Thefts of Expensive Bikes on the Up

[Wolfman]

According to the National Police Agency it seems that thefts of expensive bikes have increased by 2.5 since 2005.

The number of cases where bikes were stolen of value above Y1,000,000 was 496 according to the article. In 2007 it was 245.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100819-00000657-yom-soci

I actually need to get one of these little locks for my bike when I stop at a conbeni and should stop worrying about the paltry weight gain of carrrying it around.

 

[baribari]

The hardest part of carrying a lock around on a road bike isn't the weight, it's finding a place to put it... with bottle cages, you won't have enough room to use a frame mount. And even if you can, using a lock for a short stop is a pain... just make sure to put it in a window where you can see it.

 

[Edogawakikkoman]

Sales of expensive bikes have risen by about 53.7 though...

 

[Ludwig]

If you are worried about occasional theft in front of convenience stores or restaurants, a very small and light lock which you can put into your back pocket without taking up much space should do. The only reason why I don't carry this on every ride is because even 100 grams are 100 grams...

 

[GSAstuto]

Hmm, I wonder how accurate are these stats when taking in real context:

1) Cost of cycles has risen sharply - therefore there are more cycles essentially woth more than 1,000,000 yen today than 1 year ago.

2) Are these the stats of stolen off the street? How many riders of 1m yen+ bike leave them laying around?

3) This is Japan. How many purchasers of 1m yen+ bike in the last year simply declared theft because economic situation? When they may have just pawned or sold them to used cycle shops.

As cycles over 1m yen are really pretty exclusive - I'd say there is more to this than being really investigated or explained fully. For example - if I polled everyone on TCC - whom are serious cycling enthusiasts, racers, etc -- what percentage actually own cycles worth or valued more than 1m yen?

My gut feeling is that the industry, as a whole, is selling more bikes and thus the number of stolen bikes is justly increasing. This includes bikes from all strata - not just 1m yen and over.

... so one must wonder .. what do you do with a 1m yen bike? at that price its generally custom frame, very exclusive and tempermental components .... not likely the daily rider of anyone...

 

[toledo baha]

I could be wrong here, but I think the article in question mentions 496 bicyles above 100 000 yen being stolen, including SOME over 1 000 000 yen. There is no firm definition of "some" here, so I guess it could be 5, 15 or 125.

Certainly 496 bikes over 100 000 yen sounds low though, doesn't it?:bike: