Have you ever walked outside a mall or a large store, and you see a bike rack with bikes in it? As you pass by, have you ever noticed that maybe something isn’t right? Like, why does that bike not have a front wheel, and how come there is just a wheel by itself locked to the rack?
With more people riding their bikes these days, I thought I’d tell you to be careful how you lock your bikes at public bike racks. What I’m going to tell you is one of the oldest tricks in the book that thieves use to snatch a bike, even if it’s locked.
This happened to a friend and me personally back in the ’80s, and I’ve never forgotten it. This is also around the time that Kryptonite locks were becoming very popular. They were the latest and greatest locks to keep you bike safe when parked outside. One day, I rode to Lansdowne mall with a friend, and we both locked our bikes to the bike rack and went inside. I’m not sure if you remember Lord Nelson’s video game arcade that used to be in that mall, but after we had played all of our quarters away, we went back to get our bikes and panic had set in.
As we got closer, I could see that my bike was there, but my friends was gone! As we arrived at that rack, the confusion finally gave way to comprehension at how we had been robbed. My friend's bike was gone, but his front wheel was still locked to the rack. My bike was there, but my front wheel was missing. Someone had taken advantage of how we had secured our bikes. I had put my lock around my frame, leaving both of my wheels exposed. My friend had locked just his front wheel to the rack.
In just a few seconds I’m sure, someone using a small wrench had built themselves a complete bike and taken off. Lesson learned. So, just be careful when locking your bikes. I now use a thick braided lock that can go through both wheels, the frame and the bike rack. In no way is this full-proof, but I’ll put the onus on the thief to have to carry big wieldy bolt cutters as opposed to a small pocketable wrench.
Geordie is an avid cyclist who writes his column on cycling in Richmond. His Saddle Up column focuses on different aspects of cycling from a beginner’s guide to cycling safety in Richmond.
