Please keep an eye out, my Specialized Stumpy Evo LTD was stolen.

Years ago my washer flooded my laundry room my neighbor told me to just let my insurance know what happened so I called them and told them, that is considered a claim. I collected nothing and my insurance doubled. I went to Farmers and have been with them ever since.

 

Same thing happened to me. Had a leak, called and asked if it was worth making a claim. They went over it. Five minutes on the phone and said thanks and hung up. Then saw the new rates. They said I made I claim, no, I just asked a question. F**k them. Homeowner Insurance companies are inherently slime balls and hide their true intent. True scum.

Mortal of the story, DO NOT call them FOR ANY REASON unless it is a catastrophic claim. Call and say Hi! Rates go up. Call and say what if? Cancelled.

 

Yes, I learned my lesson and never have done that again. A lot of companies I talked to said that is a common thing.

 

My buddy is my insurance agent and he said it's just not worth it. Like others have mentioned, between the cost, deductible and increase in rates, it's not really worth a claim. I'd prob get some money back now, but would bite me in the ass long term.

Also, I am going to be watching ads like a hawk for the next few months at least.

 

Bastards!

 

that front fender is unique to so cal. I see stolen bikes every so. they have no stickers and are spray painted, that is how I tell

 

I'm gonna say times have changed. How long ago was that?

Curious when you guys switched companies after these incidents, did the new companies consider "calling in" a claim as well? All insurance companies report claims to a common database. If you've made a theft claim and a water claim, for example, all of the companies would be aware of them. So in theory, they would also know about your non-claimed "claim" as well. Unless original company didn't report it. I could see there being a legal issue with doing so. But on your existing policy, it should be defined what constitutes a claim and what does not. I would have gone back and filed a claim after the fact if they raised my rates on that basis.

 

I went from State Farm to Farmers, only because they didn’t consider my situation a claim and my rates were actually cheaper. I don’t know if companies still have this type of policies. I’d like to know actually.

I should have filed a claim since I was getting charged for doing so.

 

I have been thinking of doing this as well. You got your personal lo-Jack.

 

That bike is so beautiful I even shared your original pics with CJ.

@SS Barby had his bike locked on a bike rack in a parking lot a while back. They couldn’t cut the lock so the sawzalled the whole bike rack off his vehicle leaving a stub sticking out of the receiver hitch. I know there has got to be a special place in hell for bike thieves. So sorry bud.

 

Went through the bottom of head tube . Removed the speaker. Double sided 3M didn’t work for me so had to glue a cheap neoprene AirTag holder . Stays in place so far.

 

Same happened to me a few years back. I don’t know if there are now laws against this. There should be. Premium went up for 3 years just for an inquiry. I felt so violated.

 

This is a really great idea. Super cheap insurance.

 

Good you mentioned removing the speaker. Air tags have a security feature that will notify someone (unfortunately the thief in this case) if an unknown airtag is "following" them. An alert will pop up on their Iphone if they have one, and the tag will also beep when it sends location info. Not sure how many thieves carry Iphones, but removing the speaker means they at least won't be alerted by the sound.

Of course for the airtag to work there has to be other apple devices within range to locate the tag as well, not to mention cellular service to get a signal to your phone. Better than nothing, but not foolproof by any means. Hopefully something better comes along for bikes in the near future.

 

It seems like it would be an easy fix for Apple to allow different modes for "I can't find my keys" or "I'm trying to locate my stolen bike/motorcycle/etc" and don't want the thief to know...

 

Leyzne makes an air tag holder that goes under that mounts under the seat. I have mine inside the frame taped to the downtube.

 

Maybe I'll put two in. One sorta hidden and then another one way deep in the frame or something. Makes me really wish I had put one in my bike. I would have been able to easily track and follow since there wasn't much time passed. Really hoping I end up seeing a listing for it.

 

They are worried about stalkers using them. I have read stories about thieves attaching them to cars and then robbing people later.

Not that I am too worried about it since I keep my bike inside, but I use the Airguard app which scans for tags and alerts you if there is one in the vicinity that has been away from its owner for 10 minutes or so.

 

Yea. Shitty part of technology right. For every good deed there’s prob a dozen shady or blatantly illegal uses.

 

Now that I think about it, I suppose a thief could use the Airguard or similar app to scan after they steal the bike, then find and remove the tag. The app can also activate the alarm on the tag, so removing the speaker seems like a good idea anyway.

 

Yeah, removing the speaker and throwing it in the frame just to buys you some time. Hopefully you notice the bike missing right away.

I figured they can scan for it but it will take them a while to find it if it’s in the frame. Most of the exterior mount solutions are pretty obvious and can just be immediately removed.

Muc off makes a holder that sits in the tire and attaches to the inside of your stems. Wasn’t too convinced about them.

 

Yup. There have also been accounts of creeps slipping them into a woman's purse or pocket at a bar and using it to track her once she leaves. So the need for security to limit their stealth is understandable.

I'm very surprised Apple hasn't improved the security around Airtags further. Apparently you don't get a notification of an unknown tag in your proximity for 6-8hrs at the earliest, which may be too late for a crime victim. And notification can take up to 3 days depending what operating system you have installed, assuming you even have an I-phone to begin with. Seems like Apple is exposing itself to a lot of liability here.

The challenge is how to make it so the tracker stays hidden from your thief without simultaneously enabling criminals to take advantage of its stealth for their own purposes. There's no way to control what the owner of an Airtag puts that tracker on, and as long as its owner can see the location of the tag, they can go to that location. So the only way I can think to make Airtags stealthy for theft tracking while 100% preventing criminal use is to limit the location data an Airtag owner sees. Once an item is reported stolen, law enforcement can get live location data from Apple and in theory swoop in to recover property and arrest the thief. This of course assumes law enforcement will actually respond, which they're not exactly known for even with solid info on location/identity of thief. I don't think consumers would buy it though, they would want to see the location data themselves.

That begs another question though, if your bike is stolen and has a tracker, what would you do with the location data? Most of us aren't the hardened criminal type who could go take back our property by force. Do a drive-by to see what's up? Best case, you spot it stashed in some bushes or otherwise unattended and grab it back. But more likely the tracker says it's in someone's house, garage, compound or parked vehicle. You could call the cops, but if they don't respond then what's your plan of action?

I can imagine a major reason why Apple wouldn't create a "mode" for tracking stolen property is they don't want to be liable for location data sending the general public into possible direct conflict with criminals.

 

Maybe?

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/anyone-missing-a-black-specialized-fs-mtb-in-the-azusa-area.1211166/

 

I would have no hesitation in retrieving my property.

Good catch! Sounds very promising.

 

Yes to both! I've already taken a bmx bike back by force since the cops wouldn't do Sh!t. All the departments want to point fingers to other departments. Going to log in to mtbr now.

 

Doooood. That sounds promising. I don't know that area, not sure how far it is from me. But definitely fits the description and it's totally possible.

 

It's only 28 miles from wahoos. Definitely possible. And it was posted on the 4th. I messaged the dude on mtbr and posted on his thread. I'll roll down there during the day and check it out.

 

Does anyone here know that area well enough to show me on a map the areas he's talking about? I have a rough idea, but would be nice to have something more specific to look at. I'm most likely going to drive that way on Friday since I'm off work and just scope it out. If I see what I think to be my bike, well, I'll just figure that out when the time comes.

 

See if you can meet up in that area with the guy who observed and reported what he saw there.

Or ask him to share Google Maps pin drop image.

 

That's what I'm trying to do. I posted on the thread and messaged him directly with my number. Hoping he responds, but I think he may have signed up to just post on there and isn't getting notifications.