Preventing Bike Theft / Finding 'Lost' Bike Ideas

[TORD]

[quote="Admiral Fukkit"][quote="TORD"]most bike theft is accidental / borrowing / mistaken identity / hop ons.[/quote]
Like hell it is! Are you for real?[/quote]

Just saying it ain't a gang of professional bike thieves roaming the playa with 8 foot bolt cutters and a cutting torch. But lock it every time you walk away from it.

[BBadger]

Let's not waste our time using unqualified euphemisms that imply some sort of innocence.

The correct term to use is : "THEFT"

If or when a thief attempts to reunite the stolen bike to its rightful owner after a "mistaken identity" or other "accidental" misuse is discovered, then -- and only then -- can they can be cleared/excused of their crime.

[Captain Goddammit]

Just saying it ain't a gang of professional bike thieves roaming the playa with 8 foot bolt cutters and a cutting torch. But lock it every time you walk away from it.

Pardon me but you clearly said most bike theft is accidental borrowing, mistaken identity etc. and that's horseshit.
It's theft like BBadger said, with the purest of criminal motivation.
These thieves are not beautiful flower children who have accidentally made a mistake. They're assholes who don't give a fuck.

[Sham]

What I have seen evolve over time was a larger percentage of people coming to Burning Man with no bike. Either they would find a "yellow bike" but more likely they would just snag an unlocked bike. That bike of course would be abandoned along the way. The victim of the theft might take another unlocked bike to keep from walking miles to their next destination.

Then there were definitely expensive bikes that were targeted and stolen. Anyone with an expensive bike should definitely use a better lock on it. Cheaper bikes should have some sort of lock on it, just to keep some lazy person from riding off with it.

I know I suggested somewhere that the org should sell basic bike locks in addition to the coffee and ice that's sold now at the event. It does seem to go against the ethos, but bike locks are becoming a necessity (just like ice).

[BBadger]

It'd be ironic if the thieves were more diligent about buying and using bike locks than the original owners. Even that might be a benefit, as it'd reduce the overall availability of unlocked bikes and the expectation that a potential thief can find one.

[Captain Goddammit]

It does seem to go against the ethos, but bike locks are becoming a necessity (just like ice).

What ethos....
Oh wait, I vaguely remember when there were ethos... I think.

[Sham]

It does seem to go against the ethos, but bike locks are becoming a necessity (just like ice).

What ethos....
Oh wait, I vaguely remember when there were ethos... I think.

[Traveller in Time]

I imagine pranks with bikes locked with many chains

[pedroescobar]

I’m thinking about setting up a LoRa Network and outfitting our entire camp’s bikes with very small GPS/transmitter rigs to track all of the bikes. It will provide not only pinpoint accuracy but it would be pretty easy to develop an app that would actually log all the locations the whole week to see where all we went. 2-3 base stations would cover all the way from Deep Playa to the Gate with no issues and have enough bandwidth to handle a few 1000 bikes. I just have to find consistent power at 3 points on playa (10, 2 and somewhere near the middle to outer ring of 6.

[Sham]

I’m thinking about setting up a LoRa Network and outfitting our entire camp’s bikes with very small GPS/transmitter rigs to track all of the bikes. It will provide not only pinpoint accuracy but it would be pretty easy to develop an app that would actually log all the locations the whole week to see where all we went. 2-3 base stations would cover all the way from Deep Playa to the Gate with no issues and have enough bandwidth to handle a few 1000 bikes. I just have to find consistent power at 3 points on playa (10, 2 and somewhere near the middle to outer ring of 6.

Depending how cheap those transmitters are, you might make them available to others as part of your camp.
It seems that most bikes that are taken are for convenience of people who don't want to walk a distance. Those are mostly cheap bikes. There are others that are taken because they are expensive or nicer bikes left not locked up. The expensive bikes are the ones that should be tracked so you could find where it was taken and attempt to get it back. This would require you to have an expensive bike and to leave it intentionally unlocked. The cheaper bikes would most likely be used for 30 minutes then just left where it stops. Retrieving the cheaper bikes would require them to also be left unlocked, then realize when one was taken and have the tracking operation start.

Our camp had 40 or so bikes and two of them were stolen during the week. They were both deep within our camp and neither was locked, since the owners felt they were safe there.

[unjonharley]

LOCK YOUR BIKE !! Easy as that .. If some one takes your locked bike, it is stolen.. Lock your bike .. If you do not lock your bike.. You are a victim.. In this case I blame the victim .. Do not waste my time by whining to me ..

[Meat Hunter]

I am scratching my head.

I may have heard or read about it and it most probably has happened, but I cannot remember anyone ever talking or writing about their LOCKED bike being stolen - only the UN-Locked bikes.

An easy way prevent your bike from being stolen - When your fanny comes off the bike seat - The lock goes on.

[unjonharley]

I am scratching my head.

I may have heard or read about it and it most probably has happened, but I cannot remember anyone ever talking or writing about their LOCKED bike being stolen - only the UN-Locked bikes.

An easy way prevent your bike from being stolen - When your fanny comes off the bike seat - The lock goes on.

One year, there were claims of people with bolt cutters..

[some seeing eye]

I’m thinking about setting up a LoRa Network and outfitting our entire camp’s bikes with very small GPS/transmitter rigs to track all of the bikes. It will provide not only pinpoint accuracy but it would be pretty easy to develop an app that would actually log all the locations the whole week to see where all we went. 2-3 base stations would cover all the way from Deep Playa to the Gate with no issues and have enough bandwidth to handle a few 1000 bikes. I just have to find consistent power at 3 points on playa (10, 2 and somewhere near the middle to outer ring of 6.

You might join the BRC WiFi email list. The radio kids and the org frequency sort of-coordinator hang out there. For a project like this there would likely be 20' towers and power some camps might volunteer.

You could prototype with your camp. But maybe the next step is to do a study on a sample of the yellow bikes. Not sure a compact concealable battery-powered LoRa-GPS module is an off the shelf item from Alib*b*, but you never know. It would also be interesting to look at even lower cost ideas like infrared retroreflectors using LIDAR tech, IR beacons, or time of flight triangulation of poll and detect transceivers.

Burners always figure out the complex solution to a problem like not using locks, but I do that all the time too.

[maladroit]

Sweet, we could design a custom LoRa GPS logger with flashing and audible alert, geofence feature, custom iPhone app with map of the city, a mesh network to extend range, and solar-charged lithium batteries, and it would be attached to a metal cable that goes around your bike frame and through a wheel and has a combination to remove it. Just remember to attach your BikeMinder(tm) every time you leave your bike alone (again, looping the cable through the frame and a wheel), and it'll be safe!

[BBadger]

And here I was thinking a simple bike lock was sufficient.

[unjonharley]

It must be a pain in the brain .. Ramming ones head against simple pure logic ..

[Sham]

And here I was thinking a simple bike lock was sufficient.

Now you're just talking craziness.

[pedroescobar]

And here I was thinking a simple bike lock was sufficient.

For an extra $6-10 it wouldn’t be that bad. Initial cost on the network would be under $5k and some very low level power requirements on playa. The app development would be the bigger challenge but I may already have the resources required to work on it for other projects we have in mind.

[Sham]

And here I was thinking a simple bike lock was sufficient.

For an extra $6-10 it wouldn’t be that bad. Initial cost on the network would be under $5k and some very low level power requirements on playa. The app development would be the bigger challenge but I may already have the resources required to work on it for other projects we have in mind.

Are you suggesting a $5,000 network and $6-10 per bike to protect them. Then have a GPS set up to hunt down the stolen or lost bikes? This would require people to man the computers and a staff to look for the bikes.
If someone is too lax to buy a lock, why do you think they would be buying a GPS unit for their bike?
Next, if a lost or stolen bike is in a sea of hundreds of bikes, how would you actually find it?

I would like to meet the person who makes their way the playa and spends their entire week looking for someone else's stolen bike.

[unjonharley]

And here I was thinking a simple bike lock was sufficient.

For an extra $6-10 it wouldn’t be that bad. Initial cost on the network would be under $5k and some very low level power requirements on playa. The app development would be the bigger challenge but I may already have the resources required to work on it for other projects we have in mind.

BUY A LOCK $3.00.

[Traveller in Time]

Add some AI to your electric Bicycle and make it robotic returning "home"

Making something even only figuring out how it should work is much better then paying money for a simple lock

[some seeing eye]

Everything is made in China, now, sorry MrPres, and wholesale U-locks are about Unjon's number.

So maybe the Department of Decommodification Department will open the LockYurBikeULockStore on playa?

It would be like the decommodified DrankMoarCoffeeCenterCampCafe and DoNotDieofFoodPoisoningorWarmCocktailsArctica?

Since all decommodified on-playaTM sales are cash, it could become a huge slush fund.

How do you prove the bike is yours? That would require a new department of bike vehicles which would put a non-removable bike pass priced to recover program costs on every bike through the gate. It would be paired with a secure bike owner wristband, all barcoded into the new burning man bike-participant database.

It would also require a new department of RangersSawingOffLocks when keys are lost and LEO could spend more enforcement energy on SupervisingAuthorizedLockSawerOffers to prevent thieves sawing off locks. Since angle grinders need recharging, all generators on playa would have to be licensed and their camps searched for non-authorized angle grinders.

Of course, instead of a gumball, each ticket mailing could include a lock per ticket. And there would be a shipping container of locks at will-call. Then there could be a giant ULockRecyclingDonation program, post the event. It could go along with the ItCostsMoreThantheCostoftheBikeToOverhaultheShitBottomBracketUnlessLaborisFree program.

This would replace the bring a cheap bike you can afford to lose with a decent bottom bracket reusable for a few years in the default world and lock it, or you are SOL policy.

We can solve this!

[unjonharley]

Place a hasp on the neck of a bicycle, then a keeper (@ 45d) on the neck frame with a pad-lock ..

[maladroit]

I thought it was obvious that I was lampooning the idea of the GPS tracker + network + app by repeatedly specifying that the device was attached to a steel cable with combination lock that you must loop through the frame and a wheel.

[Jackass]

Yeah, just keep an eye on your shit and you'll be ok... I don't abandon my bike or wander too far, the last couple of years it has worked for me.
It also helps when it's a one of a kind masterpiece, that has been carefully adorned over the years.

You don't see the wooden log or 2x4 framed bikes getting stolen...

[BBadger]

My friend didn't have a lock because he normally locks up with his partner, but he really had to take a shit and went off alone.

To prevent theft, what he did was decouple the chain from the chainring to make it hard to pedal off with the bike for the common theft-of-opportunity thief.

[Joeln]

Place a hasp on the neck of a bicycle, then a keeper (@ 45d) on the neck frame with a pad-lock ..

I like Elliot's backward steering bait-bike. I spent 20 minutes trying to ride it...damn thing just throws you right off.

[silvergirl70]

Sweet, we could design a custom LoRa GPS logger with flashing and audible alert, geofence feature, custom iPhone app with map of the city, a mesh network to extend range, and solar-charged lithium batteries, and it would be attached to a metal cable that goes around your bike frame and through a wheel and has a combination to remove it. Just remember to attach your BikeMinder(tm) every time you leave your bike alone (again, looping the cable through the frame and a wheel), and it'll be safe!

Maladroit, I chuckled with 'BikeMinder''s last step...it did not go unnoticed.

[tatonka]