieves.
- Spray-paint your bike. One of my pet peeves about Giant bikes is how loud and garish the designs can be. A few months ago, I encountered a fellow cyclist with a matte black bike while getting my bike serviced at a Giant store. He said that the store can actually spray-paint your bike black for free as long as you have a Giant bike. I wish I'd done this sooner.
- Take pictures of your bike. They should be clear, well-lit, shot from several angles, and include close-ups of distinguishing marks like bells, displaceable fenders, and any missing or damaged parts (e.g. mine was missing a tail light). Save these in your phone.
- Save your fapiao. This is China – don't you know to save every bit of paper by now? In all seriousness, this expedites the process of filing a police report and makes it much easier time to prove the bike is yours if it ever is found.
- Live and learn. Don't be discouraged from the joys of owning a nice bicycle; this could've happened to anyone. In the end, it's just stuff. Take it as a lesson for what you can do better next time.
Terrified at the prospect of filing a police report? Don't be. Click here for my blog about my post-bike theft experience.
To read the original post, head over to our sister website beijingkids.
Photo: bikerumor.com
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I had an Abus lock back in college. Someone tried to pick it, but only succeeded in breaking off the pick inside the lock. I had to go home and get tools to disassemble the bike to remove the chain & lock. The chain was still good, so I decided to break off the lock. Holy $&^*(^! I decided if I ever became famous I'd give Abus a free testimonial. I never became famous, but here's the testimonial anyway.
What did it take to break the Abus lock?
Brute force: Swinging the chain and bashing the lock repeatedly on concrete. Result: No discernible effect.
Slamming the lock repeatedly with a 2-lb. sledgehammer, then a 10-lb. sledge. Result: No discernible effect.
Chemicals: Strong, then very strong acids and bases (to ph 2 and 12). Result: No discernible effect.
Freezing: Freezing to -2 C, then later using canned freezing agents (legal and available back then). Results: No discernible effect.
Leaving in liquid nitrogen for a short time (I had a teammate in the physics department). Result: No discernible effect.
Leaving in liquid nitrogen for more than ten minutes. Result: Coupled with lots of bashing on concrete, the lock's seam finally split.
How many bike thieves carry liquid nitrogen?
Conclusion: Abus locks are expensive, but are quite difficult to pick or break. They may also be sold under the name "Buffo."
Yeah, bicycle theft is indeed a major problem and people say that you're not really an (expat) Beijinger until you've had at least one bicycle stolen. I've had two pilfered by bi-pedalled perverts!
In spite of the good advice above, it still happens. My most recent loss was my rather good quality mountain-style bike. Aluminum frame, disc brakes, full suspension and a few extra goodies that I had added to it.
It was indoors, it was locked to something immovable, it was locked securely, it had a rather good quality lock, there was a security camera right there....still it disappeared one morning. I had brought a high-quality cable-type lock back from Canada with me. It had a "Master" padlock and a fairly thick and good quality steel cable with vinyl coating. The cable was quite long and I had it wound about both wheel and frame and it was locked to the steel frame in front of the window of the elevator lobby in my apartment. The lobby had a security camera right above the bike, and there were only four apartments served by that particular elevator and floor.
I came home one afternoon and there it was....gone! My girlfriend contacted the management, they viewed the camera footage, and sure enough, just after I left that morning, some Chinese guy appeared from the stairway with a humungous set of bolt cutters. It took him a few minutes to hack through the cable, but he ended up finally getting it cut through and back down the stairway he went with my bike. The complex management weren't a whole lot of help, and neither were the police; their attitude was more or less that the theft of a bicycle was no big deal, as it happens all the time and they had better things to do that try to recover what they considered to be unrecoverable.
At least I never had my motorcycle stolen. That, I had three locks for, of three different types, including the stock ignition lock. Then again, it was a Yamaha Warrior, an 1,800cc V-twin, so not exactly a hightweight motorcycle that one could quickly make off with while being unobserved or at least without bringing attention to the thief, as my motorcycle was likely the only Warrior in the whole damn country.
Well, too bad that you lost your bike, but in China, that's par for the course. Now you're a true Beijinger.