AAARRGGGHHH!!! Thieving scrotes!!!

[Anonymouse]

Just when my life was finally going right...!

To explain: I've now done a sideways move in Expert Logistics - I've escaped from Crewe and the expensive, time-consuming, soul-destroying train journey, and moved jobs to the new Heywood outbase depot. My travelling expenses have now gone down from £61.20 p.w. (weekly train ticket) to £14 p.w. (weekly bus ticket). The job itself is effectively the reverse of what I was doing at Crewe: instead of loading double-decker trailers, I'm now unloading them, and transferring their contents to delivery vans.

It's much easier work, there's much less pressure - and since our crew's all English I haven't heard a bloody word of Polish or indeed any non-English language since I started!

Now to what's going wrong: sometime last night my bike was stolen from Moor Lane bus station, where I'd left it locked up - I'd used one of those cable things with a combination lock, but they cut the cable! So much for CCTV!!!

So. I've ordered a new bike from Halfords...and, from a different site, the sort of chain and lock one might use to lock up a motorbike, let alone a bicycle - heavy duty chain and lock, both hacksaw-proof and resistant to lockpicks. I'm also going to take the bike to the police station and ask them to mark it, so if it is stolen it can be identified by the UV ink and a tag that, the Halfords staff told me, can't be removed once applied.

Thieving little scrotes!!!!!!!!

[heero_yuy]

****. Make sure that you loop the lock through at least one wheel as well. One of the saddest sights walking across the level in Brighton recently was several bike frames locked to lamp posts minus wheels, forks, pedals et al. Just a frame.

[swoop101]

Take a look at the cycle hub mate: http://cycling.tfgm.com/Pages/join-a-hub.aspx

http://cycling.tfgm.com/Documents/Bo...le-hub-map.pdf

Supposed to be secure

[AndyCambs]

Invest in a TileApp?

[Osem]

Might it not be worth just buying a cheap second hand bike for those occasions when it's going to be left somewhere vulnerable? An old bike's unlikely to be top of the list of targets and if it does get stolen/damaged your loss is minimal. I'd have thought anything new is likely to attract attention and even in busy locations it seems thieves are rarely approached by passers by who've noticed they're up to something. Some of these people are so brazen they'll cut off locks etc. in full view of other people. In the unlikely event they're challenged all they have to say is it's their bike and they lost the key. Few people are going to argue with them or try to take it further.

[Anonymouse]

I tried that once, getting a secondhand bike...but Bolton's roads are very tough on bikes, to the point where maintenance becomes such an issue it ends up being a false economy. Besides, this is the lock and chain I'm getting - let's see 'em get through that without a power tool, an oxy-acetylene torch or a bloody Class IV CO2 laser!

In fact I actually got one a few years ago, following the last time I had a locked-up bike stolen...but I did something incredibly stupid: I unlocked the bike, got distracted by something or other, then rode off...and left the padlock where it was. Total fail.

There are a number of occasions in my life (far too many, I fear) when I've thought disgustedly to myself: "How in the Name of The Left-Handed Dog can someone as intelligent as me do something so incredibly stupid?!"

(Don't ask about the Dog. It's something Grandad used to say. I never did find out what it meant, but as a kid it always made me laugh whenever he came out with it...)

[Hom3r]

I was looking at a bike to use at lunch time to get fit, but lack of space I did start to look at a folding bike that I could keep in my car.

But the weather changed and I lost interest.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

I tried that once, getting a secondhand bike...but Bolton's roads are very tough on bikes, to the point where maintenance becomes such an issue it ends up being a false economy. Besides, this is the lock and chain I'm getting - let's see 'em get through that without a power tool, an oxy-acetylene torch or a bloody Class IV CO2 laser!

In fact I actually got one a few years ago, following the last time I had a locked-up bike stolen...but I did something incredibly stupid: I unlocked the bike, got distracted by something or other, then rode off...and left the padlock where it was. Total fail.
There are a number of occasions in my life (far too many, I fear) when I've thought disgustedly to myself: "How in the Name of The Left-Handed Dog can someone as intelligent as me do something so incredibly stupid?!"

(Don't ask about the Dog. It's something Grandad used to say. I never did find out what it meant, but as a kid it always made me laugh whenever he came out with it...)

Lol. Don't forget some decent safety gear and lights too - your life is more valuable than any bike. Good luck with the new job BTW.

[Anonymouse]

Oh, don't worry, I know all about the importance of safety gear...from first-hand experience!

March 28th, 2000 - trust me, if you check a calendar app you'll find it was a Tuesday. It was far and away the worst night of my life...because it was so very nearly the LAST night.

To this day I don't remember what happened, but the fact that I was wearing a cycle helmet (£9.99 from Argos) was the only thing that saved my life.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

Oh, don't worry, I know all about the importance of safety gear...from first-hand experience!

March 28th, 2000 - trust me, if you check a calendar app you'll find it was a Tuesday. It was far and away the worst night of my life...because it was so very nearly the LAST night.

To this day I don't remember what happened, but the fact that I was wearing a cycle helmet (£9.99 from Argos) was the only thing that saved my life.

If only more people would listen to stories like yours. So simple, so cheap, so easy yet even certain cycling ministers don't bother...

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-10-04/c...ing-in-london/

[Taf]

A mate of mine up the road makes a good living out of repairing and selling bicycles. Many come from police auctions when the owners don't bother reclaiming them. He can often get modern bikes for around 2% of their worth from the auctions by buying bulk lots.

[Osem]

Yep, it's possible to get some nice bikes quite cheaply but the nicer the bike, the bigger the target for theft it becomes I guess, albeit representing a smaller investment lost if the worst happens.

[Matthew]

No point going to the Police just get one of these.

[Taf]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...nge-bikes.html