Bike thieves in London do not seem to be familiar with next generation e-bikes. On 24 April 2014, Ben Jaconelli securely locked his GoCycle electric bike on Hackney’s Kingsland Road and left. When he returned after 20 minutes, the bike was gone.
This GoCycle costed Jconelli £2,500 (approx. $3,800) He filed a complaint with police, but in hearts of heart had given up of ever getting the bike back. Soon, he received a call, asking for help in charging a GoCycle. The call aroused Ben’s doubt and he gathered as much information as he could and landed at the caller’s home. The man was out, but his mother was at home.
She called her son told about some uninvited guests who was asking why he needed GoCycle charger. A minute later, the man called Ben again asking the reason to show up at his home unexpectedly. Ben simply replied because, “you stole my bike.” The man hung up, and after 20 minutes, Ben’s GoCycle was back at the warehouse in a taxi. Unfortunately, the thief had called the wrong man.
Apparently, Ben owns Fullycharged.com, the only online e-bike retailer for the area. The thief had no clue that he had stolen a bike that belonged to the owner of the retail store he would call to ask for a charger for the e-bike.
Interestingly, this theft had raised question about security features provided by GoCycle in its expensive e-bike. How easy would it have been for a thief to snap off the lock and steal the bike in few minutes.
With time, electric bike manufacturers have beefed by their security. So, it’s advisable, bike thieves update their knowledge about new generation e-bikes because the near future is all about zero emission commuting.
Via: DailyMail