One of our local fat-bike brethren had a bummer start to the new year when his Customized Fat-Trike was stolen from his backyard recently. It is a one-of-a-kind fat-trike creation that started life out as a Schwinn Meridian Tricycle. 80mm fat-bike wheels with Kenda Juggernaut tires on the rear and a VeeTire on the front, a custom Schlick segmented fat-bike fork and custom matte black powder coat are some of the distinguishing characteristics. Please keep an eye out and send us an email to [email protected] if you locate it. We’d love to reunite the owner!
This recent theft was on top of the theft of his a custom Schlick Cycles APe that was stolen in July a day after the Riverwest 24. This APe was never recovered.
What can you do to prevent your pride and joy from being jacked?
Lock your bike
Most locks are not up to resisting the battery powered grinders with cutoff wheels that bike thieves use these days. Consider using 2 or more types of locks and locking to two different racks or poles if possible. Note that in the case of the Schlick APe fat-bike the thieves did not cut the lock at the theft location. They cut through a 2” black pipe railing that the bike was secured to.
Always lock to something metal and securely attached to the ground if possible.
Your garage is not a safe place! Many bicycles are stolen from garages and storage rooms. Lock your bike securely to an immovable object even if in a “secure” place.
BTW, bike thieves don’t care about foot traffic, crowds, cameras or any other passive theft deterrents. People ignore activity they don’t want to be a part of and police are too busy to care.
Register your bike
Register Your Bike with BikeIndex.org – Registering your bike makes it easier for police to identify, recover and return your bike to you. Bike index is a national registry for bike owners, shop owners, citizens and law enforcement to verify in real time the status of a bike.
If your fat-bike is stolen, what then?
Report the theft
Always report the theft to the local Police. Reporting makes it easier for Police to return your bike to you and identify problem areas and trends for theft.
File a stolen bike report at bikeindex.org.
Insurance
Most home owner’s and renter’s insurance will cover your bike up to a point but a custom bike can be significantly undervalued by many insurance companies. Consider getting a rider on your policy to fully cover, at replacement cost, your bike. There are also companies that specifically write bicycle insurance policies. Heck, even Progressive writes bicycle insurance policies. Without specifically endorsing any of these companies, here are a few to check out.
- Velosurance – https://velosurance.com
- BikeInsure – https://www.bikeinsure.com
- Progressive – https://www.progressive.com/answers/bicycle-insurance/
Has your fat-bike been stolen? We’d love to help reunite missing fat-bikes with their owners. Send us a couple of photos (you should have a few from the bikeindex.org entry you made) and a description with any identifying marks, accessories or other details to be on the look out for to [email protected] and we will get your info in front of our readers.
What a drag! Wouldn’t you love to catch the thief in the act. Hopefully both bikes will be found.
Absolutely! Treat ’em like horse thieves. Many of the bikes stolen in our area are people’s necessary transportation. If you take away a person’s living…