Technology
What Happens When You Leave Your Bike Locked to a Post in NYC for a Year? New Time-Lapse Video Has the Answer
- Posted on January 22, 2012 at 3:55pm by
Christopher Santarelli
- Print »
- Email »
Bike locks can only do so much.
A branding firm called Red Peak has released the result of an interesting urban experiment they carried out with Hudson Urban Bicycles:
“Get a bike. Lock it to a post. Take a pic every day for a year.”
The firm chained a fully loaded bike with bells, basket, and lights to a post along a busy Soho street on January 1, 2011. They then took a picture of the bike everyday for 365 days, watching it slowly disappear.
Check out the project they call “LIFECYCLE:: 365 days in the life of a bike in NYC.”
(H/T: Business Insider)
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 591 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 417 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 385 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 376 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 417 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 385 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know 100 Comments- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 303 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 417 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (155)
The-Monk
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:27pmThat is one POS bicycle! Why not put a really nice bicycle there and see it disappear in 60 seconds?
Report Post »db321
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 12:22amDon’t worry – you still have another year of Unemployment left – no need to run out and buy a new bike yet.
Report Post »Gumbercules
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:34amSo basically the film should have ended after day 261.
But hey, why stop after 365 days?! Keep it going for another 5 years. See if the bike is magically returned. Drp!
Report Post »Paul Revere
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:48amWhat Happens In SC primaries? 700 + votes from dead people. Blaze, Glenn, Hello?
Report Post »Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 2:08amYou can’t even spell derp right. DERP!
Report Post »2theADDLED
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 6:35amobviously not in the hood wouldn’t last an hour.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 7:43amPOS? It appears to be a vintage English 3 speed with a Strumey-Archer hub. Maybe something from Raleigh or one of their fifty odd subsidiaries. No, not a POS, but a rock solid transportation bike.
I am surprised the back wheel with hub didnt go first. The saddle might have been a Brooks, no surprise someone snatched that.
Report Post »ThemDemsLie2much
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 8:14amLet me guess. That was one of those Obama Government studies that cost 10 million.
Report Post »Who will be the New Bike Zahr?
RichNGadsden
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 8:55amTROLLTRAINER, Good eye on that bike. It is definitely as you described a rock solid piece of transportation. The rear rack looks to be an early Jim Blackburn too. If that frame is a Releigh it will really stand up to time. I have a 1990 Raliegh Peak mountain bike that I picked up upon returning to the states from Germany. Got it for a little over a thousand, and put it together out of the box the way I wanted it. It’s been all over the South, much of Germany, Holland, and Belgium. Along with my other bikes I kept it in excellent shape and my son has it now and still gets Oohs and Aahs over it. It came with a Brooks gel saddle that sadly was worn out years ago. Have had a number of Brooks leather saddles over the years. And the stains to the seat of my riding to shorts to prove it.
Report Post »TheLeftMadeMeRight
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 9:37amHave always wondered what happened to Pee Wee Herman’s fan club…
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 11:18amI would be impressed if they posted the picture of the person stealing the bike parts.
Report Post »Alecto
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 11:35am@Trolltrainer, it bears resemblance to a Rivendell, another quality commuting bike (no, it’s not made by elves).
Report Post »last frontier
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 11:51amThe bike is a symbol of the last 3 years under the Obamanation except it too. didn’t make it 3 years
Report Post »Harry Assenback
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 11:54amI could have made the same video with my savings account over the last year……..Thanks Obama!
Report Post »fdmike
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:00pmthe monk…the reason why a nice new bike is not used in this project is because they don’t exist here in nyc. You see, even though you may be an out-of-town liberal transplant from nebraska with loads of money that nobody can fathom how you obtained because you’ve opened up an art gallery that nobody goes to, and nobody here wants, the crappier the bike looks, with rust and shredded seats a necessity, the cooler you are.
Report Post »Stuffit
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:54pmKudos!! Very funny.
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 8:40pmWell… it made it 33 seconds before New Yorkers did what New Yorkers do.
Then it took another 3 seconds for the rest of the bike to be stolen.
Report Post »KenaiHitchhiker
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 9:28pmOK, at day 160 it had NOTHING missing. It was 240 days till it was gone. PRETTY darn good for NY city. I would like to know how many people reported it there after 30 days, AND Notes can be seen in teh basket which is there ALMOST till the last day. After 6 months of never moving, someone figured out that it was either abandoned or ??????????????????
Report Post »jnobfan
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 7:38amwhy no pics of perps???
Report Post »You got it
sbenard
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:19pmIn NYC, I’m surprised ANY of it lasted that long!
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:16amIt didn’t really slowly disappear at all. On day 204 it looks pretty complete to me and on day 270, it’s gone. In the neighborhood I lived in in Lubbock, TX I forgot to bring my bike into the garage twice over a 11 year period (got my first bike at 7). Both times it was gone in the morning. If it was of any value and not locked up at night, it was gone the next day. The second time I forgot and left my bike out I didn’t even go out to check on it, I knew it was gone. It was rare for stuff to be stolen during the day but it did occur on occasion. When I was 16 we lost our lawn mower when I went behind the house to get more gas….
So…. I always assumed NYC would be worse so either I’ve been really hard on them or this was a very good neighborhood.
Report Post »madasblazes
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:10pmand this proves what?
You didn’t catch the thieves or get their photo.
What a stupid waste of my time to see this.
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:18pmIt’s a magic bicycle. Poof! It disappeared!
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:19am2012…POOF! Obama disappears.
Report Post »Silversmith
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:18pmNot sure I believe anything anymore what with “reality” tv that is actually scripted etc. In fact, I‘ve become so jaded about believing what I’m seeing that I have shut off my cable.
Everything suffers in the epidemic of lying in this country.
Silversmith
Report Post »Jayms
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:47pm“Viral” marketing is the big thing right now. You’re wise to question anything you see nowadays. The trick to not being paranoid about it is simply not caring what people do as long as it doesn’t affect you directly. Then you can just sit back and be amused rather than feel like your intelligence was insulted. I hope that made sense, it’s kinda late. The point is, don’t take life too seriously, let things go that don’t concern you, and for goodness sake have a goal and keep your eye on it.
Report Post »Brizz
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:06am@Silversmith
Report Post »Sad but true. I feel you BIG time!
Silversmith
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:37am@jayms Not paranoid, intelligence not insulted, have a goal, and my eye is on it. Just commenting on the assumption that what we are being shown, is what it is. That assumption is used regularly to deceive by everyone from breakfast cereal companies to politicians. Doesn’t “new and improved” usually mean less and more expensive? The institutionalized lying in our society erodes my willingness to believe easily. Was this cute video actually what it says? – maybe – probably. I merely lament that the thought that it wasn’t, crosses my mind now.
Silversmith
Report Post »JohnofOregon
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:16pmthe bike appeared to be not moving. how come the government didn’t subsidize it?
Report Post »dcraw21b
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:51pmBrilliant thought…
Report Post »Blackjacx1
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:00pmI don’t know but when the lock disappears at ~212 days, I was surprised how long it lasted, and then I was also surprised it left in pieces. Weird.
Report Post »lowerclassrepublican
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 9:00amYes the bike was such a POS that nothing was happening so the people taking the pictures took the lock off. At that point the bike was abandoned and up for grabs.
Report Post »vaughan
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:29pmI watched that happen to a red Porsche on Roosevelt Blvd in Philadelphia about 10 years ago…and it didn’t take 365 days believe me. Within 2 months it was a shell of its former self. LOL
Report Post »DeVain
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:24pmAmazing 160+ days before I noticed anything missing, but once it was things seems to disappear at an increasing rate.
Report Post »crasher
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:56pmLike one person got it all, Johnny Cash song.
Report Post »teamhog
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:15pmFrom what I can tell, it looks like the 1st item to go was the Water Bottle and that was at Day 159. 159 Days / 30 Days per Month = 5.3 Months… C’Mon 5+ Months and for the most part it’s still all there. That’s pretty good in my book…
Report Post »ProbIemSoIver
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:53pmI concur.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:57pmI’m entirely surprised that the bike lasted 100+ days. After 30 days it would be considered abandoned. At that point the bike either becomes the property of the city or the first person to come along and take it. Obviously this policy only works on property that is not titled or with deed and is on public property.
Report Post »schroeder123
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:53pmGlenn Beck you are out of here !!!!
Report Post »schroeder123
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:52pmyou are sooo chicken… you as good as the NYPD…
You are fake why don’t you post my comments !! ?
Report Post »georgiavietvet
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:13pmSCHROEDER123…………………because you are an idiot…………………………
Report Post »Fed up in Bama
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:34pmDagnabit, I’m dreaming again. Could of swore I read a post by you Schroeder123. I’ve really gotta stop sleeping so deep.
Report Post »schroeder123
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:51pmwhat a pleasant way to stay. New York..a wonderful city..
You can’t protect your self,…the only people who have guns are the bad guys….you try to save a life and you get put in jail,… you carry something to protect yourselves and you wind up in jail…every citizen is a criminal..
Gee.. I really want to go to New York… a melting pot of corrupt police and left winged idiots.
New York New York……
Report Post »RRFlyer
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:14pmSCHROEDER123, I’m surprised they post so Many of your comments. You do no one good
Report Post »cmark
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:59pmFreaking Obama, is that you
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:51pmNew York, bike all alone? I’m shocked, SHCOKED thgis wasn’t a video with ten hours of the bike, then 394 days and twelve hours of no bike.
Report Post »PlowMan
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:50pmWhy?
Report Post »jp2feminist
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:49pmSo what? Anyone with a brain who passed by that bike day after day could easily assume it was abandoned. Fair game, in my opinion, to dismantle it for used parts.
Report Post »Rob_M
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:45pmWho steals bike parts?
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:01pmpeople with a bike
Report Post »lketchum
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:18pmThieves steal. All others respect property. It is sad that any kind of lock is needed at all.
Thieves should be shot on sight. There is nothing worse.
Report Post »toto
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:30pmOnce was a time when your property was much safer. I grew up in the midwest with a father that was an avid hunter. There were guns on the walls as decor of our family room, over 15 of them, guns in many drawers around the house (loaded) and we never locked the house when we left for the day! Times have not changed for the better.
Report Post »Slowman101
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:33pmWho steals bike parts? People that have a bike that need parts you moron!
Report Post »gvblaze
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 6:11pm@TOTO
That was before the government started setting the example of stealing our property of all types. Now, the people just emulate government, pilfering everything as they wish.
Report Post »Heb4Seven
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:43pmLegit? And exactly WHY should they bother ‘faking’ it? Are you paranoid? Don’t get your panties-all-in-a-sensitive-wad over it….The 2 companies just Happen to be Located In NYC so they used their own city.
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:08pmConsider this: Leave the same bike UNLOCKED at a bike stand in Tokyo and see how long it stays there. BTW, it probably wouldn’t be touched until a city official finally removed it for being abandoned. Nuff said?
Report Post »DJ Sardaukar
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 5:37amI’ve dropped or left my wallet somewhere in Tokyo several times and have had people chase me down to give it back to me. Left a $300 camera sitting on a bench at Tokyo Disneyland and had someone turn it in to the Lost & Found.
Theft does exist here in Tokyo, however. I lost an iPhone in Roppongi (does that even count?) and my girlfriend had her bike stolen once.
Report Post »salvawhoray
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:55pmI say it was 356 minutes.
Report Post »sandy21957
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:54pmHere’s a thought, the New York Progressives can come down here to Arizona and pick up all of the abandoned bikes along the Mexican border, take them back to New York, paint them a hideous color and leave them around town so people can use them for free. It’s a win/win situation. Arizona gets part of the border trash problem solved and New York has more bikes for people to use or steal. Awesome idea.
Report Post »The citizen who cares
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:18pmI live in AZ and I approve the above comment.
Report Post »WhereAreRomeysTaxReturns
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:30pmMust be a Bishop Romney fan, stealing bike parts like the Bishop steals jobs from the American people and ships the cash off to the Cayman Islands.
Report Post »Joey8
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:39pmI wonder what creative name you’ll come up with next after he releases his tax returns? Try “IHATEMORMONS”, or BIGOT4LIFE. Loser.
Report Post »oldoldtimer
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:41pmIgnorant troll.
Report Post »GeorgieBaby
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:55pmWas your former screen name “Martinez?” Moron.
Report Post »rxdawg72
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:10pmWho is this Romey character and why do we care where his tax returns are?
Report Post »kpeters59
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:12amPlus he misspelled Romney…
Report Post »TJexcite
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 7:34pmNotice how it left around the same time #OWS move in to NYC. in around day 270, End of September.
Report Post »shimauma
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:24pmgood observation, and go figure…
Report Post »The Eleventh Doctor
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:25pmGood observation. Bet OWS had something to do with it disappearing…
Report Post »ThankBabyJesus
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:39pmGreat underlying message here. Don’t want to work = steal from others.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:00pmI liked the video. Then again, I was mesmerized by the feather that flew out of the children’s book at the ending of Forrest Guuuuummmmp!
Report Post »Have to say many Hollywood liberals made some great movies(and not so great) and I like to refer to them in many of the posts because liberals do put the human condition on screen. Conservatives too.
Greybeard1
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 7:26pmPretty cool video, although I must say I’m surprised it lasted at long as it did before disappearing completely lol.
Report Post »blackstone22
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 7:26pmHated the video, couldn’t really see what was going on, plus who is to say that this is legit?
Report Post »There‘s no story if it isn’t trashed and eventually gone. Let’s confirm every negative stereo type of nyc should be the name of this video. Would it be any different in any other city of eight million? And who is to say this whole project isn’t rigged and bogus.
Let’s dump on NYC one more time…how original.
ValdostaMRA
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 7:50pmI will 2nd that comment. Not real news!
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:24pmYour rant was a little obtuse and lacked focus. Who is to say you aren‘t just playing devils advocate and are really just another jersey girl looking for last night’s hair weave, while obfuscating about what a great place to leave property unattended NYC actually is.
Report Post »Halloween
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 8:29pmWhat reason do we have to doubt the video? In New York where the criminal is king, and everybody else is a victim, I don’t doubt it at all. You might want to wake up and become a part of reality.
Report Post »comsense08
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:26pmI was amazed it was still there after the very first picture!
Report Post »JayCee
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:33pmThere are many other vids of NYC bike thefts on YouTube, that’s why.
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/
Report Post »