Bike theft goes international
#26
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 15,781
Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE
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It depends how we want to quantify the "meaning," the "point," the details of the story.
For me, from a functional point of view .... yeah, okay, organized bike theft rings exist. Absolutely no news there. Been going on for a long time, isn't likely to stop. Once bikes reached a certain dollar value, they became worthwhile to steal in an organized fashion----risk/reward calculations by organized criminals.
How it changes my life? Zero or less. I do not care who buys my bike once it has been stolen .... if I am not getting it back, it is gone and who has it or doesn't is not anything I will ever know anyway.
Why would I not get it back? Because Law Enforcement has always had little interest in bike theft, there being a lot more crimes which have a much broader impact and which cause a lot more harm.
I used to do group rides with a cop---really good person with gigantic legs and a very nice bike---I don't recall the make but I do recall that he had a full Red set-up back when that was considered semi-exotic---so it isn't that cops don't get it. It is that murder, ****, burglary, car theft even, affect a much greater proportion of the population ... and I suppose at the more corporate levels of government, cyclists are viewed with some disdain" "If they are dumb enough to spend that much on a toy ... " (Of course I just made that up but honestly it wouldn't surprise me .... )
So to me, while it was not a bad read .... there was not a lot of "News" which I found actionable or urgent.
Have I ever heard of Exactly the same thing happening? Depends on the level of granularity one applies to "exact same". I mean, if the "exact same" story were re-written today it would be a completely different story ... one cannot hold one's debating opponent's head under the water of the same river twice. However .... it would still end the debate.
For me, from a functional point of view .... yeah, okay, organized bike theft rings exist. Absolutely no news there. Been going on for a long time, isn't likely to stop. Once bikes reached a certain dollar value, they became worthwhile to steal in an organized fashion----risk/reward calculations by organized criminals.
How it changes my life? Zero or less. I do not care who buys my bike once it has been stolen .... if I am not getting it back, it is gone and who has it or doesn't is not anything I will ever know anyway.
Why would I not get it back? Because Law Enforcement has always had little interest in bike theft, there being a lot more crimes which have a much broader impact and which cause a lot more harm.
I used to do group rides with a cop---really good person with gigantic legs and a very nice bike---I don't recall the make but I do recall that he had a full Red set-up back when that was considered semi-exotic---so it isn't that cops don't get it. It is that murder, ****, burglary, car theft even, affect a much greater proportion of the population ... and I suppose at the more corporate levels of government, cyclists are viewed with some disdain" "If they are dumb enough to spend that much on a toy ... " (Of course I just made that up but honestly it wouldn't surprise me .... )
So to me, while it was not a bad read .... there was not a lot of "News" which I found actionable or urgent.
Have I ever heard of Exactly the same thing happening? Depends on the level of granularity one applies to "exact same". I mean, if the "exact same" story were re-written today it would be a completely different story ... one cannot hold one's debating opponent's head under the water of the same river twice. However .... it would still end the debate.
#27
Why do people like to be afraid of things that are highly unlikely to affect them? Does it make them feel significant?