4 ms·

Don't have to worry about theft?! Wow, Europe must be so different than North America. I'm much more worried about my biker being stolen (has happened about a d

Don't have to worry about theft?! Wow, Europe must be so different than North America. I'm much more worried about my biker being stolen (has happened about a dozen times in my life) than my car. If the former happens you get absolutely zero support, while if the latter happens the police will actually try to do something.

Macha 4y ago
> If the former happens you get absolutely zero support, while if the latter happens the police will actually try to do something. The sad thing here is that it's not even triaging by property damage. Your €1000 fifth hand car will get more police attention if stolen than a €3000 ebike.
waldothedog 4y ago
A dozen times? Damn, where do you live if you don’t mind me asking?
- britzkopf 4y ago
  Vancouver, Canada
- mschuster91 4y ago
  Probably Amsterdam, where 80.000 bikes are stolen per year [1] - at 821k inhabitants, one in ten will statistically have a bike stolen each year. The country is on its best way to become Europe's head narco state. [1] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0279906 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...
acidburnNSA 4y ago
This stood out to me too. I'm pretty sure that every nice e-bike left outside gets stolen within minutes in my city.
interdrift 4y ago
bike thefts happen in the Netherland (once I saw a 50+ year old guy walking around inspecting bikes in a student neighbourhood + multiple bike thefts in that area). Also in Bulgaria where I am from :) but I can't say where it happens more or what the chances are.
tigeroil 4y ago
Indeed. Though to be fair, having a bike is so much cheaper than a car that even if it did get stolen it'd still be cheaper to replace it than run a car.
- pastage 4y ago
  Having a bicycle stolen is actually a frequentl reason people stop cycling. Getting a new bike sucks.
  - Fricken 4y ago
    A year of public transit in my city costs $1200, which is commensurate with the most I've spent on a commuter bike. I've had 7 bikes stolen in a quarter century of commuting, and I feel like I'm getting a pretty great deal when it comes to transport costs.
pjmlp 4y ago
It was most likely a typo, there is hardly any European country where bycicles don't get stolen.
benhurmarcel 4y ago
I have a nice ebike I use daily in Europe, and I'm also much more worried about getting it robbed than my car. I only park it in fairly secure locations if it's for more than a few hours (ie. not in the street), and I put 2 of the most secure bike locks I could find, 1 wheel lock, secure bolts on wheels and saddle, and light locks on big accessories like the child seat. Plus an Airtag hidden somewhere.
crote 4y ago
Not really. I've never had one of mine stolen, despite usually using a fairly crappy lock. The trick is to have a bike which stands out. If you can recognize your individual bike from across the street, people won't steal it. Bonus points if it looks crappy despite being well-maintained. Beyond that it is mainly a matter of parking in bike garages with cameras where possible, and using a chain lock to fix it to an immovable object otherwise.
kkfdkerpoe 4y ago
Bike theft is a big problem at least here in Finland, especially for expensive bikes.
trgn 4y ago
lol yeah. I live in a city where practically nobody bikes, and bikes get stolen frequently. Nowhere near as bad though than European city. Bike theft is so rampant. It's just so easy, throw it in a truck, or pedal away with it. Since I live in a redneck place, I ride a step-through woman bike in pastel color now, after two previous ones got stolen, and that genuinely helps. People may make snarky comments, but the bike has remained untouched for a decade now.

Macha 4y ago

> If the former happens you get absolutely zero support, while if the latter happens the police will actually try to do something. The sad thing here is that it's not even triaging by property damage. Your €1000 fifth hand car will get more police attention if stolen than a €3000 ebike.

waldothedog 4y ago

A dozen times? Damn, where do you live if you don’t mind me asking?

britzkopf 4y ago
Vancouver, Canada
mschuster91 4y ago
Probably Amsterdam, where 80.000 bikes are stolen per year [1] - at 821k inhabitants, one in ten will statistically have a bike stolen each year. The country is on its best way to become Europe's head narco state. [1] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0279906 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...

acidburnNSA 4y ago

This stood out to me too. I'm pretty sure that every nice e-bike left outside gets stolen within minutes in my city.

interdrift 4y ago

bike thefts happen in the Netherland (once I saw a 50+ year old guy walking around inspecting bikes in a student neighbourhood + multiple bike thefts in that area). Also in Bulgaria where I am from :) but I can't say where it happens more or what the chances are.

tigeroil 4y ago

Indeed. Though to be fair, having a bike is so much cheaper than a car that even if it did get stolen it'd still be cheaper to replace it than run a car.

pastage 4y ago
Having a bicycle stolen is actually a frequentl reason people stop cycling. Getting a new bike sucks.
- Fricken 4y ago
  A year of public transit in my city costs $1200, which is commensurate with the most I've spent on a commuter bike. I've had 7 bikes stolen in a quarter century of commuting, and I feel like I'm getting a pretty great deal when it comes to transport costs.

pjmlp 4y ago

It was most likely a typo, there is hardly any European country where bycicles don't get stolen.

benhurmarcel 4y ago

I have a nice ebike I use daily in Europe, and I'm also much more worried about getting it robbed than my car. I only park it in fairly secure locations if it's for more than a few hours (ie. not in the street), and I put 2 of the most secure bike locks I could find, 1 wheel lock, secure bolts on wheels and saddle, and light locks on big accessories like the child seat. Plus an Airtag hidden somewhere.

crote 4y ago

Not really. I've never had one of mine stolen, despite usually using a fairly crappy lock. The trick is to have a bike which stands out. If you can recognize your individual bike from across the street, people won't steal it. Bonus points if it looks crappy despite being well-maintained. Beyond that it is mainly a matter of parking in bike garages with cameras where possible, and using a chain lock to fix it to an immovable object otherwise.

kkfdkerpoe 4y ago

Bike theft is a big problem at least here in Finland, especially for expensive bikes.

trgn 4y ago

lol yeah. I live in a city where practically nobody bikes, and bikes get stolen frequently. Nowhere near as bad though than European city. Bike theft is so rampant. It's just so easy, throw it in a truck, or pedal away with it. Since I live in a redneck place, I ride a step-through woman bike in pastel color now, after two previous ones got stolen, and that genuinely helps. People may make snarky comments, but the bike has remained untouched for a decade now.