The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help identifying an alleged bike thief who, on Wednesday, shoplifted bolt cutters to steal a boy’s e-bike.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help identifying an alleged bike thief who, on Wednesday, shoplifted bolt cutters to steal a boy’s e-bike.
Install a bike alarm inside the seat tube. They're hard to defeat without tools. Mine alternately flashes bright blue and red light strips epoxied to the frame. In California, that's a guaranteed police stop (blue lights are only allowed on law enforcement vehicles), plus it makes everyone look at the thief. There's also a relay that shorts out the motor, making it a bitch to pedal. If that and the 120 dB alarm doesn't stop them, 30 seconds later two metal strips under the seat fabric get powered from a 55 kV mosquito zapper circuit.
The bike alarm is triggered by motion. It's a standard off-the-shelf seat tube bike alarm, armed/disarmed by a fob. My modification was to beef up the output power to operate the flashing lights, motor shorting relay, sonalert, and the time-delayed electric theft deterrent. I can't be shocked unless I'm riding around for 30 seconds with lights flashing, alarm blasting, and the motor acting as a regenerative brake. That's why there's a time delay.
There's also an Airtag in the seat, but I'd rather deter the thief than have to track down the bike.