My new bike was stolen

[thundacatchergo]

yes. I asked the doorman. Although the land belongs to ( or is maintained by ?) the government, I am allowed to park there. Another bike parked next to mine. That bike is still there.

i guess you can't report it to the cops since you had left it on someone else's property. Maybe the government took it away?

btw, what kind of bike can you buy for $550? my daughter's peddle-less tricycle cost about the $500.

[jgl]

Thundercatcher- do you have to be such an unhelpful jackass?

Pizza- a thief can get through a chain lock in about 2 seconds with boltcutters. Even a basic d-lock is more of a deterrent as they'd need a jack or a crowbar to get through it. A *good* d-lock would be much harder to get through but it'd cost half as much as your bike.

Here's a good article on locking bikes: Lock Strategy

If you get another bike, another approach to take is to make your bike look so bad that potential thieves ignore it. Common approaches in high-theft cities is to paint it black, or wrap the frame with electrical tape. It makes the bike look terrible, but it rides just the same.

[thundacatchergo]

jgl,

I do not consider his bike to be stolen when he parked it out in public.

there is no lock that is 100% theft proof. the only bike prevention is to park it in a safe and secure location.

wrapping a $530 bike up in duck tape or used toilet paper is not going to prevent theft.

[UK/HKboy]

i had my umbrella stolen once! it was only a crap small HK$15 one, but it was annoying because it was actually raining when i wanted to leave!

[jgl]

jgl,

I do not consider his bike to be stolen when he parked it out in public.

there is no lock that is 100% theft proof. the only bike prevention is to park it in a safe and secure location.

wrapping a $530 bike up in duck tape or used toilet paper is not going to prevent theft.

So replace "bike" with "car" and it's not theft because it was "in public"? How is that any different, from a legal standpoint?

[mamamia]

it's actually pretty common. many of my friends who has ever owned a bike has had similar experience.

probably the teenage gang did it. they re-sell it for $200 so they could get some cig and beer for the night.

[jimbo]

wrapping a $530 bike up in duck tape or used toilet paper is not going to prevent theft.

Clearly its not going to prevent theft but the point is to make it less desireable in the first place and also less likely to be noticed than a brand new shiny bike.

[MovingIn07]

jgl,

I do not consider his bike to be stolen when he parked it out in public.

t

what a bizarre comment! It's a BIKE for god's sake, where do you think they get parked? If he locked it, had permission to park it there, then it's 100% stolen if somebody broke the lock and took it away.

In the UK, bikes have codes stamped on them, and police keep a list of codes with owners which helps reunite bikes if they are stolen. Does anything like that happen here? This might actually be useful information to the OP, if so.

If not, I agree, getting a stronger lock and making the bike look unattractive are strategies to minimise the chance it happens again. Good luck.

[thundacatchergo]

yes, theft is very annoying. don't leave anything unattended if you don't want it stolen.

bike locks are very ineffective. park your bike at home.

if any car is illegally parked on government property, the government has every right to tow the car away and it is not considered theft.

suggesting to OP to spend half the value of his/her bike in a bike lock and have his/her bike stolen again is not helpful.

who here actually rides a bike in HK?

[jgl]

In the UK, bikes have codes stamped on them, and police keep a list of codes with owners which helps reunite bikes if they are stolen. Does anything like that happen here? This might actually be useful information to the OP, if so.

I don't think that such a scheme exists here. Once a bike is gone, the only way it's going to be recovered is if the original owner stumbles across it again (which I have heard of, surprisingly).

One trick is to keep a business card or other personalised note rolled up inside the handlebars. That way, you can drag a cop into it and pull out the note.