My e-bike is stolen! Is there any chance to somehow get it back?
Posted by Opening_Interview358@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 42 comments
Hi,
My bike was stolen over the weekend. Somehow, the thieves managed to get into the building's bike parking room and take my ebike. It was locked to itself, and my bike was the only e-bike inside the room, so they took mine.
They didn't break the lock, so they must have carried the bike in a car.
I was wondering whether they could sell the bike without the lock's key and the battery key? The lock has a safety level of 8 out of 10. "Kryptonite Evolution Series 4 Integrated Chain 1090"
It was a beautiful "Cube Reaction Hybrid Pro 750 Allroad" that I had for the past three years.
The image is modified by AI.
psych2099@reddit
This is why i take the battery with me... what they gonna do with a battery less ebike.
Sure they can steal it but i have the most important part.
I can replace the bike.
passwordstolen@reddit
Buy a battery for it.
OBLIVIATER@reddit
People will still fuck with it, I've even seen dickhead bike thieves bend the wheels and break off the displays of ebikes that don't have batteries just because they're vindictive.
psych2099@reddit
Yeah people be pricks regardless.
hroaks@reddit
People steal non ebikes all the time. Some people might steal an ebike thinking it's a normal bike
psych2099@reddit
Fair but why make it easier for the thief.
BadluckyKamy@reddit
Yeah and most "marketplace buyer" won't spend ~1k for a battery on a bike they don't know it it work
Comfortable-Fly5797@reddit
I know this doesn't help you now but...
Theft from bike parking rooms is really common. It just takes one person being "nice" holding a door open or not making sure the door latched. Get the best lock you can afford and always lock it to a solid object if you recover or replace the bike. Or just bring the bike into your apartment if you're allowed to.
lFightForTheUsers@reddit
Yeah nobody in my city offers bike parking (because they still think that bikes are toys and the only appropriate travel medium is a lifted F350 diezel dually), but even if they did I'd still be doing what I currently do: bike comes inside with me at home and bike goes in the stockroom at work, off the sales floor. Just not worth the risk.
CerberusOCR@reddit
Locking it to itself just means they need to carry it somewhere where they can use an angle grinder or other implement to break the lock. Always lock it to something secure. It will at the very least slow down a thief
James-B0ndage@reddit
Lmfao and here I was worried about my diesel chain kryptonite lock, but he didn’t actually lock it TO anything. I don’t think kryptonite would cover that in their bike safety guarantee 😆
lFightForTheUsers@reddit
Same, and yes their extended ACV program doesn't cover this. IIRC when I read the fine print on mine they require the defeated lock be sent to them (or photo evidence of the actual lock being defeated one of the two) in order to pay out.
lFightForTheUsers@reddit
Son of a bitch, that's my bike lock.
MidnightHeavy3214@reddit
I’m not sure about your brand but Lectric has vin numbers. If you have one and have it in hand you can give it to the police. Outside of that I’m not sure if it’s gps
Flash93933@reddit
If you have renters insurance you can file a claim
ZombeeSwarm@reddit
You didn't hide an airtag on it somewhere?
OBLIVIATER@reddit
Yeah unfortunately this is probably the best defense people have versus theft these days. Cops will not help at all. A good spot to hide it is inside the seat tube if it fits, or securely attached under one of the fenders.
TBL34@reddit
Unless it’s outside or on a property you can for sure say it’s pinging to, we can’t do anything most of the time anyway. Between ping radius, apartment buildings, search warrants, etc., it’s next to impossible to get it back. Probably have better luck in a small town where cops have the time to investigate thefts like this. Most big cities just don’t have the resources to investigate these types of theft unfortunately.
DuckAxe0@reddit
See if any of your neighbors are selling one on FB Marketplace.
General-Ease-5678@reddit
100 percent. Happened to me years ago. Someone in the building was letting people in to steal bikes, cars, motorbikes, stuff out of the storage rooms etc.
Human-Acadia-5109@reddit
One lock isn't enough these days. Here's what I use whenever I leave the bike unattended overnight anywhere other than my garage:
1x brake lock
1x disc brake lock
1x heavy chain w/ u-lock
1x steel cabling
4x non-apple air tags
1x motion sensor alarm
non-removable batteries are at infinitely higher risk of theft than ebikes without their batteries.
spend 10% of the value of your bike on security. Theft deterrence is a multi-dimensional spectrum. Use multiple complimentary and partially overlapping solutions for the problem.
From the way my paint is scuffed and my branding is blacked out, someone who doesn't explicitly know what they're looking at would estimate the bike as worth less than $1,000. And that's just the way I like it.
Frosty-Hornet-7058@reddit
Go to bikeindex.org and register your bike as stolen if you have the serial number
The_Rociante@reddit
A key lock on an ebike can be bypassed very easily if they know what there doing. You can't rely on a key and why not have it locked to something regardless of were it is, always lock to something other than itself that's basic common sense 101 bro
Antheral@reddit
My bike got stolen out of the bike room before as well. Cant trust those rooms. My renters insurance covered it though, you should make a claim.
aashay2035@reddit
Buy an aventon if you can't get your bike back, you can track it with its integrated ACU. Even with the battery removed it connects to the internet and tells you where the bike is.
I have seen people just cut the post, or unbolt it and take the bike.
MasterChiefette@reddit
Sorry to here it. Unless you put a tracker on it's probably gone for good. Still report it. Make a police report. That way if the bike pops up in a pawnshop you might be able to get it back.
Fantastic_Key_8906@reddit
Ofcourse you can get it back. Just put a tracker on it before its get stolen or always keep it inside so thieves can't get to it. Easy-peasy.
1776WeThePeople@reddit
Trackers on ALL expensive bikes. Hide it somewhere they won't be able to get to and you have a much better chance of finding your property.
FunEye7703@reddit
You locked it to the bike??????
unseenmover@reddit
scour CL and all the bike classifieds. Their probably in it for a quick turn around..
beagles4ever@reddit
They’ll cut the lock and sell the bike for a deep discount to someone who doesn’t care that it was obviously stolen.
willydynamite1@reddit
They can cut the lock when they get home and you see a lot of bikes being sold without the key and charger. You can report it stolen and search for sale listings.
Revolutionary-Half-3@reddit
Usually the hardest part of making a new key is finding what weird key blank fits it. I've heard of stolen bikes either having the lock picked long enough to replace it or decoded and a new key cut.
If most Ebikes weren't a race to the bottom, a BMS and controller that could be connected to a fob and phone, with locator service built in would be standard. No fob or phone linked to the bike, no motor power.
kinga_forrester@reddit
If you’re trying to rekey a bike properly, it’s almost always easier to replace the cylinder.
Thieves don’t bother with that, they just break the lock.
Lots of bikes have electronic security features like you describe, but they don’t really prevent theft, they just reduce the value to thieves.
InevitableLoan8711@reddit
In future hide a apple tag or android equivalent... I have mine well hidden on my bike and it's alarmed. Alarm was like £12 off Amazon. I also have stickers on mine saying it's gps tagged and alarmed.
GetOffMy3Inches@reddit
Just got my first Ebike two days ago I'm so scared of it getting stolen. Sorry bro being real prolly not get it back unless they bring to a pawn shop and you have reported the serial number. But I doubt they would risk that.
NorthReading@reddit
I am so sorry. You seriously have my sympathy.
Fair-Discipline-1005@reddit
I'm sorry because that was happend to You, I hope, You will find it... You don't have GPS tracker?
potatosouperman@reddit
I’m sorry that happened. It really sucks. So does the bike parking room not have poles to lock onto?
Hopefully you have the serial number. But unfortunately it may just be gone.
RoundSyrup4424@reddit
Watch FB Marketplace for quite a while. Expand the radius because they may sell it far away from you. Do you know the Serial Number and have the receipt? Without those it will be hard to prove it was yours.
TopRepulsive4766@reddit
I'll assume you have already reported the theft.
You could make flyers with that photo on them and post them wherever you can. Maybe offer a reward.
wolfONdrugs@reddit
No lock is safe. If you want in, you can get in. Goodluck getting it back.