Opinion | How to Avoid Bike Theft at the Races

This is certainly not just a UK issue, having been a problem at all types of bike racing events for years gone by, it’s just a bit more of an awakener when you have experienced the sadness it creates first hand. Many bikes have gone missing from many events over the years, so why does this happen? Well thieves want things worth the most money and easiest to take.

Any type of mountain bike event will have some of the most expensive bikes around in vast abundance, that’s the nature of the beast. Your average enduro bike now ranges from £2,500 (€3,500) to £8,000 (€11,000) so the value is there. As for ease of the taking, these things are quite often in awnings with skinny wire locks or locked onto cars, an absolute doddle of a job for any determined thief. Finally they are light and have wheels, so are an absolute piece of piss to take away once the locks are cut.

It is so easy to get complacent at races, we all know each other, like one big family and we just end up leaving bikes around and thinking it will be fine. These thieves only have to come and watch for a day, dressed in similar clothing to riders or even on cheaper bikes to blend in. They will spend the day seeing where people take these bikes when done, what are the easy targets and scope out their entry and exit tactics; it’s not rocket science! Remember these scumbags have no morals, they don’t care if its your pride and joy and how hard you worked to pay for it or earn a team ride, it’s just money to them.

So what can we do to avoid this happening, because lets face it, we are never going to know every rider at an event and thieves can be mingling with the riders a lot easier than you think. Firstly insure your bike, and I don’t mean some crappy house insurance that may or may not cover it when away from home, I’m talking proper bike insurance that covers your pride and joy wherever you and your bike are. It can cost between £100 (€140) and £200 (€280) You may think this is a bit pricey, as I did at first, but lets face it, as MTB riders we spend a lot of money on some very overpriced articles quite often, a decent insurance is piece of mind surely.

Next up put yourself in the mind of the thief when buying a lock, could you get through it with an industrial set of bolt croppers, if the answer is yes, then the lock is no good! Could the thing you’ve locked it to be taken apart easily or even stolen as well? This is all a consideration. If you keep bikes locked in vans overnight, you may want to consider extra van door locks or even simple things with any vehicle, like parking it so it would be a right bastard to try and steal. If you are camped near where the bike is locked make sure you are literally sleeping next to it, even tie something like fishing wire from your bike into your tent, maybe onto something that will make a noise if moved.

Basically you don’t want to be the easy option, because that’s what they will go for. The light fingered brigade don’t want a nightmare of a job whilst nicking their loot, if you have done all the right things then they will just move onto the next lot of bikes that looks like an easy job. I feel the pain of these guys who had their bikes taken at the UKGE, so let’s think about being more vigilant and less complacent in future and if the whole lot of racers/riders at an event get into this mindset then these robbing bastards will move onto easier pickings somewhere else.

Finally bike races are one big advert all over the net for expensive bikes on tap that will be rich pickings for thieves, so maybe organizers should not only arrange some type of security for these events, but also mention planned security in any promotional material related to advertisement, this would perhaps make these thieves think twice before even coming.

The bikes stolen from this event were four MDE’s (very rare bikes indeed) three Team Whyte G160’s, one Lappiere Spicy, one Scott Genius and one Trek Remedy. If you have any info on these bikes please contact steveparr66@yahoo.co.uk

Did you enjoy this article? If so, we would be stoked if you decide to support us with a monthly contribution. By becoming a supporter of ENDURO, you will help secure a sustainable future for high-quality mountain bike journalism. Click here to learn more.