Bicycle theft is on the rise amid strong belief that those at the high end of the market are destined for foreign markets.
Fred Henning, whose Johannesburg insurance brokerage specialises in bicycles, said he believed organised crime was behind the burglaries and hijackings of the machines.
“A week ago, one worth R165 000 was stolen in the Western Cape,” he said.
Henning said vigilance at border posts had led to thieves stripping bikes and dealing in parts.
Nivesh Doodla, store manager at Hatton’s Cycles in Pietermaritzburg, who intentionally sabotaged his display bicycles in case they were stolen, said he believed they were often destined for Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho.
Durban cycle shop owner, Greg Albert, believed the rise was because criminals realised the high value of bicycles.
“It's not new, but it's becoming more and more prevalent.”
Proving a bicycle was stolen in the absence of documented serial numbers was difficult.
Police denied there was any increase in bike thefts.
“Unfortunately, we are in no position to provide you with the crime statistics as it remains the prerogative of the Minister of Police to release,” said spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane.
He added that police could not comment on where stolen bicycles were sold.
“That is subject to an ongoing investigation which cannot be released at this stage.”
Zwane said police were being deployed around the beachfront and surrounding areas to monitor bicycle theft.
Cyclist Lisa Smithard wonders why she still gets up at 4.30am to ride with her club, having twice been robbed while doing so.
As darker winter mornings approach, she did not enjoy passing dark, bushy spots.
“You wonder if somebody's going to jump out.”
However, her club, Kings Parks Cycling, has introduced a back-up car.
Smithard said her most recent nasty incident happened last year while she was cycling in a group along the M19.
“But you know what it’s like, the faster people go ahead, the slower people fall behind. I was in the middle.
“Two guys with a gun grabbed me and pushed me off my bike. They were looking for my cellphone, which I happened not to have. So they took my bike instead.”
The previous time she was robbed, she had her phone and managed to keep her bicycle.
Smithard said the latest robbery happened on a curved stretch of road at an off-ramp where she could not see the cyclist about 100m ahead of her, and could not be seen by the cyclist the same distance behind her.
Insurance broker and cyclist Liz Marnewick said the bushy, north end of the bridge at Blue Lagoon on the M4 had become something of a hot spot with cyclists being dragged down steps.
“Women cycling alone there are taking chances,”she said.
Sextuagenarian Mike McMullin of Glenmore became a victim even though he had kept his prized bicycles in his dining room rather than in his garage. They were worth R65 000 each.
“I am gutted,” he said. “Those bikes were my babies, my training tool. I’m 65 and riding them was my way of keeping fit.”
Another, an Umhlanga professional, said he was relieved of two bicycles mounted on the back of his vehicle while he was driving in Umgeni Road.
“All of a sudden I looked back and there was no bicycle. I’ve got no proof but what else could have happened?”
Four years years ago Morningside school teacher Greg Connell lost four bicycles to burglaries in four months.
CCTV footage from his security cameras show a 3am visit from a burglar who hops over his wall and creeps behind cars to avoid camera beams. He then takes a spanner to undo bolts Connell had put into his wall to secure the bicycle. Then he makes off over the wall with his loot.
There is debate about the wisdom of a back-up car, according to East Coast Cycling Club chairperson Daryl Harris.
“The question is – who does it protect? The fast cyclists at the front or the slower ones at the back? It can also block the traffic.”
Harris said it was a debating point within the club, but they had opted to rather go without a car and regroup at intersections on roads like the M19, waiting for the last person.
Kings Park Cycling Club has one. “It's a help. You feel a lot safer.
"At least someone might see what happens,” said Lisa Smithard, a member who has been robbed while riding.
One cardinal rule from all clubs: “Don't cycle alone”.
“Women must try to cycle with men unless they're a big group,” Westville Cycling Club chairperson Kelvin du Sart advised.
The Amanzimtoti club said it had not had any incidents of late but stressed the importance of the cardinal rule.
Unlike cars, bicycles do not have number plates, engine numbers and chassis numbers that police can use to identify them as stolen and the law does not require them to be registered.
However, cyclists can choose to register their bikes on a national cycle register managed by the company DataDot SA, placing their serial numbers on record.
Visit https://www.datadot.co.za/bicycles.html