David Cameron, Jon Snow, Boris Johnson - these avid cyclists have all fallen prey to the same fate as one third of the UK's bike owners and had at least one bike stolen in the last five years, according to Aviva.
Of those, eight per cent claim to have had as many as three or more go missing.
Last year there was an estimated 540,000 bikes stolen in the UK, which is up 22 per cent from the year before. In London the Metropolitan police have just introduced a 30-strong taskforce to crack down on bike crime.
These high theft rates were revealed during the Aviva “Cycle Security" project undertaken by the insurer earlier this month.
The project drew on the experiences of 2,000 bike owners to establish the top locations for bike theft, as well as the poor security practices often used by unwitting cyclists in the UK.
These scenarios were then recreated and put to the test in a live, undercover experiment.
In the covert experiment, a bike was placed in each of the top five hotspot theft locations around London and left with a range of poor security methods. Each was then timed to see how quickly opportunistic thieves pounced.
Three out of the five bikes were stolen within five hours and one vanished in a matter of minutes.
1. Gone in 20 minutes from outside a shop
• Left unlocked outside a shop in West London while the researcher was inside. The bike was gone within 20 minutes
• 21 per cent of bike owners have suffered this fate
2. Gone in under four hours from outside a university
• This bike was left locked to a short parking meter outside a university union and was stolen within four hours
• 10 per cent of bike owners have had their bike stolen from outside a college or University
3. Gone in under five hours from outside a home.
• The third bike to go missing was left unlocked, but within view outside in residential street in Fulham, West London
• 15 per cent of bike owners have had a bike stolen from outside their home
Despite outside the office (10 per cent) and outside a train station (10 per cent) appearing in the top five theft hotspots, the bikes planted outside a central London office and Euston station were, luckily, still in place after 48 hours.
The bike outside the station was unlocked, but left next to locked bikes making it appear more secure and the bike outside the office was locked, but with the lock around the saddle, leaving it easier to steal.
The majority of cyclists take their security seriously, but Aviva's research with bike owners revealed that nearly two thirds are taking unnecessary risks with their bike including leaving it unlocked and unattended while running a quick errand (13 per cent) locked to a short post or bollard (12 per cent) and unlocked, but optimistically hidden out of sight (17 per cent).
"Traditionally during August we see a 25 per cent increase in bike thefts as more people take to the great outdoors and make the most of good weather - the average cost of replacing a bike is around £400,” said Ian Coull, household claims manager at Aviva.
"So with the Bank Holiday approaching bike owners should be especially careful not to provide rich pickings to opportunistic thieves targeting bike hotspots and poor security methods.
"Obviously bike insurance will cover you for any theft or damage, but much better not to go through the hassle of dealing with the loss of your transport in the first place.
"And remember insurers do expect your cycle to be properly secured - and that means locked to a fixed immovable object - unlike the poor security measures used in our experiment."
Aviva’s Top 10 Tips for securing your bike:
1. Prevent thieves from taking your bike by locking it to a fixed object such as a bike rack or a ground anchor, these are often found in designated bike parking areas
2. Ensure the bike cannot be lifted off the anchor otherwise thieves may still be able to steal it
3. Use a good quality lock such as a D-lock, which is strong and difficult for thieves to cut through
4. Ensure the lock is around the wheel, frame AND anchor to which it is attached otherwise thieves may be able to remove parts of your bike and lift the main frame away
5. Try to remove easy-to-steal parts or accessories like the saddle and post, pumps or clip-less pedals, some thieves like to steal these too
6. Leave your bike in a well-lit area with CCTV cameras where thieves are less likely to loiter and will be deterred from robbery
7. Avoid leaving your bike in isolated areas, and lock it near to other bikes so yours is not such an obvious target
8. Register your bike with a tracker website such as
www.bikeregister.com or
www.immobilise.com so police authorities can trace and identify your bike if it does get stolen
9. Photograph your bike and note down the serial number, make and model. If it does get stolen this will make it easy to identify to the police and insurers
10. Security mark the frame using an ultraviolet marker. If it is stolen and found again, it will be identified as yours and possibly returned to you
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