I'm not alone: the Minneapolis police department say that thousands of bikes are stolen in Minneapolis alone every year, and many more across the Twin Cities metro area.
- Preventing bike theft, and reporting your bike stolen to 311 in Minneapolis. You can also make a police report on-line if the theft happened in Minneapolis.
- St. Paul and other cities in the metro area: call the local police department to report the theft
My bike spends a lot of time locked up on the street, so the replacement bike I bought today is a second-hand one from Capital Deals in St. Paul. This store sells new and used bikes and sporting goods in St. Paul's West Side. While I was looking for a used bike, I also visited the non-profit Express Bike Shop in St. Paul, who had a great selection and a worthy social mission, but didn't have quite the right bicycle for me. Sunrise Cyclery in Uptown Minneapolis is another good store for used bikes.
- Capital Deals: 710 Smith Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55107, Telephone 651-0222-8380
- More bike shops in Minneapolis and St. Paul
I bought a tougher lock too, and am hoping this bike will be mine a little longer than my Kona was. Here's some tips for locking your bike. And, an extreme deterrent for bike thieves. My anti-theft system isn't any more proactive than a U lock, but would you install the following system on your bike?
Comments
Sorry to hear about your bike. I know how inconvenient that is when you depend on your bike!
I live in Amsterdam, where the bicycle is the main mode of transport for most people. Bicycle theft is a huge problem here too. In fact, around 750.000 bikes are stolen every year in the Netherlands.
I read your tips – they’re very sound. I also use a U lock (through the wheel and frame and fixed to something solid) as well as a secondary lock that goes through my back wheel.
Clara,
First of all, I am sorry to hear that happened to you! Second, you’re definitely not alone.
I’ve had components of my bike stolen in Chicago (even once while locked up inside my office!).
In addition to having a heavy-duty bike lock, I spent the money to change all the components of my bike so they’re not “quick-release components”.
Now you can’t easily pop anything off my bike. Since then, everything has been golden.
~ Adam Fendelman
About.com Cell Phones Guide
My daughter just bought a new Townie bike and lives in fear of having it stolen. Any anti-theft tips are greatly appreciated!
I watched the YouTube taser video. I would like to taser the guy who made it! (He does say he is a really tough guy). Was there really a need to be half naked to show a “how to” on building his bike ant-theft device?
Clara, I’d be crushed if someone stole my bike! I have many happy years of memories in those spokes of kids riding on the back along the beautiful trails of Northern Virginia.
Wow, I thought everyone in Minnesota was so nice! That Norwegian blood or something. I had a bike stolen once too, off the back of my pick-up truck and it was just an old clunker. That was in southern California though. Good luck getting your bike back…but don’t count on it. I just hope they really needed it to get around.
My son had his new bike stolen in 1st grade along with a handful of others. We had just bought him a bike alarm and every kid in the classroom knew which bike was his. Pretty soon all the bikes were found abandoned except for his. Because of the alarm and colour it was recognizable and some little girls who knew my son and his bike, tipped us off to where it was. We called the useless police who went to the front door and had a peripheral look around and didn’t see it. The girls insisted the bike was there, so we visited the little boy ourselves, and sure enough the bike was right where the girls said it was. We treated them to ice cream and told the 8 year old who turned out to be the master mind of the entire first grade bike stealing plot there was a place for him in the CIA when he grew up!
Sorry to hear about your bike. Do people still remove the front wheel and take it with them as an anti-theft device? That used to be a standard deterrent back in the day. Pain in the neck, though.
Ugh! What a frustrating experience. I remember having my bike stolen as a kid and I was heart broken. Of course, I got it back when I saw another neighborhood kid riding it a few weeks later.
Now I’m depressed. I hate hearing about people’s things being stolen. Particularly things we invest some sentiment in, and bicycles frequently fit into that category as Lahle’s response illustrates.
Too bad about your bike. Once, I had a Harley Davidson motercycle that got stolen. Talk about a pisser…..wierd as it was, while the idiot was driving it home, he got pulled over by the cops and they found out if was stolen and I got it back the next day. Hope they find your bike.
Oh Clara, I’m sorry to hear about your bike. I used to live at Lake and Lyndale, so I’m familiar with the area you mentioned. I loved riding my bike around the city lakes. The lakes are definitely some of Minneapolis’s most beautiful assets.
I was lucky to have a secure parking garage in my apartment complex, but I still locked my bike in it with a cable and Master lock.
Good luck with your new/used bike, and enjoy the lakes for me!
If you do happen to get the bike back, please let us know — hopefully this story will still have a happy ending.
Hi Clara, sorry to hear about your experience. We had our bike stolen recently, right in the middle of summer. We’d chained it around a metal sign outside our apartment. Someone actually dug the sign out of the ground in the middle of the night and took off with our beloved bike! We haven’t bought a new one yet but when we do, it’ll be parked in the basement.
Our Fuji bike was just stolen from downtown St Paul!!! sad but at least we already reported to the police department just in case they find it…. we’ll see.
This is sad. This may not be only limited to bikes. It’s better to secure you house before you’re victimized. window repair, St.Paul style is crucial. window replacement, Minneapolis area that is would be even a better safeguard against theft.
My bicycle was just stolen yesterday afternoon in downtown Minneapolis. I had it secured with a U-lock, the thief picked my U-lock.
I thought it was an isolated incident when my bicycle seat was stolen earlier this year… I should have followed the signs.
From now on, I’m not securing it to parking meters and only to bicycle racks (when I get a new one).
I’m look for bike theft information for my school. If you know anything about bike theft in Minneapolis please contact me at vyeng@ymail.com
Thank you.