London: Covent Garden Bike Thieves About!

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mgradidge
Posts: 1
Joined: 12 Mar 2015, 9:26am

London: Covent Garden Bike Thieves About!

Post by mgradidge »

Hi All,

I just wanted to make a post about an incident last night.

I caught a reprobate on attempting to steal my bike last night at the bike rack .Sadly not before he completely screwed my front wheel to get my d lock off. luckily he didn't get through the cable. Had I been 30 seconds later I think he would have had it away. So now I have a screwed front wheel unable to cycle to work anymore this week until it is fixed.

The location was the bike rails/rack at the corner of Bedford Street/New Row. In fact it is a cross roads of Bedford Street/Garrick Street + New Row/King Street. Its the second incident in two weeks on that particular bike sotrage area so be careful.

Sadly no CCTV in the area (which is a joke) and I was not close enough to grab the git before he scarpered into the busy streets. It was a Caucasian male, not too scruffy looking around 5ft7 dressed in grey /dark clothing with nothing too stand out about him. He does wear a helmet whilst he is about doing his crimes so.

I would be extra diligent and ensure your locks are attached in the best way. I stupidly had my D lock on badly. Don't rush these things!

Thanks,

Matt
mercalia
Posts: 14630
Joined: 22 Sep 2013, 10:03pm
Location: london South

Re: London: Covent Garden Bike Thieves About!

Post by mercalia »

sorry to hear that. atleast he didnt get the whole bike and it wasnt the rear wheel which can cost more to replace. these days I dont use my bike to get to the centre, if i intend to stop off somewhere. For all Boris's "think bike" bike security around there is abysmal - China town is even worse with no where to lock your bike. Some time ago I contacted his office about putting some bike racks there and it took him 6 months to reply!!!! :roll: And then the answer was the same inconsequential rubbish. waste of time.
iviehoff
Posts: 2411
Joined: 20 Jan 2009, 4:38pm

Re: London: Covent Garden Bike Thieves About!

Post by iviehoff »

mgradidge wrote:Hi All,
I just wanted to make a post about an incident last night.
I caught a reprobate on attempting to steal my bike last night at the bike rack .
...
I would be extra diligent and ensure your locks are attached in the best way. I stupidly had my D lock on badly. Don't rush these things!

Having regularly used bike racks in the Covent Garden area for 15 years, I can only say this is par for the course. Around there, anything worth stealing that can be stolen will be stolen pretty quickly, if it can be done with the usual bolt clippers, and that has long been true.

I have frequently returned to the bike racks and found evidence of a bike having been stolen there, such as a newly snipped cable on the ground, (once accompanied by a crying ex-owner of a nice new bike), or only a front wheel D-locked to the rack. Once I found the front wheel alone D-locked, and adjacent another bike without its front wheel - I arrived at about the same time as the owner of the latter. He was teed off because he had used an extension cable to secure his front wheel according to the recommendations, and didn't think anyone would be bothered snipping that just to steal a front wheel. But he had the misfortune that someone came along and stupidly parked a bike securing only the front wheel next to his. But abandoned bicycles weakly locked have been left undisturbed by thieves, so they do have a quality threshold. And some very nice bikes have turned day after day for several years, if adequately locked. I once had a saddle and seat pillar of very poor quality and ancient age stolen from an old bike of very modest quality. It was a precisely 1 inch seat pillar and in trying to get a replacement I understood why someone was bothered to steal it, it was difficult to replace.

The best/easiest way to attach a D-lock is where the rear stays cross the top part of the rear wheel. If you routinely do it that way, you can't really get it wrong. It is not necessary for both ends of the extension cable to be attached to the D-lock, you can loop one end of the cable through the eye at the other end, after passing through the wheel, this is less fuss than trying to get both eyes attached to the D-lock. Though many people prefer a separate cable lock with a key, which is an equally good solution.
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mjr
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Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
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Re: London: Covent Garden Bike Thieves About!

Post by mjr »

A separate cable lock with a key is a better solution because then the D-lock isn't a single point of attack. If either are alarmed, so much the better.

Sorry to hear that Matt's bike was damaged but at least this one wasn't stolen.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
iviehoff
Posts: 2411
Joined: 20 Jan 2009, 4:38pm

Re: London: Covent Garden Bike Thieves About!

Post by iviehoff »

Anyone willing and able to break a D-lock in a public place will break the cable in a moment. Matt's thief didn't break his D-lock, he took advantage of the fact that he mis-attached it, ie, not through the frame.
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ArMoRothair
Posts: 351
Joined: 20 Jun 2013, 10:55am
Location: Londinium

Re: London: Covent Garden Bike Thieves About!

Post by ArMoRothair »

It's not all doom and gloom. I've been locking bikes in and around Covent Garden since the mid-'80s, nothing has been touched.

But I must admit I feel more comfortable using the Brompton these days, I never lock it, when I'm not riding it I keep it in my right hand.
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