ebikes in NYC = easy way to lose money?

[tomtom123]

So i learned to ride a bicycle a couple of weeks ago and i was thinking of getting one, then i found out about ebikes and decided i wanted to get an ebike.
Now when i was first looking up information about bikes, like what locks to get and how to lock them, one of things that came up was lock it to a steady post and not a street sign post that is SHORT and can easily be picked up. I thought to myself, "no shit" but NO ONE would waste time try to steal a bike that was locked to a street sign post that is TALL and could not be lifted from the ground. I WAS WRONG.

look at this article, this guy goes in broad daylight, uses drills and tools and even takes a cafe table from the cafe shop to stand on and remove the street sign to steal the bike. people saw, no one cared. Also, this was a regular bike, imagine if it was an eye catching ebike. if anyone lives in NYC, how do you guys lock up your ebikes in the street?
link to nypost article : http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/man_of_steal_nXhCm6hM5OWAye2gUt4yMN

Honestly, with all the "witnesses" and none of them said/did anything is disturbing, but that's NYC for you. The only reason this probably got reported and the "witnesses" went forward is because it was recorded on camera, otherwise, this would have been another unknown crime. Very Sad to think about that.

 

[xenodius]

http://www.integratedtrackers.com/GPSTrack/Spybike.jsp

Can't think of a better fix, though the GSM triangulation if its taken indoors won't be as helpful In NYC. Still, they have to ride/drive it to the building first.

I really wish integratedtrackers would make a BB-contained/powered tracker, that activates from vibration OR pedaling and is charged by dynamo. That would be fantastic. Nobody changes the BB when they steal a bike, even if they change everything else...

 

[fechter]

Most ebikes are too heavy to lift easily. I saw quite a few of them in NYC.

 

[TSAR]

Had my first build stolen about two months ago. I was leaving it in that spot for a year, and finally it caught a thief's eye. The *&%^$^%$^&% unbolted the scaffolding that the bike was chained to with an abus lock, slid the whole thing out, put it in a van, and poof... no more bike.
Ever since then, I don't leave my other ebike on the street anymore, only indoors or inside the parking lot, not visible from the street.
Seriously considering GPS tracking for the next build....

 

[Ykick]

I'm lucky, workplace in midtown we have a locked alley.

You basically can't leave anything with nice parts on any street for very long. Indoor secured only or build a "junker" and hope nobody pays it much attention.

 

[RoadWrinkle]

audible motion detector alarm mnt under the seat can be purchased cheaply as well

 

[tomtom123]

audible motion detector alarm mnt under the seat can be purchased cheaply as well

Those alarms are useless, the ones under your seat can be taken out easily and battery removed, or smashed with an item.

Also, i doubt the noise would even be a problem, it won't even be that loud and as illustrated in the article, even if there is noise alerting people that a bike is being stolen, people don't give a shit. The people knew this guy was stealing a bike and no one cared enough to do anything. He was using a power drill for god sakes just to remove the street sign, and i'm pretty sure that was louder than any bicycle alarm.

i mean look at this video lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zb8YXrmIA

a little alarm won't help your beautiful ebike at all! man can't have nice things these days

 

[fechter]

The ones I saw looked like junkers and the owner took the battery with him. I don't think it's much better in San Francisco.

 

[dgk02]

New York City has a law that requires commercial buildings to accommodate bikes if the tenant requests it. So, the company I work for made an arrangement with building management to allow us to bring bikes into the office. My ebike is currently charging in my office. There is also a bike rack in the loading dock that people are allowed to use but I prefer to bring it up with me. The only problem with the arrangement is that we are supposed to use the freight elevator and that only runs from 7 am to 5 pm, but since I mostly work 8-4 that works for me. I actually bought the bike a few weeks after that law was passed - until then I used an old Trek 7100 hybrid and just locked it outside with some kryptonite locks.

There is also a NYC requirement that parking lots have room for bikes - I suspect that is vastly underutilized since no one wants to spend money to store the bike, but that should be safe.

I should add that it's currently illegal to ride an ebike in NYC but mine is pretty stealthy. And there are so many around that no one really cares if you don't do stupid things with it. People ride gas powered skateboards and those are pretty obnoxious.

 

[dogman dan]

That about what I just said in another similar thread today. Leave it someplace, they'll take it.

 

[Ykick]

I know some NYC garages have automotive charge stations. More for Chevy Volts or Leaf's, etc. But I wouldn't mind paying a few $$$ for securely parking/charging an eBike if it were available?

Nowadays those pedal bike share stations are all over the place. Just imagine if they ever equipped those with eBikes? 'would completely change the game... Of course, current laws would need to evolve quite a bit.

 

[friendly1uk]

There are bait bikes on my street. Instantly recognisable as there the same type of bikes left where nobody sane would leave them. They have even been on tv ffs. Nobody is fooled.

We have lock-ups for bikes. Cages with roofs. To get the key you need to show you live in the city. This is done by showing your registered with the council to pay what we call council tax. It covers stuff like bins. To register you just make up a name, and they don't even ask for a date of birth. No scroat uses his own details as they are never going to pay the $1500 a year. So any scroat can get the key. They call this secure and our local cycling organisations are prowd of the system. It is the perfect place to find expensive bikes to rob.

 

[xenodius]

Seriously, I'm pretty sure the headset gps tracker + small U locks w/ heavy duty chain are the best bet. Anything is vulnerable given time, invisible recovery is the only way to be sure.

 

[USAEBIKECO]

They got bike theft rings in Chicago. I saw a old guy in his 40s trying to steal bikes. The EASY targets are the ones with the useless wire lock. U locks are much harder to break.

 

[Dauntless]

Thank god for the Hectors of the world, eh? Wonder how many real bike thieves he's helped. Or how many bikes he's taken himself with that vast warehouse of knowledge of his.

So those ulocks. Ever notice how many times you see the person lose their key and take the rest of the bike? (I did know one case.) Meanwhile, look at all those front wheels in a rack near you, nobody can get that ulock off, not even the maintenance guy. One place had me trying a few years back, including on the one from the one woman's bike. Those wheels are still there.

 

[xenodius]

Larger U-locks can be jacked open fairly quickly, but they are freakishly hard to cut. An angle grinder is your best bet, failing the jack. That's why I like to use the small ones, because while a hand jack is silent, an angle grinder is really loud. Can't fit a jack between chain links or within the mini-U's. Add a jumbo chain and you're gold! you can lock up to things in awkward positions that a long U couldn't, and you are more secure too.

 

[LockH]

BUMP

Found this old thread re "motion detection" (as way to send alarm when ebike "messed with"). EG "Motion Detection Alarm System" (for indoors):
http://www.instructables.com/id/Motion-Detection-Alarm-System/?ALLSTEPS


... but seems to me w/camera tilted to the ground (and better weather/rain sheltered) could work?