Had a bicycle stolen? Here's what you can do to keep it safer

A number of bicycle owners in London, Ont., are frustrated their bikes are being stolen from their properties, despite taking precautions to lock them up in their sheds and garages.

"We feel really violated. This is our space and now somebody has entered into it and that makes me feel really uncomfortable," said Rachel McKenzie, who woke up Thursday morning to find her husband's bike, among other items gone, when the shed of their east-end home was broken into.

"We don't drive so our bicycles are our only mode of transportation. Now my husband's without his and we can't afford to buy another bike, so the whole situation is just really crappy."

McKenzie said in the eight years she's lived in the city, they've never had any thefts. The couple has taken extra security measures like installing better locks and cameras, but there's not a lot more they can do to get the bike back, McKenzie added.

The problem isn't unique to London. Recent data from Square One Insurance Services shows bicycle thefts in Canada jump 429 per cent in summer months compared to winter. Residential properties are the most common theft locations, it found.

"A lot of folks have their bikes stolen from the place they think it's least likely to be stolen, which is their home. It's usually when they're away or in the middle of the night," said Andrew Hunniford, general manager at London Bicycle Cafe.

A large chunk of his clientele comes into his shop to replace stolen bikes, he said.

Tyson Anderson, 17, was devastated to find his bicycle stolen from a rack at his east London high school in June. It was a gift from his late great-grandfather who died earlier this year, Anderson's grandmother Kim Pearce said.

"My dad gifted him the bike for passing all his credits, to take away the 30 minute walk to and from school," she said. "He rode that bike everyday [in memory]. It's not that we can't afford buying him a new bike, we can't buy the sentimental value it had."

Pearce said the incident was caught on the school's security footage. She's reported to the police but is still awaiting an investigation.

Christopher Ostyn-Hawkswell does DoorDash deliveries on his bike and while waiting to receive another order, he left his bike in the foyer of his duplex. It was gone later that night.

"The worst part is that I only had it for less than a week," he said about his $1,500 bike.

Ostyn-Hawkswell said his previous bike was also stolen from his home last summer. He's currently using a broken pedal bike to get by, adding he can't afford to keep buying locks or replacing bikes.

"You can't even have something on your front porch without it being vandalized or stolen. It just boggles my mind and it's been very stressful."

WATCH | Tips on a good lock

Hunniford says if a thief has the right tools, they'll succeed in stealing bikes. But the trick is to slow them down by using locks that are harder for them to pick.

"Newer technology is one of the most effective things you can do is because you're really trying to deter somebody from trying to steal your bicycle," he said. "If you can have a better lock than somebody else, they'll move on."

London police have a free bicycle registry app that works to alert other London-area cyclists any time a bike is stolen or goes missing.

Hunniford suggests investing in a good lock and finding a secure rack in well-trafficked areas with high visibility. To help combat the thefts, he also wants to see the City of London to invest more in secure bicycle parking infrastructure.

Reporter

Isha Bhargava is a multiplatform reporter for CBC News. She's worked for Ontario newsrooms in Toronto and London. She loves telling current affairs and human interest stories. You can reach her at [email protected]