For the past month, masked and armed men have been stealing high-value mountain bikes at gunpoint in the hills east of Oakland, Calif. There have been at least five such incidents in recent weeks, though it’s not unheard of for armed robberies of bikes to take place in the area in years past. Police have made no arrests for the recent robberies thus far.
Most of the encounters have been in or near Joaquin Miller Park, a very popular place for the East Bay mountain bike scene. Lots of good trails, redwood groves, proximity to the thriving cities of Berkeley and Oakland are the draws. But the thieves have taken notice of so many people there on bikes costing $5,000 and up that are easy to steal.
Many of the thefts are similar. A car pulls up alongside a rider, a person with a mask covering their face gets out, points a gun at the cyclist, and takes their bike, making a quick getaway. Occasionally, bikes are taken from the racks of vehicles in trailhead parking lots and when the driver gets out to protest, they get a gun in the face.
A more brazen attack occurred in April in Berkeley, when thieves carjacked a van carrying members of a high school mountain bike team, making off with four bikes and the team’s van. Thieves followed the van off a busy freeway and when it parked in front of one of the kid’s homes, the carjackers quickly got out of their trailing vehicle, brandished guns, and took the van and the bikes, leaving the students and their coaches outside, horrified.
Plenty of good riding in those hills.
[ed note: I have had two mountain bikes stolen from the rear rack of my vehicles in recent years, both in Marin County, across the Richmond/San Rafael Bride from Oakland/Berkeley. In both cases, my car was parked near freeways providing easy exit points for thieves. Police said my car was likely followed from the freeway to where I parked, both times. In my defense, the bike were locked to the rack both times too, though with cable locks, which I’ll never use again. In the years since, I’ve learned thieves target affluent areas with easy access by car. Unsurprising, perhaps, but a lesson you typically have to deal with personally before it begins to click.]
“It’s heartbreaking to think they might be discouraged by this happening,” Nick Hoeper-Tomich, the team’s coach, said. “They love to ride and I don’t want anything to get in the way of that.”
Police don’t have a lot to go on here, with the men who’ve committed the offenses wearing ski masks and using different cars. But as always, if you’re buying a used bike, keep your antennae up and if something feels fishy with the bike’s provenance, walk away.
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Since my bikes were stolen, I’ve had excellent luck with the ABUS Granit X-Plus 54 Mini U-Lock combined with the Kryptonite Keeper chain. I never leave a bike on my rack without employing both of these.
Top photo: Trail at Joaquin Miller park. Photo: Flickr
This may be something we all need to start thinking about. Add a tracking device like an AirTag or other tracking devices. When bikes cost as much as they do, what’s a little extra spent on a way to get your bike back. Also, how about putting out some decoy bikes in that area?
Both ideas have validity. Law enforcement is maxed out; assistance without getting in their way may be an answer.
Part and parcel of being privileged. If you have a bike that costs what the average American earns in a month, you should expect to be a target.
These dudes robbed teenagers at gunpoint, you sicko.
They robbed rich teenagers in a neighborhood where 20% of residents live on under 20k a year.
Expecting to be a target is not the same thing as thinking it’s ok.
Maybe, but…. not sure. Lotsa stuff is being nabbed. Catalytic converters on 18-year old Tercels. Twice. Same motor vehicle. Owner could not afford private security on top of their rent. Many other converters from old vehicles. Copper wire on a 1950s house being re-habbed. Electric contractor shows up early a.m. and gee, somebody’s been stealing my wire. And it’s all gone. I had a sh*t-bike stolen. Obviously I shoulda woulda coulda bought a cheaper piece of shi*t. Would that have solved the problem. Not sure.
How sad! What is the future of a society populated by people who have come to believe that anyone with a gun or just the will to steal what isn’t theirs is entitled to take whatever they want by force or by stealth because societal norms developed over centuries by a civilized people are systematically being dismantled in the name of…what?
Sick_n_Tired…the kind of individual who will spend most of their precious time on this fine spinning ball complaining about not having something and will work harder to avoid hard work. Also has a moving baseline of ethics. It is never justifiable to steal what is rightfully someone else’s not matter what degree of jealousy or even rightful resentment they might feel. That’s more what is wrong with the world than people riding expensive bikes. SMDH.
Sorry SnT, but you’re wrong. There’s a ton of non-privileged working stiffs out there with expensive bikes. Yes, $5k is a lot for a bike, but people figure it out if it’s something they love to do. Heck, $5k is a bargain compared to a $30k custom motorcycle, a 1 ton pickup, or lots of other toys.
Seems like you’re just pissed off at the world. Hope you figure it out.
Sick and tired , that’s kinda a fucking lame thing to say, are you justifying that if someone has a nice bike they should expect to get robbed! All of my mountain bike friends work hard and save their money for months to be able to ride a nice bike. That is not privileged, that’s called hard work . Piece of shit criminals need to be held accountable and not slapped on the wrist for bike jacking innocent people.
I’m not saying anyone deserves to be robbed, only that they should expect it. Not everyone can afford to save for a toy that costs more than many people’s first car. When making a decision between food and rent, a $5000 bike seems obscene. No one needs a bike like that. Greed is killing this country.
You are absolutely correct, people work hard to earn the money for items that are important to them. Until there are more consequences for these thieves, nothing will change. I live in a part of the country where we can fight back, and I would.
Haven’t had much interest in my ~35 year old hybrid commuter. Wonder why……..
When Lojack first became available in the Boston area many years ago car thieves were tracked right to the chop shops and arrests were made. AirTags on decoy bikes {or any bike that’s expensive} is a great idea.
hey sick and tired, tell me if i’m privilged. i bought my mtn bike not with hard earned earnings, rather i had help from hank and mickey. that would be hammerin’ hank aaron and mickey mantle. i sold those two baseball cards and not only bought a cannondale delta v series, but much more. where does that put me in YOUR privilege scale?
Pretty high. I know too
Many that have pawned family heirlooms to keep a roof over their head or buy medicine, not a toy. If you have those resources, be thankful.
Doesn’t mean you should have stuff stolen, but most if not all the land mountain bikes ride over is all stolen isn’t it?
“…but most if not all the land mountain bikes ride over is all stolen isn’t it?” You are insufferable and probably a blast at parties, huh? Cheer up, go out for a ride, even if it is a Huffy from 1970 bought at a pawn for 10 bucks. I know, I know, in some third-world county a kid could buy a year’s supply of rice for $10….
Couple thoughts:
– Bikes have become too expensive, full stop, no room for argument. If the bike you bought 10, 15 years ago, has tripled in price, without tripling in value added to the end user (newsflash, they haven’t, at, all), it’s greed on the part of every parts manufacturer represented on that overpriced bit of designed obsolescence kit.
That situation begets, some dude walking into a bike shop out of boredom, lack of privilege, and likely underemployment, seeing $10, 15, even approaching 20K bikes, and the light bulb moment occurs.
If the highest end bike was ~ $5K, and most were well under 2-3K bikes would be a lot less “shiny” to thieves.
– Lo Jacks only help if police are willing to engage. I’ve had customers get bikes stolen, filed a police report, with pic, receipts, all of it, only to find it on Craigslist, tell the cops, they go, “meh”, at best. So they end up going and buying their ~ $4000 ride back for $600.
Me? I’d show up with a baseball bat and discuss the realities of the situation with the little shit selling it.
– Everyone in this country, obviously needs to choose their own level of comfort. But?
Start carrying while riding, and when threatened, ask them in a mildly inferring, and threatening manner, if they really want the bike *that* badly, a few times before handing it over.
Sadly, this country is turning into the wild west again, and if you don’t protect yourself, you really can’t honestly expect anyone else to, either. Cops, last of all, and my son’s a cop, so don’t think I don’t feel both sides of this issue.
Until we correct education so everyone gets a good one, start paying a living wage so everyone feels *financially respected* for work done, and start to crack down on the unfettered accumulation of wealth by a small minority, creating massive feelings of inequality in broader society, furthered by the my earlier points, we have no one but ourselves to blame.
So, go skin a few CEO and sell their pelts, a lot of this shit will start to take care of itself.
I don’t know if I’ll replace my full suspension bike with another full suspension bike. A good, $1,500 hardtail with a good fork and a dropper, like the Commencal Meta HT, is more than enough and won’t go obsolete in three years.
Got a little chuckle over the dichotomy of this armed thefts debate vs. tomorrow’s (4/26) video about making heated headset/handgrips for an off-road bike. AJ does a fine job w/info & ent.
The pointing of a gun to my face would disturb me far more than the theft itself. That could almost spur me into some action, consequences be damned. That and coal-rolling.
Vigilante justice typically doesn’t work as well in real life as in the movies though. You’re probably dealing with a meth head to whom there is no reasoning or teaching of lessons. I don’t want to get killed for a bike. Best to just take your cheap rig to that area and have some decent insurance.
If only California would enact common sense gun laws. Then all of this would stop.