Ezee Torq stolen in Portsmouth City Centre
- Thread starter themutiny
- Start date
Chain and lock 3.5kg...but you get a kinda warm feelin when you walk away from your bike so worth it! lol plus I lost 8 kg (weight) before Christmas
Seriously though, any cable can be worked at quickly with snips/wire cutters and the open lock with hand held tools
you tube has vid of cables being broken ..they get it going with snips and then get a handle in and violently twist, and cable is mush They dont F$$k about!
would hate to hear of anyone else loosing a bike.......
Seriously though, any cable can be worked at quickly with snips/wire cutters and the open lock with hand held tools
you tube has vid of cables being broken ..they get it going with snips and then get a handle in and violently twist, and cable is mush
They dont F$$k about!would hate to hear of anyone else loosing a bike.......
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after watching some of those U Tube vids I don't think anything will stop a determined thief even in broad daylight!YouTube - How to steal a bike in NYC
It's not all bad news. I've been cycling for nearly 64 years, the last nearly 7 years on e-bikes, and I use just oneSuddenly I feel so inadequate LOL!
Luckily I don't need to leave my bike unattended for any length of time so the cable and lock is extra security on top of what I already have. How much does all that chain weigh anyhow?
lock. These days it's a m/c chain lock but in the past I've used cable locks as thin as 6 mm and even just a
wheel lock.
49 of those 64 cycling years has been based from London boroughs and still is, but I've never had a single
bike stolen or any part of one, not even a pump. Nor have I even suffered a vandalised bike.
So as you see, it's not all doom and gloom out there.
.
I've only had one cycle nicked, from my garage in "affluent" Reading on the Reading/Oxfordshire border! Was more annoying as it wasn't expensive but friends had built that one specially for me.
Since then all my bikes have been kept inside the house. I haven't had any issues on Sheffield stands in either Reading or Ipswich but thefts in Ipswich have increased again and Suffolk Constabulary did catch an organised gang about 3 years ago.
I did ride the Salisbury into town a few months ago, locked it up with a normal U lock and nothing bad happened, but I wouldn't do the same with the Wisper. This (and the Ezee) do IMO have a lot of "bling" value even to the youths as they look more like MTB's and I think both have been featured on telly (gadget show etc) whilst with respect the Panasonics look more like a "older persons bike". Bikes with step-through frames are also liable to be left alone as they are "old granny's bikes" - the only ones I have heard of being nicked in this area have clearly been opportunist thefts where members of the older generation haven't been pessimistic enough and have not locked them at all or used poor quality locks.
crime figures were released today showing an overall drop in crime (including most forms of violence other than domestic violence) but a rise in bicycle thefts. Unfortunately this is IMO the consequence of "good news" of more people cycling, bikes will become more desirable to thieves (it might also be that more people are reporting the thefts of cycles to cops, as bikes become mainstream transport again as a consequence of the recession).
I definitely think most low life know do now what an e-bike is and that its worth more than a normal pushbike (including the battery), as the mainstream media has been reporting on them, particularly in affluent South and SE England which has been a pioneering area for ebikes.
Since then all my bikes have been kept inside the house. I haven't had any issues on Sheffield stands in either Reading or Ipswich but thefts in Ipswich have increased again and Suffolk Constabulary did catch an organised gang about 3 years ago.
I did ride the Salisbury into town a few months ago, locked it up with a normal U lock and nothing bad happened, but I wouldn't do the same with the Wisper. This (and the Ezee) do IMO have a lot of "bling" value even to the youths as they look more like MTB's and I think both have been featured on telly (gadget show etc) whilst with respect the Panasonics look more like a "older persons bike". Bikes with step-through frames are also liable to be left alone as they are "old granny's bikes" - the only ones I have heard of being nicked in this area have clearly been opportunist thefts where members of the older generation haven't been pessimistic enough and have not locked them at all or used poor quality locks.
crime figures were released today showing an overall drop in crime (including most forms of violence other than domestic violence) but a rise in bicycle thefts. Unfortunately this is IMO the consequence of "good news" of more people cycling, bikes will become more desirable to thieves (it might also be that more people are reporting the thefts of cycles to cops, as bikes become mainstream transport again as a consequence of the recession).
I definitely think most low life know do now what an e-bike is and that its worth more than a normal pushbike (including the battery), as the mainstream media has been reporting on them, particularly in affluent South and SE England which has been a pioneering area for ebikes.
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Secure your bicycle the Amsterdam way.
Even if you have the keys, how long would it take to unlock this bike? Is this the way to keep your bike from being stolen?
Even if you have the keys, how long would it take to unlock this bike?
Is this the way to keep your bike from being stolen?Attachments
i wouldn't trust any chain either. you can break a link in 5 seconds with two pairs of pliers (maul grips) just by bending them back and forth. experiment for yourself.I would not trust ANY cable....I only use one to secure battery and seat to frame and anothe long kryptonite cable through the wheels and that is it......... I would not trust an open padlock either.
Just under 60 GBP on fleeBay (search for "mini GPS tracker"). Detailed description here: mini GPS Tracking Tracker Car Vehicle Personal monitor on eBay (end time 12-Feb-10 10:41:22 GMT)
thats exactly what i just bought. i'll give a quick review now that i've had a chance to play with it.
all you have to do is phone it and you get a SMS message back with all the information shown. lattitude and longditude can be typed into any satnav to find the location. the time given in the message is the time of the last known GPS reading (it searches for signal all the time). so if it looses signal (in a tunnel, multistorie, etc) then you will at least know the last known location and should be able to track it.
it has lots of functions that can help with bike security. a movement alarm can be set that will text you when the bike moves anywhere (e.g. if it gets nicked). this only takes one message to set up. but the manual says the sensitivity of the alarm is 200 meters (your bike is well gone by the time it reacts). there is an SOS button on the unit that could presumably be hooked up to a prox/motion detector like that abc alarm?
the geo-fence function sets a box around an area that you allow the bike to be in. if it moves out side of that area it sends you a text. a bit like the movement alarm.
if your bike is stolen you can use the auto tracking function to make it fire off messages every (X) seconds. this would be good if it was a moving target like if they put it in a van. there is a real time tracking feature that directly interfaces with mapping software on a good enough phone. but my phone is not set up for that. if you have a web phone you just follow the link in the message. there is another real time tracking feature where it interfaces with a computer but that seems complicated to set up.
it gives you the capability of being able to listen to whats going on around the stolen bike. i don't know if thats any use?
i tried putting the bug inside my battery box but there is no signal. so i had to just hide it somewhere on the frame. it's made of molded plastic so you can't open it to extend the aerial outside the battery box. thats the only draw-back. i have powered it from my main battery using a 5V dc converter and its accessory charger, so it will never need to be manually recharged. i just put an old vodaphone sim in it that i hadn't used for 3 years and it still had £4 worth of credit on it. cost me £75 to get it from a UK location.
i'm pleased with it
all you have to do is phone it and you get a SMS message back with all the information shown. lattitude and longditude can be typed into any satnav to find the location. the time given in the message is the time of the last known GPS reading (it searches for signal all the time). so if it looses signal (in a tunnel, multistorie, etc) then you will at least know the last known location and should be able to track it.
it has lots of functions that can help with bike security. a movement alarm can be set that will text you when the bike moves anywhere (e.g. if it gets nicked). this only takes one message to set up. but the manual says the sensitivity of the alarm is 200 meters (your bike is well gone by the time it reacts). there is an SOS button on the unit that could presumably be hooked up to a prox/motion detector like that abc alarm?
the geo-fence function sets a box around an area that you allow the bike to be in. if it moves out side of that area it sends you a text. a bit like the movement alarm.
if your bike is stolen you can use the auto tracking function to make it fire off messages every (X) seconds. this would be good if it was a moving target like if they put it in a van. there is a real time tracking feature that directly interfaces with mapping software on a good enough phone. but my phone is not set up for that. if you have a web phone you just follow the link in the message. there is another real time tracking feature where it interfaces with a computer but that seems complicated to set up.
it gives you the capability of being able to listen to whats going on around the stolen bike. i don't know if thats any use?
i tried putting the bug inside my battery box but there is no signal. so i had to just hide it somewhere on the frame. it's made of molded plastic so you can't open it to extend the aerial outside the battery box. thats the only draw-back. i have powered it from my main battery using a 5V dc converter and its accessory charger, so it will never need to be manually recharged. i just put an old vodaphone sim in it that i hadn't used for 3 years and it still had £4 worth of credit on it. cost me £75 to get it from a UK location.
i'm pleased with it
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Thank you for the feedback / review. I'm interested to hear more about your 5V DC converter. Do you use a 36V battery ? Many thanks, Daniel
I'd love to see someone break a decent chain with pliers when three foot boltcroppers won't do it.
The tracker looks really good, is there any way to stop someone ripping it off and leaving it in the pavement? I guess not enabling the alarm any making it discrete would help.
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Comiserations, I've had 4 or more (lost count of how many bikes I've owned over the years) stolen and the sinking feeling you get when you realise it's gone is just horrible, then you get angry and after a while you're still angry but you start working out how to get another one. The last one I only had for a month, bought it as an intermediate one to ride until during the 3 month wait for my ebike.
I'll have to try the pen trick to unlock my lock as I lost one of the two keys a couple of years ago, the lock itself is well over 10 years old now and has survived 4+ bikes.
I'll have to try the pen trick to unlock my lock as I lost one of the two keys a couple of years ago, the lock itself is well over 10 years old now and has survived 4+ bikes.
An oblong one that could fit inside a seatpost would be ideal, metal seatposts likely wouldn't allow radio comms but would a carbon fibre seat post allow GPS & GPRS signals?
A lot of mountain bikers have very expensive bikes so spend lots on lightweight components, carbon fibre seatposts being one of them and there would definitely be a market for tracking devices in seatposts.
Interesting, I think I may have to get one of these. Just got a spangly new DH bike, and although it's insured, if it goes walkies it would be great to just go and pick it up. The only problem I can forsee with using these on high end road/mtb's is that, like mine, most are custom build and easily recogniseable. They appeal to the pro bike thief, who will have buyers for the parts already, and it will more than likely be in pieces by the time you realise it's gone. At this point they would have found it unless it is buried deep inside the frame. The good thing about electric bikes is that they are certinly not appealing to the pro thief, so are less likely to be split. Hence a tracker would probably remain un-discovered for longer.
Maybe the answer would be to mount it inside the steerer tube, using a star fangled nut to hold it in place as these still have gaps in them? I once used this exact method to hide some sardines in a friends race bike. They went undetected for 5 weeks The best bit about it all was he has a people carrier, so the bike was inside with him when he went to Scotland to race (from Bournemouth....lol) not on a carrier, the smell was epic, as was his face upon return. For the record we are actually good friends, and it was a revenge strike for something he did to me previously.
Another possibility would be to mount in the frame and make your own antennea extension that could come through a bottle mount perhaps? I am definately going to get one and do some testing!
Regards
Lloyd
The only problem I can forsee with using these on high end road/mtb's is that, like mine, most are custom build and easily recogniseable. They appeal to the pro bike thief, who will have buyers for the parts already, and it will more than likely be in pieces by the time you realise it's gone. At this point they would have found it unless it is buried deep inside the frame. The good thing about electric bikes is that they are certinly not appealing to the pro thief, so are less likely to be split. Hence a tracker would probably remain un-discovered for longer.Maybe the answer would be to mount it inside the steerer tube, using a star fangled nut to hold it in place as these still have gaps in them? I once used this exact method to hide some sardines in a friends race bike. They went undetected for 5 weeks
The best bit about it all was he has a people carrier, so the bike was inside with him when he went to Scotland to race (from Bournemouth....lol) not on a carrier, the smell was epic, as was his face upon return. For the record we are actually good friends, and it was a revenge strike for something he did to me previously. Another possibility would be to mount in the frame and make your own antennea extension that could come through a bottle mount perhaps? I am definately going to get one and do some testing!
Regards
Lloyd
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