Why are so many bicycles stolen in London?

Question

I have only lived in London for 1 year and I have had 3 bikes stolen. All were locked up. 2 of them were in the underground garage of my apartment building (2 different buildings). One was stolen from outside the Bow Road underground station.

I now have a bike which is my 4th.

I went to Sweden recently and hardly anybody locks their bike – but none are stolen.

Answer 1

Evidently this a problem all over europe.

A friend just got back from Amsterdam where marijuana is legal and he had to laugh about the guy standing in an alley hawking these wares.

Cocaine, underage girls and stolen bicycles.

Answer 2

London has many thieves is the only answer I can give you.

Answer 3

Because there are a whole lot of low-down thieves and a whole lot of bikes. It is a bit of a shame that we live in a society where, even if you do lock everything up, it still gets pinched by greedy people. Grrr.

Answer 4

because they cant afford there own ;) x

Answer 5

lol, i just answered your question about the missing front wheel. i do believe you should stop buying bikes and buy a gun

Answer 6

Because my brothers are oppressed for million of years by white racsim they only getting back what was stolen from them by Imperialism. I like Swedish women though.

Answer 7

Because people hope they belong to David Cameron or Boris Johnson

Answer 8

lol cuz you live in bow road. theres loads of immigrants there. from african countries. ofcourse is going to get stolen.

Answer 9

cuz everyone wants bikes? you probably have expensive ones which is honestly rather a silly thing to do in the uk.  

Answer 10

Could it be that!Someone is taking someone for a ride!

Answer 11

don't know why

Answer 12

There does seem to be an increasing demand for bicycles but it's not just a recent problem, my Dad has been cycling in London for nearly 15 years at this stage and it's always been a problem, in one house where he lived one of his housemates had his bike stolen out of the back yard - they had to climb the wall to do it.  

I would imagine with the transport links out of London, it's pretty easy to get them out of the city and up the country or even out of the country as well.  

My dad was once asked to assist the police in their investigations, they were setting up a sting to catch bike thieves and asked him to leave his bike unlocked while they watched it - in 15 minutes they arrested 4 potential thieves, thief No 4 had been trying to steal the bike while the police were standing beside it arresting thief No 3.  

Answer 13

Because there are so many people ready to buy them.

Go around Shoreditch on Sunday and you will probably see your bike.

Check the Gumtree or ebay, you will find it again.

Few years ago, the police was working under cover and was giving fine (+the bike) to people buying stolen bikes...As if there is no buyer, there is no seller.

Spray some smart water on your bike and register it to the police.

http://cms.met.police.uk/met/boroughs/su...

The police recover many bikes and never find their owner.