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Thursday, September 14, 1972
University Daily Kansan
A Bike Thief's Confession
By LINDA J. CHAPUT Kansan Staff Writer
I spent part of the morning last Wednesday test-driving bicycles on the University of Kansas campus. I tried 10-speeds and clunkers—I wasn't particular because I had no intention of buying one. I stole the bikes, six of them in 45 minutes.
I must admit that I thought my editor was crazy when she told me that my next assignment was to steal as many bikes as I could. But in the next few days before I wrote the story, I found four bikes unlocked in front of Watson Library and I began to think it wasn't such a bad idea.
I WENT OUT with a photographer Wednesday morning. Our plan was to walk from one end of the campus to the other; she was supposed to take pictures and I was supposed to steal every bicycle I found unlocked.
I would ride the bike around to see whether I could get away with the theft and then pray that an irate owner wasn't waiting for me when I returned it to its original place.
We decided to try for our first heist at the Union. On the way there I noticed a boy's lime green 10-speed Jeunet parked in front of Dyche.
The bike had a big steel chain and lock, but the owner had just wound the chain around the seat and attached the bike to a guard rail instead of running the chain
through the spokes of a wheel or around the frame. Any thief could unwrap the chain without opening the lock and the bike would be free.
I WAS then too frightened about my first job to think about it, but the chain around the seat trick would make my short career as a thief much easier. I unwrapped the chain from the bike seat, got on and pedaled around for a few minutes. I returned the bike, rewrapped the chain and left it as I had found it.
Our next find was parked in the bike racks in front of the Union—a boy's boy's 1-speed with a great, old fashioned horn. This one wasn't even locked. I just hopped on and rode it away.
Next I took a girl's red 1-speed Schwinn that was parked several feet from the black bike. This one had no horn, but it did have a bell and a basket on the front. None of the people sitting outside the Union said a word to me when I took it.
I COULDN'T get away with the boy's black 1-speed Western Flyer I found unlocked in front of Strong Hall. As I was examining it, the boy who owned it came to get it. I told him that if he wasn't more careful it would get stolen and he said he had left it there for four years without a lock.
"I always leave it here," he said. "Now that 10-speeds are in no one would even be interested in taking it."
The bright orange boy's 10-speed BMA-4 I found chained to the cyclone fence that surrounds the Wesco Hall construction site was the catch of the day. Its owner had tried the trick of wrapping the chain around the seat.
I UNWRAPPED the chain and rode the bike away before an audience of 35 people sitting on the front lawn of Strong Hall.
The orange bike was the only theft that caused any problems. When I returned after my ride to put the bike back in its original place, a girl had just parked her bike there. It was hard to explain to her why she should move her bike and let me put the orange one there.
The two traffic and security officials who were talking outside the station didn't even notice me as I unwrapped the chain, got on the bike and rode around them in circles.
My last steal was a girl's green 3-speed MA-6 once again on the chair was wrapped around the seat. When I found it, the bike was leaning on a guard rail near the traffic control station at the west end of campus
WITH THE recent bike craze, bicycle theft has reached epidemic proportions in major cities across the country. Organized crime rings steal and resell thousands of bikes every year in cities such as Boston and New York. In Los Angeles County, 51,000 bikes were stolen in 1971.
problem. One Topeka police official reported that 559 bicycles with a total value of $12,450 were stolen there in 1971. He said that about 125 bicycles were reported stolen every month of the summer in 1972 but that he thought the figure would drop to 80 or 90 a month in the fall.
Large coastal cities are not alone in the
The figures are not so impressive in Lawrence, where 387 bicycles were stolen in the first eight months of 1972, according to Lawrence police records. That is about three every two days.
THE RATE of theft at the University of Kansas has gone up this year, according to Mike Thomas, director of Traffic and Security. Students reported several hundred stolen bikes in 1971, he said; only five per cent were recovered.
"And from what I can tell, we are under the other Big Eight schools in rate of theft," he said.
What can be done to prevent bicycle theft? It is very difficult to safeguard a bike completely and still get any use from it. A professional thief armed with bolt cutters can break almost any lock. A case hardened chain with heavy padlock offers the best protection, according to local bike shop owners. Chain and lock together cost about $14.
Police officials say the best advice they can give to bike owners is to keep their bicycles locked. Most thefts occur, they say, on the spur of the moment when someone needs quick transport.
Linda Chaput, Bike Thief, Wheels Away on Prize
She stole on her 45-minute ride.
Kansan Staff Photo by PRIS BRANDSTED
Wheeling
way of traveling around the sprawling campus. The two-wheelers are nonpolluting, economic and provide good exercise; the other problems are because of the large size of the campus and the need to carry heavy equipment.
Whether riding an expensive 10-speed or an economical clinker, many University students have found bicycles an excellent
Ten-Speeds Selling Best, But All Models Do Well
By VICKI MONNARD
Kansan Staff Writer
Lawrence bicycle dealers are having no difficulty selling the bicycles they have in stock. The 10 speeds are the hottest selling prices are going up, dealers said recently.
When more bicycles are in demand, the manufacturer must make bicycles in a shorter time, and this increases prices, as the manager of Ride On Bike Shon. said.
Bicycle sales have increased in the last two years but the demand will probably drop, David Merrill, co-owner of Bill's Bike Shop, said Thursday. Prices have gone up because of the supply and demand, and it is hard to keep good bicycles in stock, he said. He said the manufacturers kept raising the prices.
Today's Bicycles Are Descendants Of Eighteenth Century 'Velocifere'
Meador said that the bicycles in Europe were built with parts produced by different manufacturers.
"ITS NOT like General Motors which builds a complete car," he said. "In Europe a company will specialize in the wheel and the bicycle such as the brakes or frame."
The derailleur, the primary moving part of a bicycle, is not produced in the United States, Meador said. All American-made bicycles have foreign derailleurs and this causes bicycles made in the United States to be more expensive, he said.
Meador said the best 10-speed bicycles were made in Europe and the only U.S. company that could compete was Schwinn. The team of bicycles have cheaper derailleurs, he said.
Inflation and the devaluation of the dollar have caused the prices to increase, Mark Denac, an employee of Gran Sport, said. The devaluation of the dollar made the price of foreign-made bicycles jump about $20, he said.
The demands in different parts of the United States also influence the price of the bicycles, Cenac said. A bicycle that costs $115 in Lawrence could easily be sold for $150 in Denver where the bicycle demand is much reater, he said.
CUSTOMERS are buying more 10-speed bicycles than other kinds, the dealers said. Ceneca said 10-speed were lighter than 20-speed but were heavier. Weights exceeded 30 pounds, he said.
A bicycle club formed last fall preserves the sporty aspect of cycling for a few KU bikes. The bicycling clubs began in the early 1970s, century, shortly after bikes were invented.
Contrary to the view main KU bikers may have, cycling began as a sport, not as a game.
By LYNNE MALM
Kansan Staff Writer
John Woodfordte's "The Story of the Bicycle" is one of several books in Watson Library that give a detailed history of the bicycle.
An 18th century Frenchman Comte de Sivac is thought to have been the first inventor of the "protobicycle," the Celerifer, renamed Velociforte in 1793. It had no pedals or steering mechanism. The body was horse-steered and it was propelled in a straight line by the
BARON VON DRAIS de Sauerbrun of Germany gave the Velociter a steerable front wheel in 1817 and called it a Draisienne. An English model dropped the frame to accommodate the ladies' long skirts.
These early models were adopted by the young rich of Europe, but opposition from blackmishms, who saw the bikes as a threat to their trade, slouped the craze. The iron wheels gave many riders hernias because of their rough rides.
For 45 years efforts were directed toward perfecting vehicles with three or four wheels. Velocipedes, the generic name for the Velocifera invented earlier, enjoyed a revival in Europe and became a craze in the United States in 1869.
The first machine with direct-action
machines. The Machinix, as Paterson coach repaired,
Michigan, as Paterson coach repaired,
BETWEEN 1870 and 1890 the "pennyfarthing" bicycle with an oversized front wheel and a tiny back wheel was most common. Its ride was less rough than the low-wheel wheels. The American counterpart of the same period had the smaller wheel in front.
Tension wheels, wire supported with solid rubber tires, replaced wooden wheels on the bicycle. The tires skirts toward lightening the bicycle build-up business of cycle racing also promoted the business of cycling.
peramulator maker. He produced 400
birves with 36-inch wheels in 1865.
bicycles,
The Safety Bicycle, the forerunner of today's models, was developed in 1848. It was the first bike with a chain-driven rear wheel.
Morrill said the 10-speeds were easier to pedal because of the wide gear range and this was helpful in climbing the hills in Lawrence.
Meador said French bicycles cost from $110 to $140, and Japanese bicycles ranged from $140 to $160. Bicycles costing $200 or more were almost always Italian-made, he said. He said most people bought bicycles in the $110 to $140 price range.
Most of the bicycles made since 1802 are based on the British J. K. Stanley base.
Reddick said it was hard to get bicycles from the factory and some factories were six months behind. Western Auto sent in an order for 400 bicycles last spring and it has been getting about 20 bicycles a week, she said.
Cenac said almost all his sales were from the floor and very few bicycles were specially ordered. He said he had difficulty finding them, so he had eased up in the last two months.
"Some companies give us a yearly allowance and others send us bicycles as they make them. It depends on the company," Morrill said.
June Reddick, an employee of Western College, said a variety of people bought bicycles at the store. The other bicycle dealers said that most of their customers were college students but that high school students and older adults also came in
manufacturer won't send the bicycle for four months. Meador said.
“Our store has approximately 300 bicycles in its warehouse and customers can usually find what they are looking for. We have 960 per cent of our sales are from the floor.”
MEADOR SAID his store made very few special orders for bicycles unless the bicycle costs around $250. He said in most cases the special ordering caused hardships. The store may say that the bicycle will be delivered on Tuesday and the
Morrill said he had cut back his orders as much as 70 per cent.
Clutter
The popularity of the bicycle on the KU created something of a parking problem.
nearly every available space—on guard rails, poles, fences and other immobile objects—is occupied by one or more bicycles. Here, along Jayhawk Housedale, bike owners are given the freedom to ride their bikes.
KU Rules Are Difficult To Enforce
The enforcement of campus safety regulations concerning bicycles is made difficult by the large number of bikes and the small force of officers, according to Capt. Robert Ellison of Traffic and Security.
By MIKE LEWIS Kansan Staff Writer
While figures on the number of bikes on campus are impossible to obtain, Ellison said, two officers walked from the east end and rode through the west end and counted over 500 bicycles.
According to Ellison, enforcement of bicycle regulations is carried out as manpower permits. Because of the enforcement requirements, enforcement is understandably light.
Ellison said most reported problems involved bicyclists running stop signs and riding from between parked cars. Both are prohibited in campus regulations and city ordinances.
REGULATIONS contain sections concerning keeping to the right, using proper hand signals, riding single file and being “careful and courteous at all times.”
Two articles of the city bike ordinance which are less ambiguous but equally violated, require a headlight and rear reflector visible up to 500 feet while riding at night. Licensing of all bicycles is within 30 days after their purchase.
The city ordinance dealing with licensing and operating bikes calls for a $25 fine for any violation of the law, including riding without a license. This is the same penalty imposed by law for driving a car without a license plate.
Concerning enforcement, Garcia said there would be an effort to enforce the headlight-reflector article, but that it would entail "no big crackdown."
Yearly licenses cost 25 cents and are available at the Traffic and Security offices or the Lawrence Police Station at 745 Vermont.
Garcia said traffic regulations pertain to bikers as well as drivers. He also repeated Ellison's complaint about bikers' habitual disregard for stop signs.
ACCORDING to Sgt. Miguel Garcia of the Lawrence Police Department, the fine for operating a car without a license is generally reduced to $5. Garcia said the reduction would probably be given to bicyclists in the same situation.
"If the officer runs into the problem he'll take enforcement action," Garcia said.
Bikers have not emerged as an organized group on campus this year, according to Mary Bee, Lawrence sophomore. Bee is trying to reorganize the Bike Club, which had a core group of over 30 people last semester.
This semester, a group composed mostly of friends gathers at 10 a.m. every Sunday in front of Strong Hall for riding. Bee said that the group's excursions average 10 to 20 people per ride and many people joined the Sunday cyclers an organized club could be formed.
Bee said regular meetings should begin later in the fall, probably in October, when the group planned to organize an "ococ" meeting, which might cover up to 100 miles.