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Hex Pipes
hexagonal profile bike stands to deter thefts | |
Alert - not a halfbaked idea!
A close friend just had his bike stolen. It was securely locked to one of those stainless steel bike stands that look like an inverted letter U set into a concrete base. The thief had used a new technique to steal the bike. They had cut a section out of the actual stand,
using a heavy duty plumber's pipe cutting tool.
There is youtube video of this technique in action. It only takes the criminals a few seconds to remove a 3 inch long section of the stainless steel support then manoeuver the bike through the resulting gap.
Making bike stands out of hexagonal profile tubing would totally prevent this method from working.
(more halfbaked solutions include connecting the bike stand pipes to become part of the city's high pressure water supply - but the hex pipes would be quick and easy)
thief in action
https://www.youtube.../shorts/od-lScwOG90
[xenzag, Jun 11 2024]
[link]
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Hmmm. The pipe wouldn't have to be hexagonal to stop that attack. You could equally well use two pipes welded together, or something like that - which might be easier to fabricate. |
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A hex pipe has easy to attack corners, which I think would be significantly less secure than round steel. |
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Run a steel cable up the inside of the tube |
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A hexagonal cross section would be expensive to manufacture. What you could do instead to make the bike rack resistant to attack by pipe cutter is to make the cross section elliptical. This could be done by taking the standard Sheffield bike stand and squashing it from the side in a hydraulic press. This would retain the simple appearance of the Sheffield stand which makes any tampering very evident. |
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Or, y'know, invent "bicycles which suddenly punch a big spike through the saddle when stolen". |
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That would make the bike racks too expensive. I sometimes have to cycle to a nearby station and then travel to my workplace by train. The bike racks at the station are of the standard design and it's a known location for bike theft. I have had many years of theft-free cycling to this station by having a special, very cheap, bike which I bought off eBay specifically for this use, and locking it up with a lock which cost more than the bike, next to other, more expensive bikes. |
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// very cheap, bike which I bought off eBay specifically for this use, and locking it up with a lock which cost more than the bike, next to other, more expensive bikes.// Imagines bike being cut and expensive lock stolen.... |
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You can giggle [xen] but I knew someone with a junk bike whose lock was stolen off the bike. |
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