Warning re: Bikes @ Maplewood Train Station

I've been meaning to post this since last week...

I went to unlock a bike around 3:30 in the afternoon at the Maplewood station. I spotted a young man looking at a combination lock, twisting the numbers, and then putting his hand to his forehead in a 'man, what's the combination lock again?' He really seemed like he couldn't remember the combination.

Cut to about a minute later and the same young man was at a different bike rack and looking at a different lock - it might have been a combination lock, I'm not sure, as I was unlocking my bike. But again he seemed kind of fumbling with a lock.

I then got circled with my bike to the park side of the station and lo and behold, the same young man had moved on to a different bike rack and was kind of reaching in to different locks on different bikes. I mean, he must have had three bikes locked up at the station!

I pulled my phone out and took a picture of him,. He saw me do this and slowly wandered away from the bike racks and all the bikes. I guess he'll come back and get his bikes at some point?

All kidding aside - I'd recommend dropping the $80 on a Kryptonite lock for anyone who has a bike they bring to the station. Although I saw no criminal act occur, I can vouch personally that this guy was aiming to lift a bike.

And you reported this to the Police right?

Anyone who has biked to the train station more than once has a similar story. My (attempted) thief ruined a lock that cost about half what I paid for the bike.

Every single time I've locked a bike at the train station, I have discovered upon returning that someone(s) has fiddled with the handlebar gear shifters. Total nuisance.

Sweetsnuggles said:
Why doesn't NJT place cameras in the areas where the bikes are parked?

The camera kept getting stolen, seriously!

NJT won't take any responsibility for the bikes. They state that emphatically. So why would they put up a camera? Really that's absurd isn't it? They should be helping people commute (isn't that how they make money?)and guarding the bikes is part of that. It's on their property.

Do any of you ever write to NJT. About this? Just curious.

NJT should help people commute by getting their trains into Penn reliably. Until they can do that, I won't hold my breath for bike protection service.

I'm sure bike protection and cameras are WAY down the list of priorities. Invest in a good Kryptonite and save yourself a bike!

I had a good lock, that was part of the problem. My bike is very basic, but apparently good enough that someone tried to steal it. The act of trying to steal the bike ruined a very expensive lock. I would have been better off if I'd picked up a teenage girls bike from the 70s (complete with banana seat) from a garage sale and locked it up with a $3 length of chain from Home Depot.

Sadly, I think that RobB is right and cyclists need "station bikes" rather than bringing their good ones.

I left my bike at the Maplewood station and forgot about it for three months. I used a crappy easy-to-cut cable. When I got back, no one had messed with it. It was a fairly nice bike. But it was ugly as sin. Maybe that's the secret.

Saw this today, and thought about this thread.. Maybe an alternative for some?

http://pix11.com/2015/08/05/the-worlds-first-unstealable-bike-goes-into-production/

pmartinezv said:
Saw this today, and thought about this thread.. Maybe an alternative for some?
http://pix11.com/2015/08/05/the-worlds-first-unstealable-bike-goes-into-production/

So you don't have to carry a lock. That saves weight, ostensibly. Then the bike's extra weight is probably what a lock weighs.

The bike world has a disproportionate number of dumb inventions.

Tom_Reingold said:

pmartinezv said:
Saw this today, and thought about this thread.. Maybe an alternative for some?
http://pix11.com/2015/08/05/the-worlds-first-unstealable-bike-goes-into-production/

So you don't have to carry a lock. That saves weight, ostensibly. Then the bike's extra weight is probably what a lock weighs.
The bike world has a disproportionate number of dumb inventions.

I think the feature here is that if you try to disable the lock or cut it, you will actually be damaging the bike hence there is a deterrent from trying to steal it unless you have the key to open the lock. Unlike existing locks which could be cut for example.

I get it, but that seems like a small advantage. It is possible to cut through a U lock, but I don't think thieves do it often.