Anyone here had their bike stolen in UCD?

delta_bravo

Hi, just interesting in hearing if UCD really is a blackspot for bike theft. I've heard the stories of white vans patrolling the place nicking bikes, fortunately I haven't had the pleasure. If you have been a victim, where on campus did it happen? I'm thinking about contacting buildings and services to try and improve facilities and would like to know if there is a big problem with theft.

994

I had one taken in Belgrove. It only takes a few seconds to cut through your average bike lock.

Raphael

Got one robbed from Merville.

triseke

my boyfriend left his bike in front of the library for a week and it was totally fine

passive

My bike has uber locks of merciless death, so I don't really worry about that in UCD, and don't lock it anywhere accessible to somebody with an angle grinder, if I can help it...

But does anyone know what the story is with the wheelkicking up past the student centre? seems like half the bikes up that way are bent out of shape.

Pride Fighter

The cycling forum could be a good bet to get answers. Probably some former students there who no longer post here.

RandolphEsq

I usually lock mine around the main part of campus where there is regulalry lots of people around. I would rarely leave it over night, and never leave it over the weekend

ChocolateSauce

Had one nicked from beside the science hub.

shanegj

my flatmate had one robbed from belgrove
a friend had one robbed from the science hub area
another friend had two robbed from beside library
and another friend had three taken from science hub and library

i believe last year on average two bikes were stolen a day

33% God

A friend of mine found a bike one day in a ditch. It was a wreck but he cleaned the muck off it and bought it back to UCD. He decided to do an experiment and leave it unlocked in Belgrove. When he came back 2 hours later it was gone.

gebbel

I was a student in UCD from 1994- 1999. I had 3 bikes robbed during those years from the campus. 1 each from Belgrove, Merville and finally outside the Chemistry building.

It was rampant then, and I'm sure it still is.

Pride Fighter

shanegj wrote: »

my flatmate had one robbed from belgrove
a friend had one robbed from the science hub area
another friend had two robbed from beside library
and another friend had three taken from science hub and library

i believe last year on average two bikes were stolen a day

You are wrong, the average is 4 per day.

RandolphEsq

As a matter of interest, has anyone seen a bike robbed?

scop

BrightEyes wrote: »

As a matter of interest, has anyone seen a bike robbed?

Indeed! Coming back from the Forum one night I stumbled on an attempted bike robbery, and the guys just sort of shuffled away when they saw me, but didn't seem too concerned (they were two rough looking big lads, and myself the average not too rough student). My guess is they simply waited for me to leave and carried on. I didn't know what else to do but told services on my way out and they just shrugged their shoulders.

Donny5

Pride Fighter wrote: »

You are wrong, the average is 4 per day.

Can I ask where you got this?

passive

Pride Fighter wrote: »

You are wrong, the average is 4 per day.

This doesn't overly surprise me, considering half the locks people use could be broken with my teeth, and I see at least 1 bike a week with the handlebars "locked" to a pole.

gubbie

My brothers had two stolen from Belfield... odd because they were never taken from the Terrace

Tayto2000

Donny5 wrote: »

Can I ask where you got this?

It's a Tribune factoid from about 2 years ago attributed to an anonymous source which has somehow become one of those 'everyone knows' things... Given their usual journalistic standards and apparent numerical illiteracy I'd be sceptical.

passive

Tayto2000 wrote: »

It's a Tribune factoid from about 2 years ago attributed to an anonymous source which has somehow become one of those 'everyone knows' things... Given their usual journalistic standards and apparent numerical illiteracy I'd be sceptical.

Good point... if they say 4 bikes go missing every day, and there were 400 people at last week's protest, I'd say 1 bike, maybe 1.25 at most go missing per day. A bike and a front wheel, maybe?

delta_bravo

It seems that the res areas are the ones most vunerable. I always leave mine in the rack between the library and the arts building adjoining the delivery yard and have had nothing yet touch wood. Its the poorest quality rack on campus but is an area of high activity so hopefully that averts thieves

Donny5

Tayto2000 wrote: »

It's a Tribune factoid from about 2 years ago attributed to an anonymous source which has somehow become one of those 'everyone knows' things... Given their usual journalistic standards and apparent numerical illiteracy I'd be sceptical.

The College Tribune? Right, so...

I'd say it's hard to estimate. I've heard of loads of bikes stolen, but around a thousand bikes a year is a lot.

It's a shame, anyway. Nothing worse than losing your bike. I lost one in town a couple of years ago. It was heartbreaking.

MuddyDog

If you use a black cock lock on your bike you'll be fine. Those locks are unbreakable.

DirkVoodoo

Park it somewhere along the main promenade, generally outside engineering or the restaurant because these areas are frequently busy during the day.

A good lock is the best deterrent, these guys are looking for a quick and easy steal and generally won't be wondering if the Trek or the Lapierre has better wheels. Although things like discs and suspension seem to have a certain attraction, they will go for the quick and easy steal.

I have a kryptonite new york (big yellow and black U lock) that a lot of cycling forum people have, weighs a ton but it is really solid and seems to have worked so far (touch wood).

Try not to leave your bike overnight if you can avoid it, any lock can be broken given the right tools, time and a bit of seclusion for a thief.

RazzoLazzo

who lives in Merville and his bmx was stolen in like the first 2 months, it was chained up and everything, what a sickner.

liamygunner29

The girl that lives across from me in merville was brushing her teeth early one mornin and saw 2 fellas sawin at a lock and then taking a bike,they came back and did the same 5 minutes after..

maninasia

Trinity the same, 3 bikes stolen over 4 years, when I was broke too.

The simple solution, good surveillance cameras would deter 80% and the other 20% with a decent security force, what's so difficult. You can see the young lads robbing them on campus..I can't understand why the situation hasn't improved in 10 years.....

randypriest

I know a guy who had a 2000euro racing bike stolen from outside the engineering building. He had two huge locks on it! People must prowl for good bikes

Manic Moran

Mine went AWOL from somewhere in front of the Arts building.

NTM

maninasia

Obviously if it was the college admins or lecturers cars getting stolen something would have been done long ago. In the face of inertia from them one solution would be to have a paid bike park (10 euro/year) where you could stick your bike while on campus.
These things just need effort and imagination, it's not that hard to fix!

RandolphEsq

maninasia wrote: »

Obviously if it was the college admins or lecturers cars getting stolen something would have been done long ago. In the face of inertia from them one solution would be to have a paid bike park (10 euro/year) where you could stick your bike while on campus.
These things just need effort and imagination, it's not that hard to fix!

Thanks for volunteering to do something about it! Yay! Our saviour!

mloc

I remember walking out of campus through the front gate at about 12 or so at night; two lads throwing bikes into a horse trailer en masse from near engineering. I range services, they didnt seem too pushed about the mass theft.

I would be somewhat suprised if there was not elements of security collusion. Probably not from the older services crew but perhaps from contractors.

rantyface

A third of my friends who cycle everywhere have had a bike stolen at some point. There's this idea people have that even cheap U-locks can't be broken.

A good lock is important, but just as important is that lots of bikes around your bike have crap locks.

This would make a good tribune survey, if they ever bothered to get a large enough sample size for the results to mean anything (4% of us have tried heroin apparently...).

Also could we somehow make it part of the security company's job to prevent bike theft? Is there any way of mandating them?

dyl10

As a slight aside, when my brother was a student nurse in UCD. He had his car stolen from St. Vincent's Hospital. Much to his relief, the police recovered the car from the thieves in UCD :eek:

philhway

Have been a student in UCD for 5 years now. Have always used a bike to get around and have never had one stolen, although i frequently leave it on campus overnight and on weekends.

Trick is to buy a second hand bike that cycles well but looks like crap!
Simple as.

freshtodeath

philhway wrote: »

Have been a student in UCD for 5 years now. Have always used a bike to get around and have never had one stolen, although i frequently leave it on campus overnight and on weekends.

Trick is to buy a second hand bike that cycles well but looks like crap!
Simple as.

This.

Aru

just dont get a nice bike its that simple
i have a cheap 2nd hand one that looks like crap but gets me from a to b...its never been stolen..often left ovr nite and i even left it in ucd over the summer cos i had no way to get it hme..
had a lock alrite but it wasnt a great one.
a good one would have cost more than the bike:p

Econoline Van

The thing is though, if you're cycling a good few miles to UCD it's nice/imperative to have a decent bike and you shouldn't have to be worrying about it being stolen.

Why not have a monitored bike park and charge a very small fee for it. I'd pay. I mean, if my bike were to be robbed that's €500 or so to replace it straight off. I'd pay a tenner a year or something to KNOW my bike was going to be there every time I go out to it.

fullstop

MuddyDog wrote: »

If you use a black cock lock on your bike you'll be fine. Those locks are unbreakable.

Speaking from experience......?

chave

Why not put some bikes in the hotspots , have security monitor them undercover and then pounce on the thieves when they strike. If they caught a few people word would spread what they are doing and should see the end of bike theft if people knew they could go to court over it. could easily film it also to show police for a conviction.

RandolphEsq

chave wrote: »

Why not put some bikes in the hotspots , have security monitor them undercover and then pounce on the thieves when they strike. If they caught a few people word would spread what they are doing and should see the end of bike theft if people knew they could go to court over it. could easily film it also to show police for a conviction.

I still favor a proper monitered parking space for bikes. Although there are bike lockes which have alarms fitted to them in case they are opened without the key, I saw them on ebay


http://shop.ebay.ie/items/__bike-locks_W0QQQ5ftrkparmsZ66Q253A2Q257C65Q253A2Q257C39Q253A1QQ_sopZ3QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14

maninasia

Econoline Van wrote: »

The thing is though, if you're cycling a good few miles to UCD it's nice/imperative to have a decent bike and you shouldn't have to be worrying about it being stolen.

Why not have a monitored bike park and charge a very small fee for it. I'd pay. I mean, if my bike were to be robbed that's €500 or so to replace it straight off. I'd pay a tenner a year or something to KNOW my bike was going to be there every time I go out to it.

That makes a lot of sense (well I did propose this already). A tenner a year to set up a secure area with a guard or at least some type of card system to get in and out and surveillance cameras. Would work a treat....
It's disgraceful people think that you have to solve the problem by cycling crap bikes...wrong way to think about things.

I'm not a student but I'd encourage you guys to make it an issue with the student union.

passive

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=12767
+
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8494
=
GTFO my bike, cnut.

As long as you avoid locking it anywhere that could be easily accessed with a massive electric saw or a tank, these should keep your bike safe.

Nobody has any insight about the student centre -> sports centre wheels kicked to **** thing, no?

Tayto2000

I saw not one but 2 Giant Defys parked up at the lake with one of these or equivalent through the frame just, both wheels on one free to take away, the front on the other unsecured.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=19144

If either owner is reading this - please get a proper lock and secure your wheels!

Actually, it's a bit of a thief's wonderland down there today in terms of lights and cycle computers without even going near wheels or other such hardware...

Maybe the centre racks have to do with the bar? It's death to leave a bike locked up in temple bar after dark, maybe it's the same there. The ones left overnight opposite the old bar seem to take a bit of a battering too.

neilled

chave wrote: »

Why not put some bikes in the hotspots , have security monitor them undercover and then pounce on the thieves when they strike. If they caught a few people word would spread what they are doing and should see the end of bike theft if people knew they could go to court over it. could easily film it also to show police for a conviction.

Nah security are too busy chatting amonst themselves, and looking for people with opened bottles of drink on their person to be even bothered about theft.

Goodluck2me

dyl10 wrote: »

As a slight aside, when my brother was a student nurse in UCD. He had his car stolen from St. Vincent's Hospital. Much to his relief, the police recovered the car from the thieves in UCD :eek:

Was it a Pink beetle?

mloc

goodluck2me wrote: »

Was it a Pink beetle?

Wow, talk about making assumptions just cos he's a male nurse!

The_Minister

Damn right, for all we know it could be a pink mini!:mad: