To those who use Parkiteer cages...

[Microblah]

A few months back, I finally signed up to the Parkiteer scheme to lock my bike up at the local (Newport) station. I thought it was a great idea - Newport's a relatively safe place, and with my bike locked to a rail inside a keycard-protected steel cage I figured I could have some peace of mind knowing I'd still have a ride when I got off the train. Right?

Well, no.

I locked my bike up yesterday afternoon to go out and catch up with friends, and ended up staying out for the whole night (Not a good idea leaving a bike out overnight, I know). I got back to the station around 7 this morning, and went to pick up my bike. Firstly, I noticed the empty space where my bike had been. Then I saw my helmet still clipped to the rail where I'd left it, with the cable lock coiled up inside it having been neatly cut in half with a pair of shears. Then I noticed the gaping hole that had been cut in the back of the steel cage, and finally I turned around and saw several other now useless locks lying around the cage.
I've taken all the usual measures - notified the police, and the Bicycle Network who operate the cages, set up alerts on Gumtree and all that. I'm not amazingly optimistic, but we'll see what happens.

Point is, I just assumed these cages were pretty darn safe, but clearly they're not all they've cracked up to be. All I can think about is that if I'd had a quality lock like a Kryptonite rather than the token-effort cable lock to keep the opportunist thieves away, I'd probably still have my bike. I'll definitely be going out and grabbing one before I even think about leaving my other bike anywhere! Presumably a few other people are gonna be feeling the same way today, and hopefully this serves as a warning to others - don't assume these cages are the be-all and end-all in security like I did, and lock your bike up as solidly as you can.

P.S. I've put a post up in the Stolen Bikes forum as well, if anyone has any leads, or also had their bike stolen in this incident, I'd like to hear about it.

[antigee]

I'd be asking the Police and PTV(?) if cage covered by CCTV and if adjacent parking areas have coverage and if road has any CCTV coverage by local businesses - I'd assume a van used to take bikes away... lay it on thick that the offender(s) need putting off doing same elsewhere

[ColinOldnCranky]

Point is, I just assumed these cages were pretty darn safe, but clearly they're not all they've cracked up to be. All I can think about is that if I'd had a quality lock like a Kryptonite rather than the token-effort cable lock to keep the opportunist thieves away, I'd probably still have my bike. I'll definitely be going out and grabbing one before I even think about leaving my other bike anywhere! Presumably a few other people are gonna be feeling the same way today, and hopefully this serves as a warning to others - don't assume these cages are the be-all and end-all in security like I did, and lock your bike up as solidly as you can.

With my hundred dollar RyobiOne portable grinder fitted with a thin cutting disk (ie NOT a grinding disk), both ubiquitous, then, sorry to say, it won't take long to slice through a case hardened u-bolt like a kryptonite. It may take a little longer and a cutting disk will make noise and sparks, but the whole thing could be done in very short time. Of course, the Kryptonite should do better than a wire job that will be defeated in a matter of seconds.

I don't think I'd put much faith in any grind tests carried out by a manufacturer btw. I can make a video that will demonstrate exceptional grind resistance. I'd just use the wrong disk for the materials.

A couple of years back a design student claimed to have developed the best in the world with a mix of metal and kevlar thread. I don't know if it ever got to market, nor how much better it performed. I did note that a video the bloke published used everything EXCEPT a power grinder. Instead he used a dremmil or similar at slow speed, the sort of thing that hobbyists use for etching lightweight hobby materials). But even if he had destroyed a disk on video, I'd cynically suggest that he used, say, a cutting disk suited to ceramics.

It would be good if there was better protection but I'm afraid that resisting an angle grinder with the correct cutting disk will get through most things likely to find their way into a lock.

I wonder if a u-bolt with some dye inside under pressure may be the way to go rather than just trying to out-brute available tools.

[bychosis]

It would be good if there was better protection but I'm afraid that resisting an angle grinder with the correct cutting disk will get through most things likely to find their way into a lock.

And even if you had the best lock in the world, it would be probable that cutting whatever the bike was locked to would be a quicker solution to thieving the bike. The mounts are likely to be mild steel at best.

[Microblah]

I reported the matter to the police, then got in contact with the local station staff who told me that the police usually collect CCTV footage as part of their investigation. The car park next to the cage has cameras, but unfortunately they're all pointed away from the cage itself. If the culprits had any sense they'd have taken the bikes out the back way to another car park, avoiding all the cameras. Still, we'll see if the police find anything on the footage.
I'm hoping that with the scale of the theft, and the damage to the cage itself, those involved will realise they need to up their security game a bit.

You guys are definitely right about locks though. After doing some research I couldn't find a single U-lock that couldn't be beaten by an angle grinder in less than a minute. Still, that's orders of magnitude more difficulty and risk to a thief than cutting through a cable lock with bolt cutters so I guess it's worth it. I do like the idea of a dye pack in a lock! Looks like a few people have tried it, but none are on the market at the moment.

[bychosis]

You are right about the bolt cutters being a lot less noisy, and therefore noticeable, than a grinder. Still, locks are only to make hebthief work harder for your stuff.

[CycloVelo]

I remember a while back someone tried to market a lock that emitted a vomit-inducing odour/chemical if you cut through the lock into the chemical reservoir in the core of the lock. I believe it was called Skunk Lock. Not sure if it ever got off the ground.

[antigee]

.....And even if you had the best lock in the world, it would be probable that cutting whatever the bike was locked to would be a quicker solution to thieving the bike. The mounts are likely to be mild steel at best.

when lived in the UK heard of frames of high spec' bikes being cut thru' leaving the lock and presumably then stripping off the components for resale or to hide the identity of other stolen bikes - local university and hospital regular targets

[march83]

Locks don't stop determined thieves. If you've left your bike unattended in any state and a thief wants it then they'll have it. Thieves are brazen. They don't seem to care about being seen, noise or interruptions from passersby. They will steal bikes from public places under CCTV with noisy power tools and fob off good Samaritans with stories like "it's my bike, but I lost the key to the lock".

All locks can be defeated. There is no unbeatable lock, only locks that take more or less time to be defeated.

All a lock can do is make your bike either harder to steal than the ones next to it or too time consuming to steal. If a thief wants a quick get away they will pick 1 bike with higher value and lower difficulty and be gone in seconds. All you can do is be harder to steal and less valuable (old parts, no visible branding, etc) and then just cross your fingers.

In a cage overnight they have all the time in the world to take every single bike so locks are effectively useless.