Anyone ever been bike jacked yet?

[arknor]

I saw a post on my cities reddit and it got me feeling nervous about riding around as my bike is obviously expensive and I always ride solo.

Moped Thieves / Balaclava surron chavs - how to handle
Hey guys,
I cycle round the Newcastle area, often between heaton to tynemouth, and recently seen a sharp rise in the amount of lads riding surons and mopeds with balacava, clearly up to no good.
Today Spotted a group (about 5, with a bloomin van full of pushbikes on the back!!) on the shiremore - North shields wagonway, and honestly my heart dropped this time as I thought "this is it, my bikes a goner", remained calm didn't make eye contact, maintained speed and just kept pedalling, increasing speed once I was past them to create distance.
Thankfully, they didn't bother me even though I've got an E-bike, although maybe they didn't attack me cause there was a 6ft man built like a truck walking on the path at the same time, or because they already had a clearly stolen bike they were tearing apart
Just wondering, in simular sitations, what do you guys do? What CAN you do? I've spotted mopeds/surrons come behind before (from about 50m back) and in those cases I quickly break Line of sight just incase by switching routes (not into a side street or back alley, i'm not that stupid), but in this case its a long narrow route bridleway which has no exits often
I haven't heard any cases of bike jackings in the Newcastle area, but it's bloody terrifying seeing these lads, I've ordered a go-pro for my helmet, and carry a tactical flashlight which is blinding even in full daylight. My bike also has a gps tracker, but considering those lads I spotted were tearing down a bike, I don't think it would survive.
Maybe im being paranoid, maybe I'm safe, I don't know, I just don't want the experience of being bike jacked, and my heart shouldn't be dropping whenever I spot lads with balaclavas on...Riding my bike is the only freedom I have and I'm starting to get too scared to go out.
Any advise or similar experiences?

Obvciously hes mental if he thinks hes fighting anyone off when they will have machetes etc

This must be where the guy saw them and how the path looks for most of the way along it, with a few turn offs far apart.

Newcastle is full of these paths that were once used to transport coal and are locally known as Waggonways.

Obviously the perfect place to jack peoples bikes by force,

so it got me wondering, has anyone on from these forums been bike jacked yet? or saw any really suspicious behaviour on their rides?

IF it's really happening around Newcastle then the police are keeping it quiet... which honestly wouldn't surprise me at all.

Someone on the post commented that the police are using drops to catch them, so maybe it really is happening... but the police are keeping it quiet... seems to be a common theme with crime these days.... (IF we don't talk about it, then it doesn't exist)

 

[arknor]

The guy doesn't really say why he thought they were bike thieves? Would they really just sit there with tools, taking apart bikes they'd just stolen? Any time I've heard it happen, they've been very mobile and on their toes pretty quick after nicking the bike. Could it just have been a bunch of cyclists waiting for their mate to fix his bike?

chavs with a van full if bikes and supposedly stripping one?

Maybe they were angle grinder thieves wanting somewhere quiet to strip bikes or check if they have GPS modules?

would make more sense to got a van full of bikes that way.
Either way I wouldn't to pass them on an expensive bike


I guess the easiest way to find out how safe cycling is would be to ask deliveroo/ubereats riders, I often see them gathered in big groups so any news would travel fast in their circles

 

[arknor]

Maybe we should make a list.

Don't buy a nice bike, it could get nicked.
Don't buy a nice car, it could get nicked.
Don't spend money on anything nice, it might get nicked.

you probably wouldn't drive your nice car through the hood, you'd avoid it and drive somewhere more safe.

nothing wrong with taking precautions and being wary.



who do you think is driving surons in 2 of the roughest areas of Newcastle? its going to be chavs

The person who made the post probably panicked sure.

I've had people on clearly stolen motorbikes pass me on the waggonways before and they always gave me a nod when I give them space to pass.
My bikes value was guessed wrongly at 3k (EMTB) by some chavs the other week who stopped to talk to me in a park, they were telling me how they had been in the cells over night and just been bailed.
I was talking to them for a good 10 mins and they never tried anything.

not everyone is looking to steal bikes sure.

 

[arknor]

You clearly look oiky enough that they didn't want to mess with you in case you know Callum, Connor or Jim boy.

Ronnie Pickering is my go to guy

 

[arknor]

Who?

RONNIE PICKERING!

 

[arknor]

Saw on another forum someone had great success

Stolen bike success

Well that was an exciting but weird evening. 3 of our bikes got stolen from outside the pub tonight. Two guys cut the locks and threw them in a van, got disturbed so didn’t get the rest. Bystander got a description of the van and a partial plate. Already tipped the police off it was a Bristol...

www.emtbforums.com

Well that was an exciting but weird evening. 3 of our bikes got stolen from outside the pub tonight. Two guys cut the locks and threw them in a van, got disturbed so didn’t get the rest.

Bystander got a description of the van and a partial plate. Already tipped the police off it was a Bristol gang. Then the AirTag I have in my bike pinged. Address in Bath.

Police hightailed it there. Got the bikes, nicked two guys, and recovered the van which was stolen. Can go get the bikes back in the morning.

What a result. Police were fabulous. Weird night though.

 

[arknor]

I am looking forward to Google launching their own 'AirTag' system, so I can get my bikes tagged.

Yea, almost worth the price of a iPhone it seems
You can get gps modules for bikes but they seem expensive and require a subscription from what I gather.


For ebikes they could all essentially be honey traps but I guess there's some weird legal implications preventing it, or the companies don't care.


Think about it someone steals your Bosch Ebike.
Theres already a report stolen bike function in the Smart App.
all it does it generate a report locally for the police based on information you've filled in though with copies of proof of purchase etc.


but wouldn't it be amazing if "reporting as stolen" in the app then triggers "honey pot mode"

When someones goes to register the bike to a bosch account, instead of giving an error because it's already locked to another user.
How about it lets that person register a "honey pot account" allowing the thief/recipient of stolen goods to use the bike as normal.
GPS logs there rides as normal.

The police know exactly where the bike is being stored and can recover it.

suddenly thieves are less interesting in stealing these bikes, the components might still be worth a lot of money. but surely it would be a huge deterrent

 

[arknor]

I saw a video recently: in his case they were not after the bikes but mobile phones. The MO was to just grab the phone as they rode past, tearing from your hand or from its mount.

I ride with mine out front on a Bosch smart grip.

Felt vulnerable with it there a few times. but anyone trying to grab it is probably breaking their hand if they don't let go fast


Another reason police should stop all the ebikes and check they are legal... too many of those deliveroo bikes don't pedal and go about 30mph.
The police should start crushing illegal bikes and illegal scooters


The same kind of bikes are the ones used for crime