My Bike

Was stolen a couple of months ago, in the middle of the afternoon in front of a busy grocery store, I was inside for all of 20 minutes, it had highly rated Abus U-lock on it, none of that was enough to deter the asshole who took it. I have been careful with my new bike, I use two u-locks now, expensive ones, I registered it with 529 Garage, I try not to leave it unattended for more than an hour at a time. I know that's still probably not enough. Going over Craigs List and stolen bike sites online, it really depresses me, the sheer volume of bikes that are stolen in this city. There are back-alley chop-shops all over the downtown east side, the police don't seem to give a crap. It's ridiculous, can't they start a bait-bike program? I heard that worked really well in Victoria, maybe crack down on some of the chop shops? I can't afford to drive in this expensive-ass town and I don't like riding transit. Losing my bike had a serious effect on my livelihood I wish the VPD would at least make some token effort to curb the problem.

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Agreed

Oct 16, 2018 at 1:00pm

My bike is just as precious to me as my car, if not even more so. Maybe it’s because of all the wonderful adventures I’ve had on it, or how much of a team you are with a bike, more so than a car. For people who use their bike as their main form of transportation, it’s absolutely as precious as a car. I think that the police have become so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of thefts, and our laws are so lax in terms of actual punishment, that they’ve just given up. The solution (in the absence of any true law enforcement), I think is for cyclists to stop buying the type of bikes that make thieves drool. There are lots of decent bikes that are just fine to commute around the city on, and if it gets stolen at least you’re not out thousands.

22 8Rating: +14

@Agreed

Oct 16, 2018 at 1:57pm

O.P. here. My bike was a crappy-assed, low end flat-bar sport bike, it was 5 years old and had a ton of scratches on it, parts of it were rusty other parts had fallen off. Having said that, it was a great bike and I loved it, my new bike is great too but you never forget your first love. I did not think my cheap bike would be a target but it was. Live and learn I guess.

!

Oct 16, 2018 at 6:03pm

Vancouver police seem to decide for themselves if and when they enforce the law, effectively making themselves the law.

Another bicycle theft victim

Oct 17, 2018 at 9:58am

I have had two bicycles stolen over a 24-year period. The VPD did not recover the first one, but they did recover the second one.

Like anyone else, I felt the loss and replaced what was necessary, since I rely on cycling as my chief form of transportation.

I am not in law enforcement, but I know that it is unfair to say that the VPD does nothing or enforces the law sporadically.

Much depends on the discretion of the officers involved, true, but they do an excellent job overall. Officer resources often dictate how any crime might be investigated.

Do your part

Oct 17, 2018 at 10:22pm

I work in the DTES and see stolen bikes all the time... if you don't report your stolen property to the police it will never be returned to you... I have bought bikes off of addicts before in order to return them to their owners but could not find the owner because s/he never reported that serial number/bike as stolen...

Anonymous

Oct 25, 2018 at 3:08pm

nu lock is going to stand up to an angle grinder with a steel cutting wheel

2 13Rating: -11

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