[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
Northumbrian green! The one advertised as "it'll only stink for a few months." I think I still have my Camper Longflap somewhere. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
I leave an Acorn seat bag permanently attached to a Brooks special, and never have a worry. Where I live, in the 'burbs, I have the feeling that anything remotely Rivendellian looks old, and not-valuable. Right down to the lugs on my Sam. And I'm OK with that. I would agree, through, that the weirder the bag (up to and including the Sackville Saddlesack, the weirdest of all!) the less likely it is to be molested. On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:11:13 PM UTC-8, Patrick D Kelly wrote: > > I'm fishing for stories pro/con dealing with leaving bags "permanently" > attached to your bike, and if they've been stolen. > > I'm contemplating getting a pair of backabike bags and leaving them > attached (probably with zipties somehow). Anybody ever had any of these (or > similar) bags stolen off their bike? I'm imagining it's not even worthwhile > for a thief since they're not gonna get but a few bucks for such a thing. > > As a counter-example to what I just said, one time some gloves were stolen > out of a bag on a bike. In this case, I'm sure it was just cuz the thief > had to do zero work. Unzip and just grab what was in the bag. That bag was > seriously attached, and was not stolen. > > In my imagination, riv's saddlesacks are "safer" because to somebody > unfamiliar, it's very confusing. The straps and the 2 layers of flap make > me think that thieves are not going to go poking around in there. Any > thoughts/experience on this? > > thanks > > p.s. Yes, the biggest variable in all this is where/when you leave your > bike unattended. Let's just pretend that I'm very conservative about > where/when I leave my bike locked up. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
I leave my Carradice saddlebag on my bike when it's locked up in NYC, and without any extra security. When I'm at work, I can lock my bike up where it can't be seen from the street. There's a security guard posted pretty close to the bike rack. I seriously doubt the guard would stop anyone trying to steal my bad (or bike), but potential thieves don't seem to know that. I'll lock my bike up for an hour or two in all sorts of neighborhoods, but never overnight. I used to worry about the Carradice, but I don't anymore. I don't think they register as valuable to the people who steal stuff around here. And like a lot of other posters have said, my bag looks pretty worn out and filthy. Brad NYC On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 3:11:13 PM UTC-5, Patrick D Kelly wrote: > > I'm fishing for stories pro/con dealing with leaving bags "permanently" > attached to your bike, and if they've been stolen. > > I'm contemplating getting a pair of backabike bags and leaving them > attached (probably with zipties somehow). Anybody ever had any of these (or > similar) bags stolen off their bike? I'm imagining it's not even worthwhile > for a thief since they're not gonna get but a few bucks for such a thing. > > As a counter-example to what I just said, one time some gloves were stolen > out of a bag on a bike. In this case, I'm sure it was just cuz the thief > had to do zero work. Unzip and just grab what was in the bag. That bag was > seriously attached, and was not stolen. > > In my imagination, riv's saddlesacks are "safer" because to somebody > unfamiliar, it's very confusing. The straps and the 2 layers of flap make > me think that thieves are not going to go poking around in there. Any > thoughts/experience on this? > > thanks > > p.s. Yes, the biggest variable in all this is where/when you leave your > bike unattended. Let's just pretend that I'm very conservative about > where/when I leave my bike locked up. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
Good for stems, good for racks, good for seat posts and seat rails... http://www.urbanbiketech.com/product-p/pitstopper.htm On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 2:52:36 PM UTC-6, Bill Lindsay wrote: > > Since you are going to zip-tie it or similar, you should also ask how many > people have had a basket stolen. > > Everyone has heard of a saddle/seatpost being stolen, and a thief with a > multi-tool could unbolt a $200 Nitto rack in about a minute, so there is > definitely a degree of risk no matter what when you leave valuable things > unattended. It's a matter of how much you trust your particular > environment and then deciding whether or not to take on that risk. > > I'm personally on the very trusting side of the spectrum and have not been > burned yet. > > Bill Lindsay > El Cerrito, CA > > On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:11:13 PM UTC-8, Patrick D Kelly wrote: >> >> I'm fishing for stories pro/con dealing with leaving bags "permanently" >> attached to your bike, and if they've been stolen. >> >> I'm contemplating getting a pair of backabike bags and leaving them >> attached (probably with zipties somehow). Anybody ever had any of these (or >> similar) bags stolen off their bike? I'm imagining it's not even worthwhile >> for a thief since they're not gonna get but a few bucks for such a thing. >> >> As a counter-example to what I just said, one time some gloves were >> stolen out of a bag on a bike. In this case, I'm sure it was just cuz the >> thief had to do zero work. Unzip and just grab what was in the bag. That >> bag was seriously attached, and was not stolen. >> >> In my imagination, riv's saddlesacks are "safer" because to somebody >> unfamiliar, it's very confusing. The straps and the 2 layers of flap make >> me think that thieves are not going to go poking around in there. Any >> thoughts/experience on this? >> >> thanks >> >> p.s. Yes, the biggest variable in all this is where/when you leave your >> bike unattended. Let's just pretend that I'm very conservative about >> where/when I leave my bike locked up. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
Many many moons ago, I bought a limited-release deep ("Northumbrian"
according to GP) green Lowsaddle Longflap from Rivendell. (A short run was
mentioned in the "Progress Report" in an early Reader [remember those
days?] with a "give us a call if you want to buy one" directive.)
I was living in Austin, TX at the time and I was assistant brewer at the
late, great Waterloo Brewing Company. (RIP- at the corner of 4th and
Guadalupe across form Republic Square Park, for those in Austin.) One of
the first days I had it strapped on my bike I had ridden to work and locked
up to a street sign on Guadalupe, right in front of a giant plate glass
window. On the other side of this window was Waterloo's "brew house"- the
set of kettles where the brew is actually made. I started mashing in the
morning's brew. "Mashing in" is the first step in the brewing process and
it involves mixing the ground barley with hot water with a large stainless
steel paddle. Imagine a metal version of a canoe paddle. And lots of
steam, and it's really heavy, that paddle. Brewing ain't easy.
Well, the grain started coming down, the water was steaming hot, and the
brew was under way. As was usual, my eyeglasses started to fog up, so I
turned my head away from the open vat of steaming water. As my glasses
slowly cleared, I happened to be looking out the plate glass window. I
found myself silently admiring my "horseless horse" and it's classy new
saddlebag just as an extremely unsavory character (no shirt, long scraggly
hair, beat up mountain bike) coasted down Guadalupe and slowed to a stop
right beside my trusty steed. To my horror this nefarious miscreant
proceeded to pull a humongous Bowie knife out of his backpack and set
himself upon cutting the leather straps attaching my beautiful new
Carradice to my perfectly broken-in Brooks saddle!!!
Time slowed to a crawl as my brain attempted to process what my eyes were
seeing... Instinct kicked in. I screamed "Hey!!!" at the top of my lungs
(impotently, as the thick glass stifled any chance my shout could startle
the reprobate) and attempted to slam my fist against the glass. The
brewhouse platform upon which I stood was just a bit too far away from the
window for me to connect. My coworker, startled by my outburst, quickly
assessed what was happening. She tore out the door to confront the
evildoer. As a spied the knife beginning to slice into the fine English
cowhide I lost any semblance of reason. Without further thought, I drew
the forty pound, stainless steel mash paddle out of the mash tun and heaved
it towards the window. Julie, by this point, was out the door and yelled
as she rounded the corner of the building onto the street. Her cry was
enough to startle the ne'er-do-well. He sheathed his blade, casually
mounted his junker, and rolled away down the hill as if nothing had
happened (thank God, because in all the commotion no one had thought to
consider that a 90 pound woman was rushing outside to confront a
knife-wielding ruffian...)
My senses suddenly snapped back to the present and I realized instantly
that not only was my bag safe, but I was swinging a giant piece of metal at
a plate glass window. My muscles tensed up and I managed to halt the
paddle mid-swing, flinging a clod of oatmeal-like mash on to the window but
stopping with just an inch to spare before surely shattering the glass and
any hope of my continued employment at the storied brewpub.
The clod of mash slowly congealed and began sliding down the window as I
returned my attention to the task at hand, continuing to mash in the brew I
had just started. My adrenaline rush began to subside and I thanked Julie
for thinking quick and saving my handsome new Carradice. Once all the
grain was safely mixed in, I went out and brought my bike into a more
protected spot inside the brewery's courtyard.
I had one other (earlier) experience on that same block. Another scoundrel
attempted to cut the padlock off my cable lock with bolt cutters wrapped up
in a t-shirt. I actually caught him mid-snip. (Austin, and particularly
that block, was significantly more seedy in the mid '90s than it is
now...) I luckily arranged a much more secure indoor parking situation
after that and now insist on a stouter U-lock.
But yes, you are correct Patrick, the biggest variable is where you leave
the bike. I now live in New York City and I consider these all valuable
lessons learned.
I still have that green Carradice Lowsaddle Longflap and kept it on that
bike for years after this episode. It's pretty much worn out-
sun-bleached, patched, stitched-up, and basically retired. I replaced the
one partially cut strap, but kept the original as a memento. In the "big
city" I have taken to using a single pannier, removing it and bringing it
with me whenever I leave the bike. I would not leave *anything* attached
my bike here... (And I've jammed BBs and
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
I had a seat post, saddle, and Carradice stolen in one fell swoop one night as it sat unattended outside of work in downtown Portland, Oregon. In over 10 years in the same neighborhood, this happened just the once, but it was painful! It can definitely happen. On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:56:18 PM UTC-8, drew wrote: > > i leave a carradice barley on one bike and a saddlesack medium on the > other. both are zip-tied and both have a small cable that runs through some > leather part of the bag, rack, and saddle rail. not theft proof by any > means, but so far it has been enough to deter thievery of the bag itself. i > have had weird random stuff taken from the bag that i didnt notice > immediately- patch kit, mini pump, wrench...oddly on 3 separate occasions. > i mean, why take a patch kit and not a pump, then a pump but not a patch > kit.. > > anyway...i live in los angeles, have had 2 bikes stolen (though at the > time, i wasnt locking up in the best way and left them overnight), and am > now pretty conservative about location of locking and duration of time > locked up. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
I recently got a new Swift saddlebag and I have been having similar concerns, I've only used cheap bags in the past so it's uncomfortable new territory. My first thought is that any thief is probably going to want to take the whole bike! The bag and/or it's contents are going to be a secondary plan and even if they are not secured would require time to deal with. I try not to linger anywhere that something of this nature will be a problem. This brings up the other obvious concern, either park it in a high visibility area hopping that although any thief can see it he will also be self conscious about stealing anything OR park it in a secluded area hoping no one will notice it, but then no one would notice someone messing with it either. As someone else said making it look crappy would certainly be effective, but I can't bring myself to do that! Now if years of beausage made it less appealing thats fine & preferable to me. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
Hello, While living in Tucson (high theft) I used a small travel/ luggage cable lock. The cable was about 1/8 inch and went out the bag with the strap, through the seat rails, and back in the bag on the other side. The lock was in the bag itself. Did it help? Who really knows but I never lost a bag and felt much more comfortable leaving the bike. The lock was like $5. Cheers, Chris -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
Patrick: Racoons can operate zippers & some types of QR buckles. Clever little characters. dougP On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:49:03 PM UTC-8, Deacon Patrick wrote: > > My bags are all only secured by leather straps and have yet to be removed > by any unauthorized humans, bears, fox, badgers, eagles, hawks, weasels, or > any other predator. I'm not exactly in an urban environment, however. > > With abandon, > Patrick > > On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 1:11:13 PM UTC-7, Patrick D Kelly wrote: >> >> I'm fishing for stories pro/con dealing with leaving bags "permanently" >> attached to your bike, and if they've been stolen. >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
i leave a carradice barley on one bike and a saddlesack medium on the other. both are zip-tied and both have a small cable that runs through some leather part of the bag, rack, and saddle rail. not theft proof by any means, but so far it has been enough to deter thievery of the bag itself. i have had weird random stuff taken from the bag that i didnt notice immediately- patch kit, mini pump, wrench...oddly on 3 separate occasions. i mean, why take a patch kit and not a pump, then a pump but not a patch kit.. anyway...i live in los angeles, have had 2 bikes stolen (though at the time, i wasnt locking up in the best way and left them overnight), and am now pretty conservative about location of locking and duration of time locked up. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
Since you are going to zip-tie it or similar, you should also ask how many people have had a basket stolen. Everyone has heard of a saddle/seatpost being stolen, and a thief with a multi-tool could unbolt a $200 Nitto rack in about a minute, so there is definitely a degree of risk no matter what when you leave valuable things unattended. It's a matter of how much you trust your particular environment and then deciding whether or not to take on that risk. I'm personally on the very trusting side of the spectrum and have not been burned yet. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 12:11:13 PM UTC-8, Patrick D Kelly wrote: > > I'm fishing for stories pro/con dealing with leaving bags "permanently" > attached to your bike, and if they've been stolen. > > I'm contemplating getting a pair of backabike bags and leaving them > attached (probably with zipties somehow). Anybody ever had any of these (or > similar) bags stolen off their bike? I'm imagining it's not even worthwhile > for a thief since they're not gonna get but a few bucks for such a thing. > > As a counter-example to what I just said, one time some gloves were stolen > out of a bag on a bike. In this case, I'm sure it was just cuz the thief > had to do zero work. Unzip and just grab what was in the bag. That bag was > seriously attached, and was not stolen. > > In my imagination, riv's saddlesacks are "safer" because to somebody > unfamiliar, it's very confusing. The straps and the 2 layers of flap make > me think that thieves are not going to go poking around in there. Any > thoughts/experience on this? > > thanks > > p.s. Yes, the biggest variable in all this is where/when you leave your > bike unattended. Let's just pretend that I'm very conservative about > where/when I leave my bike locked up. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
My bags are all only secured by leather straps and have yet to be removed by any unauthorized humans, bears, fox, badgers, eagles, hawks, weasels, or any other predator. I'm not exactly in an urban environment, however. With abandon, Patrick On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 1:11:13 PM UTC-7, Patrick D Kelly wrote: > > I'm fishing for stories pro/con dealing with leaving bags "permanently" > attached to your bike, and if they've been stolen. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
[RBW] Re: on bike bag theft
I've used leather strips, made holes in the ends, then bolted the ends together after attaching a saddlebag. It lived on a bike for a year or so that was locked up outside during weekdays. Never had any problems, of course, I never left anything in it. With panniers that would stay semi-permanently on a rack, I'd probably use small p-clamps around the rack tubing and bolts the bag onto the rack. To take it one step further, you could use security bolts: http://www.bicyclebolts.com/ In that scenario, I'd use security bolts to attach the rack to bike - someone could just take the whole rack w/ bags! It really depends on where you're locking up, and how long you're leaving the bike. If I'm popping into a shop for a few minutes, I don't bother taking bags off. David Chicago On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 2:11:13 PM UTC-6, Patrick D Kelly wrote: > > I'm fishing for stories pro/con dealing with leaving bags "permanently" > attached to your bike, and if they've been stolen. > > I'm contemplating getting a pair of backabike bags and leaving them > attached (probably with zipties somehow). Anybody ever had any of these (or > similar) bags stolen off their bike? I'm imagining it's not even worthwhile > for a thief since they're not gonna get but a few bucks for such a thing. > > As a counter-example to what I just said, one time some gloves were stolen > out of a bag on a bike. In this case, I'm sure it was just cuz the thief > had to do zero work. Unzip and just grab what was in the bag. That bag was > seriously attached, and was not stolen. > > In my imagination, riv's saddlesacks are "safer" because to somebody > unfamiliar, it's very confusing. The straps and the 2 layers of flap make > me think that thieves are not going to go poking around in there. Any > thoughts/experience on this? > > thanks > > p.s. Yes, the biggest variable in all this is where/when you leave your > bike unattended. Let's just pretend that I'm very conservative about > where/when I leave my bike locked up. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
