August 6, 2008
What's So Hot About Bike Seats?
Major - like, major! - alert from the SF Bike Coalition according to one SFist reader. It seems someone or some people are stealing bike steals "all over downtown." Check it:
Bike Theft AlertsWatch your seat! We're hearing reports that someone's stealing seats off bikes all over downtown, it's gotten so bad that local shops are having trouble keeping seat posts in stock. Even if you don't have a quick release on your seat post you may be vulnerable, the thief (or thieves) carries wrenches and can relieve your bike of its seat and post pretty quickly. Stop in at your favorite shop and ask to see what they can offer you for anti-seat-theft measures (we hear that a ball bearing hot-glued in the bolt head provides some protection).
Huh. Who knew bike seats were such a hot commodity? Well, we didn't.
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
Ewwww. Perverts.
:P
This happened in my home town all the time which can only mean the thieves have finally made it here. The horror!
Seat sniffers!
It's been happening in Oakland too - I walked past a bike rack and about half were missing seats.
you can buy little seat locks..They're like mini chord locks you can tie down the seat with. More than a few of my fellow bike messengers use those
Many seats us a 'quick release' on the stem, which is why it's so easy to rip them off. Takes maybe 2 seconds. You can tie them down with the seat chords. Or what I do is tie the quick release itself down with a plumbers pipe fastener. Not exactly a lock, but, but it sure as heck slows the thieves down, and that's only a buck
photo example > http://www.flickr.com/photos/9640932@N04/2739344014/
is it at all related to the wave of fixie hate-crimes?
no arrests made....
ewww fizzandpop!!!
In a city where guys will buy dirty jock straps, stealing bike seats to sniff them isn't a crazy assumption.
What confuses me more is when people steal your lights. I feel like when I forget to remove my lights from my bike, about 1 in 3 times they get stolen. Is there really a huge market for used bike lights? Where are they selling them all?
Here is what you do: Take a small length of drive chain, loop it through the stays and the top of the rear fork, then fasten it shut with a chain tool. If you don't want to scratch your frame, feed it through a length of inner-tube. Unless thieves are carrying chain tools, they can't get your seat.
Here is a picture: http://www.cyclelicio.us/2008/03/bike-saddle-anti-theft.html
Just as I've always said, never trust a crackhead with two allen wrenches.