1,724 bike thefts in just a year

12:00pm Monday 7th January 2013 in News By Stephen Bailey

Lee Oldroyd with his bike chain Lee Oldroyd with his bike chain

A STAGGERING 1,724 bicycles were stolen in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch last year.

The number of bikes stolen in 2012 was more than four each day and was up from 1,605 the previous year.

And the total for the final four months of the year was 571.

Skilled thieves are believed to be following riders on expensive bikes and also using cycling GPS applications to find out where people live.

Poole cyclist Eddie Wilkinson had a £3,000 carbon racing bike stolen and from conversations with police and bike traders believes thieves are trailing people home.

Bernard Dean, 43, from Lower Parkstone, had two bikes worth £3,500 stolen from his shed after professional thieves drilled the lock – but they left another nearby shed untouched.

He uses a computer application that tracks his rides by GPS – and believes the crooks used to it find out where he lived. The cycling press has reported on cases where people appear to have been targeted via their GPS information.

The Echo has also come across many examples of expensive bikes being stolen by highly skilled crooks despite being in apparently safe locations.

Lee Oldroyd, 27, from Poole, had his £600 bike stolen in the spring despite it being chained up in a secure room at his workplace on Holdenhurst Road in Bournemouth.

George Beverley, 41, a creative director from Parkstone, said: “My £600 bike got stolen last year.

“It was chained up in a purpose-built bike store at work on Oxford Road in Bournemouth.

“The CCTV shows the thief bringing his own bike down the steps, parking it next to mine. He then took cutters out and broke the lock.”

A pair of bicycles worth a total of £12,000, one being a limited edition model, were stolen from a garage in Bournemouth in November.

The total figure of 1,724 thefts does not include bicycles stolen where the crime was recorded as a burglary.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: “It’s important that cyclists take simple steps to make sure their bicycles are less likely to be stolen.

“We strongly encourage owners to use secure locks on their bikes.

“If you store your bike in a shed or garage, please make sure these are kept securely locked.

“If you require any further crime prevention advice please contact your Safer Neighbourhood Team.”

John Hayter, the Bournemouth co-ordinator for Dorset Cycling Network, said: “We are very aware of the problem of cycle theft. 

“This definitely deters people from using bikes for journeys where they have to be left unattended.

“In case this sounds too gloomy, not everyone has their bike stolen. I have been using a bike for utility journeys for 60 years and so far have been lucky.”

The DCN recommended people register their bikes so they are easier for the police to return. Details are on their website at dcn.org.uk.

Bernard Dean, 43, from Lower Parkstone, had two bikes worth £3,500 stolen from his shed.
He said: “I don’t think it was random.

“There are two sheds and mine was the only one that was broken into – the hinges were drilled and the lock wasn’t touched. I’m pretty sure I have been watched.

“I use an mobile phone application called Strava which uses GPS to locate where you leave from and that has made me think that it might have been used to find the whereabouts of where I live.

“The police officer who came round said they have a pretty good idea of who is stealing the bikes and that they know which properties the bikes are taken to. Why are these properties not attended more often?”

Cycling Weekly reported on the boom in cyclists signing up to GPS sites like Strava and MapMyRide – and the potential risk.

It said: “We have been told of several incidents recently where thieves have appeared to target a particular address, turning up fully equipped with cutting equipment and getting away with thousands of pounds worth of cycles.

"Several of these stolen bikes have been equipped with GPS computers. Now, the fact that the pinched bikes were equipped with GPS computers might be coincidence, but it’s best to be on the side of caution.”

It urged people to change their profile settings on their GPS.

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Comments(32)

speedy231278 says...
12:07pm Mon 7 Jan 13

And probably 1724 lots of "Sorry, nothing we can do, here's a crime number for your insurance company".

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InkZ says...
12:18pm Mon 7 Jan 13

I use Strava. You can create private areas so the site doesn't show journeys within the private radius.

I've also added some surrounding postcodes and also postcodes for work and friends houses I ride from to make extra sure. I also haven't specified what bike I have.

Being followed home is probably my main concern and on occasions I have ridden past my house when I've seen people that look a bit dodgy.

Decent locks and ground anchors are a must.

Sucks we have to do all this but unfortunately there's people out there who don't think they have to work for a living :(

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Controversial But True says...
12:21pm Mon 7 Jan 13

And what do we learn from this?

Move to Christchurch!!

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bourne free says...
12:57pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Controversial But True wrote:
And what do we learn from this?

Move to Christchurch!!
Most people are to old to ride a bike in christchurch !

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pete woodley says...
1:01pm Mon 7 Jan 13

bourne free wrote:
Controversial But True wrote:
And what do we learn from this?

Move to Christchurch!!
Most people are to old to ride a bike in christchurch !
Like Ferndown.

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Pablo23 says...
1:20pm Mon 7 Jan 13

My bike has never been stolen, but then it doesn't have suspension or any of this other new fangled gear on it.

The best deterant seems to be don't own anything nice or expensive.
Which is a shame.

And don't broadcast you routes or anything on the internet.
I'm always staggered when people post stuff on Facebook such as they are going on holiday and hope they don't get burgled while they are away

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Dont drop litter says...
2:11pm Mon 7 Jan 13

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: “It’s important that cyclists take simple steps to make sure their bicycles are less likely to be stolen.

“We strongly encourage owners to use secure locks on their bikes.

“If you store your bike in a shed or garage, please make sure these are kept securely locked.

Reading the news item, it strikes me that all of the people had taken such steps to secure their bikes. Unfortunatley, it seems unlikely that the Police are able to do much about it. Bikes can be broken up and sold as parts and are vitually unidentifiable once dismantled.

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speedy231278 says...
2:16pm Mon 7 Jan 13

I thought the Police were supposed to put people off nicking stuff? Pity they spend most of the day behind speed cameras....

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rayc says...
2:36pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Looks like we need a 'No Excuse' campaign targeted at cycle thefts.

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retry69 says...
3:17pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Is it really staggering news? I dont think so.

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skaramanga says...
3:32pm Mon 7 Jan 13

the police are pretty useless when it comes to bike theft.had 4 bikes stolen in the last 2 years and all i have gotten back is 3 crime numbers.the last one i didn't even bother reporting as it is a waste of time.

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retry69 says...
3:42pm Mon 7 Jan 13

skaramanga wrote:
the police are pretty useless when it comes to bike theft.had 4 bikes stolen in the last 2 years and all i have gotten back is 3 crime numbers.the last one i didn't even bother reporting as it is a waste of time.
So its not staggering news really is it, it is fairly well known that bike stealing is easy pickings

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l'anglais says...
4:00pm Mon 7 Jan 13

I blame Norman Tebbitt.

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The Liberal says...
4:02pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Can't you get tracking devices for bikes? If you're riding a really expensive model, I'd think it would be worthwhile. Better still, the police should be using them in sting operations.

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skaramanga says...
4:24pm Mon 7 Jan 13

The Liberal wrote:
Can't you get tracking devices for bikes? If you're riding a really expensive model, I'd think it would be worthwhile. Better still, the police should be using them in sting operations.
i thought that was what this GPS device there going on about.like a tracking device what goes down the seat pole ,so that it is not noticeable to the thiefs,or is the GPS device just like a speedo on your handle bars

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suzigirl says...
4:50pm Mon 7 Jan 13

or just walk!

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pete woodley says...
5:22pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Wasnt a load of bikes found in the new forest,how many others were stolen by the same towrags.

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pete woodley says...
5:23pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Wasnt a load of bikes found in the new forest,how many others were stolen by the same towrags.

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GAHmusic says...
10:16pm Mon 7 Jan 13

I blame car drivers

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Chiqqy says...
1:29am Tue 8 Jan 13

I hate bike thieves but I'm really sorry, the guy in the photo locked his £600 bike with THAT lock !!!??!!!!

.

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jeebuscripes says...
8:13am Tue 8 Jan 13

skaramanga wrote:
the police are pretty useless when it comes to bike theft.had 4 bikes stolen in the last 2 years and all i have gotten back is 3 crime numbers.the last one i didn't even bother reporting as it is a waste of time.
Report it anyway, it goes into the recorded crime figures and all of them go towards budget allocation.

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mudeford7 says...
8:58am Tue 8 Jan 13

What with students from UNI riding without lights and dark clothing ,no vis jackets. This horrendous figure of cycle thefts the police seem to ignore and hassle the motorist About time they set up a cycletheft division and spend more time riding bikes themselves.instead of riding around in cars and getting over weight

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Tassie says...
12:31pm Tue 8 Jan 13

My son had is bike stolen twice in a 2 month period & the police weren't interested, despite the fact that it was securely locked. The lock was cut through with bolt cutters!!. Both times, thanx to him having a lot of good mates he found it himself. The 1st time it was in one of these cash recycle type places that buys goods from people & the police wanted to know then. They made him take it to the cop shop so they could photo it & 'close the case'!! Thats the case that they didn't want to know about in the 1st place!!! They tell you to lock it up, but when you report it as stolen they just have no interest what so ever. What do we pay our council tax for again.....??

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Tassie says...
12:33pm Tue 8 Jan 13

The Liberal wrote:
Can't you get tracking devices for bikes? If you're riding a really expensive model, I'd think it would be worthwhile. Better still, the police should be using them in sting operations.
Tracking devices don't help. My son had 1 on his bike & the police still didn't want to know!!!

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kingstonpaul says...
1:16pm Tue 8 Jan 13

Like most forms of domestic burglary, the police are woefully ill-equipped to deal with bike theft. People are rarely injured in these thefts, and the assumption is that insurance covers the financial loss. Job done. Even if you find some **** advertising your property on Gumtree or eBay, the police aren’t interested. I’m afraid that the feelings of violation and trauma felt by victims of these crimes don’t get factored-into modern policing.

I’ve had a number of bikes stolen over the past few years (admittedly, none worth anything close to £3K). The reality is that bike thieves are well organised, are often from outside the area, with access to channels of distribution (i.e they can get rid of the merchandise quickly). And, like any efficient criminal enterprise of this kind, I suspect the gangs have also infiltrated the legitimate lines of supply, and are getting tip-offs from people involved in the day-to-day selling/distribution (i.e bike shops; repairers, delivery companies…). What else could possibly explain a friend of mine who had his prized new bike (yup, worth about £3K) stolen from his shed on the very first night he’d taken delivery? Or like at my local supermarket in SW London (I lost a bike there a year or so ago), where I suspect that the car parking attendants are tipping off bike thieves about quality merchandise being left at the bike railings.

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stevobath says...
1:49pm Tue 8 Jan 13

Chiqqy wrote:
I hate bike thieves but I'm really sorry, the guy in the photo locked his £600 bike with THAT lock !!!??!!!!

.
It always amazes me.I often see bikes that cost lots of money with a cheap lock??? Surely if you spend thousands on a bike,you should think about spending a fair bit on a decent lock?

Saying that.Many years ago, I had a decent bike.It cost around £700 at the time (1993).I purchased an expensive lock for around £50...Theives cut through THE FRAME!...Most bikes are stolen for the parts, rather than frames...
The answer is to ride an older bike around if you're going to leave it somewhere unnatended.If you have a really expensive bike,dont leave it about & make sure you SLEEP with it!

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stevobath says...
1:51pm Tue 8 Jan 13

Forgot to add.The photo says it all...£3,000 bike locked up with a chain that can be bought for around £5.00.Does that make ANY sense?

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Seabeam says...
5:32pm Tue 8 Jan 13

The government sent a message to drivers that speeding was acceptable by removing speed cameras. Drivers are now more likely to speed now they know for sure that there are no cameras around the next corner.
I thought that accident numbers would increase when Cameron announced that cameras would be no more, and road accident numbers have increased.
Drivers that wanted the end of fixed cameras have blood on their hands, and a few more pennies in their pockets.
Satellite gps 'black boxes' in all cars now so that bad driving can be easily detected and good drivers can pay less insurance.

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prtaylor73 says...
12:52am Wed 9 Jan 13

The use of ineffective locks has been allowed to continue for over 40 years.

See Youtube videos 6AdugFzCi24 and rhPzF-hyC7Q

Wikipedia says "In the early 1970s the only proven method to secure one's bicycle was by the use of case hardened security chain with hexagonal links, but some cyclists were making the mistake of using inexpensive chains or cables that could be breached by thieves using commonly available tools. Indeed, local hardware stores would often sell inexpensive chain cut to length using simple bolt cutters."

Basically lock your bike frame and wheels to an immovable object with *two* D locks, ideally 16mm or 18mm shackle thickness (yes, will be heavy).

Avoid

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prtaylor73 says...
12:55am Wed 9 Jan 13

Continued...

Avoid

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prtaylor73 says...
12:58am Wed 9 Jan 13

Avoid thinner than 16mm steel thickness which are easily cut with bolt cutters and never use steel rope type locks which survive for seconds.

www.lfgss.com/thread
17938.html

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vwbournie says...
12:53pm Wed 9 Jan 13

I had my hardrock specialized nicked whilst having a haircut, yes it was locked up to a railing outside, that was five days before christmas in 2011.

Same old with the police, heres ya crime no, still.... most expensive haircur ive ever had....

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