City officials in Toronto are investigating whether their distinctive post-and-ring bicycle stands have a flaw that enables thieves to steal bike locked to them.
The city has installed some 16,000 of the bike stands since 1985, making them a common landmark of the Toronto streetscape.
But bike thieves may have found a way to break the ring and remove the bike, lock intact.
Toronto's transportation services division issued a press release on Friday seeking information from cyclists who believe their bikes might have been ripped off because of defective post-and-ring. City official Adam Giambrone said:
“We are very concerned about bike theft and take these reports very seriously. Although our staff have had very few complaints about the rings in the past 20 years that they have been used, we are investigating these reports and will be testing the rings themselves.”
The Toronto Star recently reported the case of a cyclist who returned to a post-and-ring to find his $1,200 Haro mountain bike stolen, along with his Kryptonite lock. A piece of wood was left behind, leaving the appearance the 2-by-4 was used as leverage to snap the ring and slide off the bike and lock.
The city urges cyclists to report thefts from post-and-ring bike stands to Transportation Services at 416-392-9253 or at bikeplan@toronto.ca and provide information such as where and when the bike was stolen.
Thanks to whoever posted the links to the destroyed post-and-ring bike stands in the comment section.
More about the post-and-ring at the Torontoist: We've got a thing about 'bout the post and ring
Recent Comments