Gone in 30 Seconds

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Sometimes bicycle theft happens so quickly, just a quick snip with a bolt cutter and no one even notices. Other times it can be incredibly obvious and no one is going to even bother to call the police. In the past a statement like this would have been hard to prove, but with the creation of YouTube, now it’s just a matter of waiting for someone to post a video.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words then video must be worth 10,000 words. Want to see how fast a bike can be stolen watch the video below; the thief walks in, checks for anyone watching him, and rides off with the bike.

While I feel for the person who had this bike. Even if your bicycle is within arms length of you all it takes is a few distracted moments and your bike is gone. Always lock your bicycle to something; taking it inside is no protection from theft.

In 2005 Casey Neistat and his brother Van locked their bicycle in a series of locations with lots of pedestrians and proceeded to steal it using a variety of tools; hacksaws, bolt, cutters, and a grinder. To see if anything would happen, not only did nothing happen, one person even offered advice when he was using a hammer and chisel.

In 2012 at the invitation of the New York Times Casey Neistat went back and tried this again to see if anything had changed. This time in addition to the same tools from last time, he stole his bike in front of a police station and had a black friend steal his bike. At one point the police actually show up, but only after he spent 9 minutes cutting a bike lock with a grinder. Although with a cutting wheel on the grinder it would have taken him two minutes.

Owning a bicycle means at some point it will get stolen and there are things you can do to make it as difficult as possible to steal. So a potential thief will move on to another target, any cable lock or chain you buy in hardware store can be cut with a bolt cutter. You need to invest in a high quality Kryptonite u-lock or chain, Kryptonite rates its locks based on the level of security you need.