Dynamo Lights and Theft

[Ryan Ray]

I came out of my Dr appointment today to find the 5 zip ties holding the wire connecting my dynamo hub to my light removed and the wire dangling. It's just a cheap IQ Fly.

Is light theft like this common? It was on a busy street in daylight. An Acorn bag was left alone.

[Alex Zeibot]

That sucks!  Sorry to hear about that.  Well, here in Twin Cities, Minnesota as soon as new mandatory bike lights law enacted; no functioning lights on your bike during dark hours, you will be fined $190!  That to the raise of light thefts.  Therefore, I had my lights affixed to my helmet and my messenger bag instead.

On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Ryan Ray <ryan...@gmail.com> wrote:

I came out of my Dr appointment today to find the 5 zip ties holding the wire connecting my dynamo hub to my light removed and the wire dangling. It's just a cheap IQ Fly.

Is light theft like this common? It was on a busy street in daylight. An Acorn bag was left alone.

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[Minh]

Gosh, that stinks, this is a fear of mine as i have an edelux and a supernova and like you i ride my bike to normal places like the doctor, store etc. It truly sucks, and there are a few things you can do to ward this off (use security bolts instead of normal allen ones, stick wax or glue in the bolt heads to make it harder to undo). But nothing is 100% fool-proof if someone really wants it.

But in the end, we can't live in fear and our bikes are made to be used/enjoyed, so don't let this dissuade you from replacing it and riding on!

[Claude LaVallee]

A similar thing happened to me during a trip to the grocery store, also on a busy street, in front of a busy bus stop, and in broad daylight, except the thief tried to get my basket!

I came out of the grocery store to find that someone had cut 5 of the 8 zip ties that held the basket to my front rack. I promptly got some metal plates and screwed my basket to the rack, and also now keep both my basket and the rack locked to my frame with a cable, as a deterrent. My seat post and saddle are locked to my frame too, with a U-lock.

I'm a fan of pitlock skewers and, as soon as I can afford them, I'm also getting some of those to secure my wheels to the frame (for now I just TiGr lock both wheels to the frame and a bike rack (30" TiGr lock), and back that up with a U-lock).

Lights are way more valuable than a basket, so I would consider a good pitlock skewer set lock yours onto your bike.

Good luck, and don't let this stop you from the practical use of your bike!

[Will]

These would probably do the trick...

http://www.bicyclebolts.com/collections/security-allen-bolts

I know this notion offends some bob-types, but a bit of duct tape strategically placed on the lights seems to help. Makes them look dingy and worn. If the thief thinks your lens cover is about to fall off, they tend to move along. At least that's my experience with 2 bikes equipped with dynamo systems.

I see a lot of pretty bikes here. Shiny, expensive bits. Spotlessly clean. They are nice. I appreciate them. But I wouldn't park a show-bike at our local Trader Joe.

And I don't see "pretty" reflected in photos of Grant Petersen's bikes. Those bikes have straps and stuff hanging from the bars, un-matched bar tape, unmatched shifters, twine shellac'd to the saddle. In general: the scruffy look. I don't think Grant's approach is anti-theft, but he's certainly not polishing his rims so a thief can see his reflection.

[Eric Platt]

Have not seen light theft around here, but one can never tell what will can and will be stolen from a bike.  Had been thinking about installing the Pitlock set I have on the Hillborne.  Maybe I should be safe rather than sorry.

Eric Platt

St. Paul, MN

[Eric]

On my Indy Fab touring bike that I had set up with a dynamo front wheel I used a SuperNova light mount for my Edelux. I swapped out the standand bolt on the front (that threaded through the Edelux bracket) and put my Pitlock on there. I used the Pitlock for the seat collar. It worked pretty well but was difficult to get enough torque to secure it. It was somewhat of a hassle but it gave me piece of mind.

Now my piece of mind is never locking my bikes up outside unless I have to. I live in Chicago so that might add to that mindset.

[Michael Williams]

Sorry about your light getting stolen,   anything stolen off of your bike feels personal.   My antitheft device is a ball bearing and some Gorilla Glue in the hex head.   The glue sets pretty hard,  and Ive tried getting it out myself as if I were a thief.   To actually get it out,  I have to heat it up a bit with a lighter or any heat source I would imagine.  If i were out riding and I needed to adjust my saddle or something on my light,  Id be a bit out of luck.   My thing is to just deter someone from stealing things off your bike because it might take too long.    Maybe its stopped someone before,  or maybe Ive just been really luck.   Sorry about your light.   -Mike

On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Minh <mgian...@gmail.com> wrote:

Gosh, that stinks, this is a fear of mine as i have an edelux and a supernova and like you i ride my bike to normal places like the doctor, store etc.  It truly sucks, and there are a few things you can do to ward this off (use security bolts instead of normal allen ones, stick wax or glue in the bolt heads to make it harder to undo).  But nothing is 100% fool-proof if someone really wants it.

But in the end, we can't live in fear and our bikes are made to be used/enjoyed, so don't let this dissuade you from replacing it and riding on!

[jeffrey kane]

Genius resource on the Security Bolt site, Will ... many thanks for that!

On Monday, April 8, 2013 5:43:19 PM UTC-4, Ryan Ray wrote:

[Liesl]

Oh I'm so sorry, ryan.

One way I hope to avoid this is...I have a SuperNova E3 and I set it up on my bars with their handlebar mount.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/supernova.asp (scroll down for the mount)

I used a set of gold connectors from P White near the light.  with this set-up, I can disconnect the light, remove it from the bars, and put it in my pocket in less time then it takes to write this sentence.  works well.

-liesl

[Matthew J]

Pitlock makes a bolt that replaces dynamo light OEM mount bolts,