I am not sure if I have a couple weeks that go by where I don’t see someone talking about their stolen bike on Facebook. A friend of mine even had one stolen off the top of his SUV in his company parking lot.

It may not surprise you that the FBI statistics claim that 204,000 bicycles were stolen nationwide in 2010, but those are only the documented thefts. The actual number, I would imagine, is much higher.

So the big question of the day is “what can we do to protect ourselves?” This is obviously a problem that is not going away. With the price of equipment going up, the street value is as well. And…let’s face it…even if that were not the case, bicycles are a highly sought after item for the people low enough to steal.

We can bitch, moan and complain, but the reality is that petty theft is a real problem and bicycles are a big ticket item in that category. We need to protect our two wheeled treasure as best we can given the conditions. However, even when it seems like we have done everything, bad people will still try and succeed. Our hope is that what goes around comes around and they pay for it eventually.

6 Tips To Secure Your Ride

So what can we do to decrease the odds and keep our bikes…well…ours.

1. Forget the cable…go steel or chain – While cable locks look like they protect you from theft, all they really do is keep someone who doesn’t know how to steal bikes from performing a grab and go (think kids). By using a chain like the Kyrponite I personally use or a heavy duty u-lock made out of hardened steel, you greatly increase your chances of the thief going to the next bike to save the trouble.
2. Bike rack locks are worthless – Yes, that lock on your Thule T2 arm looks like it does something, but even I can un-rack your bike from the bike rack in under a minute with those things. All you have to do is take the front wheel off the bike. Any cable lock or locking system on bike racks only prevents the thieves mentioned in the tip above. Anyone who knows how to steal a bike will have yours quickly if that is all you rely on.
3. Never leave your bike outside overnight – It’s dark, they have almost unlimited uninterrupted time and you can’t do anything about it. Even the best locking systems fail in these conditions. Take your bike inside or put it in the trunk of a car if you can.
4. Avoid really flashy looking parts – If you are going to be in situations where your bike is going to be in danger a lot, try not to lust after the matching ano and carbon bits are you are just creating more attention to your bike.
5. Ride a beater – Sounds funny…but think of this as a different horse for different courses. If you have certain situations where you know you are more at risk for theft, have a cheaper bike for then and your staple, high end bike for when you know it isn’t going to get taken. That way, you aren’t quite as upset when your cheap bike gets stripped down or taken. You can get anything off of Craigslist and eBay that it is great condition on the cheap.
6. Get Insured – Auto insurance doesn’t normally cover stolen bikes. If you really want replacement cost taken care of if your bike is stolen, get a renters insurance policy or an adder to your homeowner’s insurance to cover the bikes while you are out driving around with them or riding them. You also need to be sure to accurately document all parts with pictures so they can be provided for the claim. These insurance policies are crazy cheap and can save you thousands.

Nothing is truly ever safe and at the end of the day…it is still just stuff. It is never worth dying over a bike trying to save it from getting stolen, but at least we can increase our chances of it not happening to begin with.

Lil vidder of Killick from last Fall. He would like to thank his sponsors, Giant, Chromag, Giro, Lavan, Smith and Bicycle Cafe. Song is Chemical Brothers – One too many mornings. facebook.com/pages/Silvia/149128011826656

So what do these derailleurs do?

The ideal is to have a clutch mechanism inside the derailleur body that actually increases spring tension to tighten the chainline and prevent noisy chain slap. This would allow for longer rear derailleurs that are required for 3x and large 2x setups to get similar features as short cage derailleurs while drastically decreasing the noise the noise your drivetrain makes while riding. They also keep the chain from jumping gears over really rough terrain due to the increased chainline tension.

On the Shimano XTR unit, there is a switch that takes the derailleur from normal to firm. On this close-up shot, we do not see anything that looks like a switch, so this might be an always on option. However, SRAM has not given any further information about this new rear derailleur other than the linked pictures…so this is all speculation at this point.

It is…by far…one of the best illustrations I have seen to date on driver/road biker relations. I can not begin to tell you how many rides I have been on where a road biker will yell, scream, cuss and throw things at drivers that come too close.

Yes…the driver was in the wrong…but so was the reaction.

For some reason, some road bikers believe they are doing some sort of good by flying off the handle at drivers of cars and trucks. In reality, all they are doing is further making the relationship between drivers and road bikers even worse. Do you really think you are making a difference by acting like a lunatic? All you are really doing is proving the wrongful thinking of the driver that road bikers are crazy and wreckless.

Furthermore, the road biker seems to conveniently forget that by acting this way, they are also fueling the stereotype that road bikers are angry assholes on the road and that makes it harder for the rest of us (and more unsafe) that just want to get out and enjoy the open road.

Just like the illustration says, we need to not fight fire with fire. We need to give the reaction that is unexpected. Have you ever tried talking to a driver nicely about what happened?

“Hey man, I know you probably didn’t mean to, but you go really close to us back there. Can you please leave just a little bit more room next time? I would hate to see something go wrong.”

If they still get mad at that point, then it is their own issues but you didn’t make the situation worse by being a jackass which would further justify their anger. Let’s lose the angry roadie attitude once and for all. Let’s finally do our part in driver/road biker relations by leading by example and not through hate.

We can raise awareness and try to get legislation passed, but until we step up and act how we would like to be treated…nothing will change.

So…here is the footage of Chris Akrigg falling off a cliff and the progress on his recovery.

From the crew here at Bike198, we hope Chris continues to recover well and thanks for the update!

Images like this really make me wonder how the guys out west and in certain areas of Europe don’t just wreck on every ride looking at everything but the trail. Simply beautiful…

Join the Bike198 Flickr Group and start submitting your photos. They show up in the sidebar of the site and sometimes get featured in articles like these.

Want to take better mountain biking pictures? Check out this three part series by Keith Pytlinski.

• How To Shoot Mountain Bike Photography – Part 1
• How To Shoot Mountain Bike Photography – Part 2
• How To Shoot Mountain Bike Photography – Part 3

People for Bikes thought it was a pretty cool idea, so they put together this clip of “Shit Cyclists Say” for the roadie crowd. It’s amazing how even though riding groups are spread out all over the place…we all still say the same things. We got some great response to it on the Bike198 Facebook page so we thought we would go ahead and post it here as well. Check it out below.