I think there might be a common myth that having a tatty looking bike means it won’t get stolen.
Unfortunately I don’t think a lot of bike thefts are opportunistic and the value of the bike isn’t the motivating factor.
I think there might be a common myth that having a tatty looking bike means it won’t get stolen.
Unfortunately I don’t think a lot of bike thefts are opportunistic and the value of the bike isn’t the motivating factor.
I don't doubt that a bad looking bike isn't the biggest deterent. But it's the combination of factors that's practically helpful.
A tatty bike with 2 (or even 3!) high quality locks is a much lower target than a half decent looking bike with just a single cheap lock.
The more opportunistic the thief, the better your chances of not getting your bike stolen if you have 2 more locks than everyone around you. Heck, I'd argue, due to their unusual nature of being (not) used as a lock, a dozen zip ties might be more effective than a 3rd of 4th lock, simply because no thief is expecting to encounter it. They want a quick getaway, spending 20 seconds per tie * 10 ties is likely much longer than what it's worth for them, especially if your bike isn't that nice.
I think the most stolen cars are Hyundais and Toyotas (and maybe F-150s, these days).
They are often stolen for parts.
I don’t think bikes are stolen for parts, but commodity bikes are probably a big target.
Sorry there’s a (hopefully) obvious typo in what I wrote.
I 100% agree with you, most bike thefts are opportunistic.
I know that high end bikes do get stripped for parts but I think that’s got to be mostly after they are taken and pretty rare.
There’s been some raids in London where they found scrapyards full of stolen bikes. Most are still whole. Even those stolen to order.
Surely Hyundais (in the US at least) top the list because of how easy they've been historically to steal?