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veloeye bicycle theft protection

veloeye sticker pack

the rural idyll provides many a benefit that simply cannot be had or experienced in an urban or city setting on the mainland. in my previous residence prior to moving west, i could successfully nip to the newsagent of a saturday morning, collect my reserved copy of the comic (in the days when racing was king) and take the long way home without once meeting anyone i knew. that has rarely, if ever happened on islay; it would be a sad or very rainy day indeed when i can make it as far as the office (a five minute walk from the croft) without bumping into someone of my acquaint or receiving a wave from a passing vehicle.

though it appears a little twee when seen in print, there still exists a sense of community over here that is speedily diluted when moved to locations featuring greater numbers. it is prudent to remember that the population of the entire island numbers very few over 3,200. there are inner-city housing estates that are home to many more and the on-board accommodation of several cruise ships comfortably exceeds such a modest total. probably because of the fact that almost everybody knows everybody else, crime is fairly minimal, verging on the non-existent.

yes, drivers park their cars where they legally shouldn't, many use their phones while driving and people take their shopping home in trolleys that legally belong to the local averagemarket. however, at the risk of jinxing the current situation, it is perfectly possible to leave expensive carbon fibre unlocked in the bike rack outside debbie's, safe in the knowledge that it will be still there when froth supping has ended. at least part of this confidence arises from the knowledge that i probably couldn't pay the majority of the local populace to ride a bicycle, so the chances of them pinching something that needs cleated shoes to ride are fairly minimal. add to that the fact that few are aware that gear changing occurs at the brake levers and the risk factor is probably less than onerous.

veloeye scanned

however, there is currently more house-building taking place on islay than i have witnessed in the last thirty years and that has resulted in far more instances of white van man than usual, many of whom are not from the island. while one would hesitate to cast aspersions upon the honesty of the occupants, it pays to be at least slightly perspicacious when it comes to ensuring none of that carbon fibre goes astray. though there are many bicycle locks that purport to be bomb-proof, angle-grinders are not in short supply at present; if the bike did disappear, how might i find it again?

one answer to this question comes from veloeye based in eddleston in the scottish borders. by creating and subsequently making use of a self-engendered community, they hope to assist the hapless owner in tracking a stolen bicycle after locking has apparently failed as a deterrent.

veloeye works quite simply. via the veloeye.com website, you can purchase a sticker pack for only £10. the pack contains a sachet of isopropyl alcohol in order to wipe down the top tube of your precious bicycle as preparation for the affixing of the three stickers in the pack. these feature a qr code that is tied to the details supplied at the time of online purchase. having done so, it is then necessary to download a free app from either apple's app store or google's android store to your smartphone.

should your bicycle be stolen at any point, the app allows this to be recorded on veloeye's database. and if a fellow veloeye user comes across your missing bicycle, they too can scan the code to check its status and immediately alert the police. but surely, if it's simply a sticker, couldn't the thief remove it to avoid detection?

veloeye stolen

sitting front and centre inside each sticker pack is a warning and disclaimer advising the purchaser that the stickers, in order to feature as an effective deterrent, are "essentially permanently stuck to your bike." therefore, if you're in any doubt about attaching the sticker to your valuable frame, you should simply return the sticker pack for a full refund. however, as the same disclaimer states, attempting to remove the sticker with solvents, heat guns or scrapers "may affect the integrity of your frame."

more than one member of the peloton pointed out that surely it would be easy enough to respray the frame, thus obscuring the code printed on the sticker? but if done professionally, you'd hope that the paint shop would have their own suspicions; if not, hopefully the eventual purchaser would be a bit dubious about acquiring a frame featuring one large and two smaller apparently concealed stickers. and if you happen to sell the bike, you can log-in to your veloeye account to transfer details to the new owner.

it's doubtful that any one method of theft deterrent will offer complete protection, but the veloeye system appears to hold great promise at very low cost. and the more who sign-up, the greater chance there is of recovering a stolen bicycle. so other than a sticker on your top tube and the cost of three double espressos, what have you got to lose?

veloeye.com

tuesday 20 june 2017

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................