Stolen Hillborne: Chicago

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tthomashardie

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Nov 21, 2011, 10:45:44 AM11/21/11
to RBW Owners Bunch
Hi, My Sam Hillborne was stolen yesterday. It's a long shot, but if
anyone has info about this bike please contact me. It's a 48cm "new
green" Hillborne with mustache bars and eclectic mix of parts. No
questions asked about how you may know the whereabouts of this bike.
I'm not looking to place blame. I'd just like to get it back. Attached
is a link to a photo of the bike. Thanks.

https://picasaweb.google.com/107908663805379775123/November202011#5677252547407689106

newenglandbike

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Nov 21, 2011, 12:34:00 PM11/21/11
to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
Aw man, so sorry to hear about that!     I hope you get your bike back.   Do you by any chance have the serial # written down anywhere?      It might be helpful in recovering it, especially if it shows up for sale somewhere.


-Matt

PS Also you might want to be all over craigslist for a while.

tthomashardie

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Nov 21, 2011, 10:49:30 PM11/21/11
to RBW Owners Bunch
Thanks Matt.

I thought I took a pic of the bb when I got the frame, but I can't
find it now (Murphy's Law). Thanks for the advice. I checked CL and
eBay, but nothing suspicious. If there's any silver lining the
response from my friends at work has made me realize I know some great
people and that it was only a bike. I'll have another someday. In the
meantime I'll be riding my Linus around.

Drop me a pic of your bike(s) if you get a chance.

Thanks again,

Tim

> PS Also you might want to be all over craigslist for a while<http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/11/colorado-woman-spots-st...>
> .

Daniel M

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Nov 22, 2011, 3:03:53 PM11/22/11
to RBW Owners Bunch
I am so sorry to hear about your stolen bike. I lock up my Hillborne
religiously in the "Sheldon" method (small U-lock around the rear
wheel, inside the rear triangle.) When I'm going to be away from the
bike for more than a minute or two, I thread a braided cable around my
front wheel, through my seat to my U-lock.

My question is: how did they do it? Did they cut your U-lock? I want
to know if I'm being naive thinking that my bike is safe when I lock
it up this way. Would anybody be so destructive as to cut through a
rear wheel in order to get at a bike locked in the Sheldon method?

Link to the Sheldon method:
http://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

Rethinking the Sheldon method:
http://www.cyclelicio.us/2011/sheldon-lock-video/

Modified Sheldon method:
http://www.802bikeguy.com/2011/07/the-modified-sheldon-brown-bike-locking-strategy/

All of this is moot if they sawed through your lock. Sorry if this is
off-topic. I REALLY hope you get your bike back and am hoping in the
meantime that I and others can learn from how the scumbags got yours.

Daniel M
Berkeley, CA

> https://picasaweb.google.com/107908663805379775123/November202011#567...

bionnaki

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Nov 22, 2011, 6:57:40 PM11/22/11
to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
check out the flea markets -- that's where stolen bikes and other items get fenced.

swap-o-rama, for example.

see also: http://chicago.stolenbike.org/

> .

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tthomashardie

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Nov 23, 2011, 1:08:41 PM11/23/11
to RBW Owners Bunch
Hi Daniel,

I used the modified Sheldon method, but through the seat stays rather
than the chain stays. The front wheel had a locking skewer. I'm not
sure how they got it. The lock was missing too. Some people on the
forums suggest that they could have used brute force. Maybe pull-up in
cargo van and smash the lock/core and drive off. I really don't know.
I do know that true security is a myth and anything can get stolen. In
the future I plan to start using two good locks. Sort of a pain to
carry around, but it will take twice as long to rip off. An extra
couple seconds or minutes could be as good a deterrent as anything.

My best,

Tim

On Nov 22, 2:03 pm, Daniel M <dpmay...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I am so sorry to hear about your stolen bike.  I lock up my Hillborne
> religiously in the "Sheldon" method (small U-lock around the rear
> wheel, inside the rear triangle.)  When I'm going to be away from the
> bike for more than a minute or two, I thread a braided cable around my
> front wheel, through my seat to my U-lock.
>
> My question is: how did they do it?  Did they cut your U-lock?  I want
> to know if I'm being naive thinking that my bike is safe when I lock
> it up this way.  Would anybody be so destructive as to cut through a
> rear wheel in order to get at a bike locked in the Sheldon method?
>
> Link to the Sheldon method:http://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html
>
> Rethinking the Sheldon method:http://www.cyclelicio.us/2011/sheldon-lock-video/
>

> Modified Sheldon method:http://www.802bikeguy.com/2011/07/the-modified-sheldon-brown-bike-loc...

CycloFiend

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Nov 23, 2011, 2:44:10 PM11/23/11
to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
on 11/23/11 10:08 AM, tthomashardie at tthoma...@gmail.com wrote:
> I used the modified Sheldon method, but through the seat stays rather
> than the chain stays. The front wheel had a locking skewer. I'm not
> sure how they got it. The lock was missing too. Some people on the
> forums suggest that they could have used brute force. Maybe pull-up in
> cargo van and smash the lock/core and drive off. I really don't know.
> I do know that true security is a myth and anything can get stolen. In
> the future I plan to start using two good locks. Sort of a pain to
> carry around, but it will take twice as long to rip off. An extra
> couple seconds or minutes could be as good a deterrent as anything.

General locking instructions and theories have been covered well, and they
all lead to the same conclusion - if you leave it locked, you may lose it.
The longer it's left, the more likely the lift. The more you leave it in
the same place each time, the more times a potential theif has to evaluate
the coinditions. The best you can hope for is diverting a low-tech thief to
another, less well defended bicycle.

However, something in your description caught my eye, and it was a topic I
was related to another person over the weekend - if you have a Kryptonite
lock from 8-10 years ago with an open-end lock that uses a cylinder type
key, they are prone to attacks with - believe it or not - a Bic pen cylinder
(or similar - this is not a case of French constructeur superiority...).

Basically, you can work the open end of the pen barrel into the lock and
smoosh it around for a while until it pushes out the tumblers and then twist
it around to open the lock. There was a well-travelled video of this, a
subsequent recall from Kryptonite (pretty sure now discontinued) and much
internet chatter.

But, as I was helping a friend work on his son's bike, there it was - that
prototypical krypto with that exact lock type. And he asked me if it was a
good lock...

This doesn't apply to the newer, middle of the hasp, slotted key types.

- Jim "All bikes weigh 40#'s. (Weight of bike) + (Weight of lock) = 40"

--
Jim Edgar
Cyclo...@earthlink.net

Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com
Current Classics - Cross Bikes
Singlespeed - Working Bikes

Gallery updates now appear here - http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com


"Nigel did some work for some of the other riders at Allied, onces who still
rode metal. He hadn't liked it when Chevette had gone for a paper frame."
-- William Gibson, "Virtual Light"


tthomashardie

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Nov 24, 2011, 12:28:05 AM11/24/11
to RBW Owners Bunch
Hi Jim,

Thanks for the information. The lock I used had the newer "flat" key
not the cylinder type. More proof any lock can be defeated. I still
plan to used multiple locks on the future.

My best,

Tim


On Nov 23, 1:44 pm, CycloFiend <cyclofi...@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Cyclofi...@earthlink.net
>
> Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries -http://www.cyclofiend.com


> Current Classics - Cross Bikes
> Singlespeed - Working Bikes
>

> Gallery updates now appear here -http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com

Benedikt

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Nov 25, 2011, 1:24:34 AM11/25/11
to RBW Owners Bunch
Sorry to hear about your bike. I hope it turns up.

I'm still waiting for the day, and I think it will be soon, when you
can hide a GPS unit in the frame, bars, somewhere and track down your
bike via your phone if it's missing.

Bob

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Nov 25, 2011, 10:19:51 AM11/25/11
to RBW Owners Bunch
First, sorry to hear about your loss of equipment. It's a unique bike
and might turn up, but let's be realistic about the chances of that.
That said, I have known a person who actually tackled someone he
spotted riding his stolen bike, months after the theft.

I "lean and lock" my bike several times a day, as a way of life. Part
of my fitness program is hauling tens of pounds of locking equipment
with me, everywhere: Two "New York" Kryptonite U-Locks and this big,
honkin' Kryptonite chain designed for locking motorcycles. I even lock
my saddle with its own cable.

Not paranoid, just . . . paranoid.

What brand was the lock you used?

Persist!
Bob

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