This article was originally published in August of 2017 in my previous portfolio blog.

My beloved fixed gear road bike was stolen sometime in August 2017. I walked my bike to the subway and locked it up near the entrance while taking my son to the YMCA summer camp two subway stops away. I did this on occasion, so I did not need to walk all the way home to jump on my bike and head to work. When I arrived 30 to 40 minutes later, I noticed that my bike was gone. Upon further inspection, I noticed that it was cut with a power tool, potentially a grinder. I had a top of market u-lock - the Kryptonite Fahgettaboutit mini u-lock. 

At first, I was shocked and dismayed, then furious. I'm someone who comes from very humble means. I did not grow up with much, so I cherish the things that I do have. Due to growing up without much, I tend to get attached to the things that I do have, even though life has gotten pretty good for me. I take pride in maintaining my prized positions, including the fixie gear bike, which I had for roughly ten years.

I looked around the area my bike was stolen from and saw that security cameras were surrounding where I locked my bike up. I asked the high school near where my bike was stolen if there was a way I could see the footage. I was told that I could only do that with a police report, so I called the local police department but was told to call 911. I did so and waited for the officers to arrive to put in a police report. I was naive and asked if I could now look at the footage, but the officers explained that there is a process for that. They were very apologetic, but I got the impression that they weren't going to be much help. I can't blame them because a stolen bike is probably not the most important thing that they need to deal with at any given time. 

I then decided to apply design thinking strategic logic to the situation. I began to ask myself, who would want to steal my bike? And, who would have the means to steal my bike between 8:30 am, and roughly 9:15 am? I came up with three use cases:

1. An individual stealing my bike for personal use

2. A worker at the school with power tools

3. A professional bike thief who brings equipment with them while looking for bikes to steal

After putting the use cases together, I spent time analyzing them to figure out where I should put my focus:

1. The individual: I doubt they'd steal my bike because it was not an easy target due to my industrial-strength u-lock. I doubt the average person stealing bikes for their own personal use carries around the heavy machinery needed to cut through it. Typically the individual thief steals parts off of bikes instead of the entire bike.

2. A worker at the school: This seemed potentially plausible. Maybe they had access to the heavy machinery, and perhaps they had an extension cord or access to a power supply to pull this off. I had talked to the maintenance worker on staff, and he seemed genuinely apologetic. He also pointed out the security cameras to me and mentioned that I should speak to the school security staff to see if I can get access to the footage. I found him to be authentic and did not feel like he stole my bike.

3. A professional bike thief: I figured that this was the most plausible persona behind stealing my bike. But, I had to break it down further. I started asking myself questions like:

• How were they able to cut the lock in broad daylight in an area with good foot traffic?

• If the power tool needed an outlet, where could they plug it in? Before locking up my bike, I always looked for potential power supplies like street lamps, and there was none in the immediate area.

• Where would this person store bikes?

Although, I had question marks with the 3rd use case - the professional bike thief - I decided to soldier on and continue to flush out the use case more and get my questions answered. 

How were they able to cut my lock? And, how were they able to power the device?

I assumed that all grinders were cord-operated and required a power supply, so I searched online for battery operated grinders. I learned that there were several battery-operated versions, and they are not all that expensive. It seemed like the average battery-operated grinder goes for $150 versus $75 for the traditional grinder that needs a power supply.

Where would a professional thief store a bike?

As far as storing bicycles, the most logical place in my mind would be a bike shop. I decided to test this by creating a spreadsheet of all the bike shops in Brooklyn. After performing a Google search, I was able to put together a list of roughly fifty bike shops. I ended up working from home on a Friday, so I called each and every shop and asked them the following:

1. Do you sell used bikes?

2. What about selling used bikes on consignment?

I was somewhat surprised to learn that out of the list of fifty bike shops, only ten of them sold used bikes. I also learned that there are strict requirements related to selling used bikes. Bike shops are required to store the ID of the person they either sell the bike for, or buy a used bike from in order to resell it. They mentioned that it is a requirement of New York City, to cut down on bike thefts. I then decided to narrow the list of ten shops that sell bikes in the area down to only those within a one-mile radius of where my bike was stolen. That cut my list down to four bike shops. I visited all four, and two of them seemed incredibly shady to me because they were small hole in the wall spaces, that were more bike repair shop rather than an actual retail bike shop. They also only sold used bikes. I was particularly alarmed by the bike shop that was only a few short blocks from where my bike was stolen. 

I acted like someone who was interested in buying a single-speed bike. I asked him if he had any, and he said he had two. Neither of them was my bike. But, even more alarming was that he was willing to sell each bike for a mere $100, which is way below market value. Even basic single-speed bikes usually go for $300. I then showed him a picture of my bike and asked if he had seen it. I watched his eyes seemingly get as large as dinner plates. He then mentioned that he saw a bike like that a few weeks ago, and asked me when it was stolen. He then went off on a tangent about how "these thieves have a tool that can cut threw any lock in mere seconds, is battery operated, and makes virtually no noise." All kinds of alarm bells went off in my mind, and I was virtually certain that he may have had something to do with my bike being stolen. After I got home, I searched online for his shop. I found a few people online who mentioned that their stolen bikes ended up at his shop, so I was rather certain that he may have been behind it.

I never ended up getting my bike back, but I feel much more at ease, knowing that I tried everything that I could to get it back. In that sense, I had closure. If your bike is ever stolen in New York City, or some other high theft area, consider the following:

• File a police report. You don't want to be arrested for stealing your own property back.

• Check online marketplaces to see if it is up for sale.

• Post your bike on social media to see if someone else may have seen your bike. Ask your friends and acquaintances to repost your message to their friends.

• Offer a reward for returning your bike.

When your bike is stolen, it's pretty much a long shot to get it back, but at least you will give it a fighting chance. From now on, I will never leave a bike locked up outside again! I got too complacent by thinking that a top of line lock would be secure even for a short amount of time.