Bike thieves strike at Tour of Britain ride

I'd be so gutted

What a lovely world we live in

I guess no-one seems to have watched the link I posted, as following posts go on to recommend really piss poor cheap locks that wont last a second.

http://www.norfolk.police.uk/newsandevents/newsstories/2013/august/prope...

The guy in the movie just yanks the lock, and snap, it's broke, and he walks off with bike in seconds. These cheap locks that were posted wont protect your bike.

The Cheshire Cat was well run and had secure bike parking. Large sportives need to do the same...

Cycling is getting popular... with thieves too. If you're not locking your bikes, leave a member of the group as a guard.

Hi Guys, it was damned annoying as was at the start 8am on a sunday morning in a high security car park. Video cameras and security guys all around the place. Load of cyclists, great atmosphere. We went over with a group to the toilet, parked up as every single person does. Quick pee, and two bikes gone.

On the Camera you see that the guys have walked in wearing cycling clothes and trainers, and just walked over with total confidence and rode off.

They rode past the security guards, on the back of the bunch, then turned off into an estate where they stripped anything that could possibly be a tracker, leaving it on the floor and drove of with the bikes, in which direction - you guess.

There are cameras everywhere, the one on the actual spot is on a 2 minute 360degree loop, and they timed it to be in between the loop. The best shot was the one we got. That was my photo by the way which was unofficial but i thought sod it get it out there.

Like everyone there we all went to the toilet, mainly in our groups, and no one locks there bikes, Ive done that for 30 years at events. But clearly these guys are totally geared up to go to big events and to ride off on a bike of their choice.

WATCH YOUR BIKES EVEN MORE GUYS

Seems the CCTV system wasn't up to scratch...

http://www.cctv.co.uk/bike-thieves-caught-cctv-tour-britain-ride/

Thanks for that link, might have myself one of those.

Scumbags, utter scumbags. That Fondriest is a nice bike.

I believe you can buy a cheap cable lock that is alarmed and makes a hell of a racket when tampered with - that would probably work quite well in this scenario.

"No need for a massive chain lock"

"BBB combination lock, costs a fiver!)."

Watch this then to see how piss poor a lock like that might be

http://www.norfolk.police.uk/newsandevents/newsstories/2013/august/properlockit.aspx

Amazed in London to see Bromptons even left overnight in station bike parks, and on train left in vestibule areas whilst owner sits in saloon.

I took a proper D-lock on a 200k sportive last year and used it if I stopped for any length of time. Sometimes I don't take a lock with me if I'm trying for a few Strava segments as my bike is heavy enough as it is. Even in obscure places I'll lock it to something and I double lock in Cambridge city centre at all times.

Why don't the CCTV operators know where the Print Screen button is?

Dress like a commuting cyclist, board a commuter train from Victoria or Waterloo, help yourself to the first Brompton you come across. It happens more often than folk think.

Trouble is we see people wearing cycling kit and we think we can trust them, that we are just one big happy family. We can't. We ain't.

Everywhere bikes are left unattended and unsecured bike thieves will operate. Everywhere.

I rode the dunwich dynamo this year and apparently bikes went missing at the good stop then. Granted this is an unsupported event but if rides are exactly the same routes each year it makes for easy planning for thieves.
I feel very safe with these rides and whilst my bike isn't that fancy I presume it would be fine amongst all these other bikes.
Would hate to carry a gold secure lock around with me everywhere.

Weird how they choose high vis helmets... that alone would stick out like a sore thumb, as anyone on a high end bike would not be seen dead in a high vis helmet

Still I really hope the bikes are recovered. This does seem to be a new breed of bike thief!

So did these guys just rock up in bike kit and happen upon two bikes to make off with or did they turn up on other bikes and abandon them after getting on these?

There's never a lorry driver turning left without paying attention when you need one...

At the Cheshire Cat, there was a strictly enforced, secure bike park. You had to have a valid number to enter, and it had to match your bike when you left.

The TOB is a massive sportive, organisers really should consider doing the same! Can you really expect everybody to bring a massive chain-lock to a sportive just so they can take a piss before the start-line?

This must have been a planned theft. So frustrating but also a valuable lesson in why you should never leave your bike out of your sight!