Chances are, if you have attended UH for at least one semester, you or someone you know has had their bike stolen.
A great place to lockup a bike is outside of the UC-Satellite. All the people walking around keep would-be thieves away. | Travis Hensley/The Daily Cougar
How do you stop this from happening, you ask? Make it impossible to steal. But how do we do this?
Locking. Investing $15 or so in a good quality lock can save you hundreds to replace a bike. There are plenty of different types of locks for sale, and you can buy one at most large retail stores. Most on-campus instances of bike theft happen after a cheaper lock is cut, so a U-lock is probably your best bet — it’s nearly impossible to cut through with pliers or a saw. But don’t just stop there; make it harder for a would-be bike bandito. As they say, the more the merrier. Pile on the locks. Two, four, ten; no number is too great to protect your peddled transport.
Where your bike is can make all the difference. If you want to go to the UC, perhaps park your bike in front of the library, surrounded by more bikes. There is safety in numbers—the more bikes there are, the greater the chance that a thief will be seen by a bike owner. This is especially important at nighttime, when there’s less foot traffic. You want your bike to be surrounded by eyes whenever it can be.
Bring it up into your room every night. Take it with you into class if there are no bikes outside. Not only will it provide the attention needed to deter a bike thief, you’ll also have a handy coat-rack. Or, take the opposite approach: hide your bike. Find the largest bit of shrubbery and bury your bike far into its depths, where not even you can find it.
Temptation. This approach is a bit more psychological than the others. Dive into the thief’s mind and make him not want to steal your bike. This can be done by making your bike just a little harder to steal than the ones next to yours. Find bikes with shoddier locks, and slip your heavy-duty locked bike right on up next to them. This also can be done by deferring the attention away from your bike onto someone else’s.
Park next to a bike much nicer than your own; the mediocrity of your bike will be easily outshined by this other bike. If you need to, make it look like it doesn’t even work. Or better yet, make it not work at all. No one wants to steal a bike without pedals and a seat.
If these approaches do not work for you, and you are still afraid of losing your precious cycle, there is one last tip. Suck it up and realize the University is not that big of a campus — you can just walk.
It's a sad fact but 59% of students will have their bike stolen in 4 years at college. The two most important things cyclists can do reduce their chance of being a victim is to register the serial number with the campus security office and also with bikerevolution.org, the free global bike registration and recovery service. The serial number is the only connection between the owner and his bike. Registering the bike with an global database helps to keep track of the bike as the student moves from college to home, to job.
If you are a victim of bike theft, here are 10 things you can do to get your stolen bike back. http://www.bikerevolution.org/stolen-bike-recover…
Fact Check!
Where are the reference(s) for 59% figure you are using concerning students who will have their bike stolen in 4 years of college?
We talking reportedly stolen or actually stolen and what is the recovery rate for stolen bikes?
Are you connected with the web sites listed here?
or use Houston based http://www.BikeRegistry.com ….