Now this is a troubling development: officials in South Wales, UK are warning spectators at this weekend’s Kona Mash-Up at Glyncorrwg Mountain Bike Centre to keep a tight eye on their rigs because organized criminals may be lurking behind the scenes. Apparently at an MTB event at nearby Margam Park last month thieves made off with roughly $45,000 worth of bikes!
Clearly these crooks are organized and they’ve done their homework to know downhill bikes are expensive and easy to swipe in a big crowd. Just imagine, you lean your bike against the outside wall of the restroom – sixty seconds later the bike is gone.
We’ve heard too many stories lately about mountain bikes being stolen – and not just campus cruisers, nice, custom rigs. In fact today I lost my Yakima roof rack and two bike trays in the Home Depot parking lot near my house. Working in broad daylight in a busy parking lot means these guys are pretty brazen! Of course in this case, like many others, I bear most of the blame myself (left the car door unlocked which made it easy to remove the rack clips).
Bottom line: keep your bike stuff locked up tight wherever you find yourself this summer – the bad guys are everywhere!
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Trek7k, sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hate punks like this, but you’re right about doing our part to keep our things secure. I have a rack that locks to my hitch and includes an integrated cable lock to secure the bike to the rack. I typically use both every time I transport my bike. If someone wants something bad enough, they’ll figure out a way to get it. I figure I’ll make it as inconvenient as possible so hopefully they move on.