Oh, my fault, I though you just said it wouldn’t be worth talking about bicycles since they predate the mars rover, the hyperloop and quantum tunnel transporters.
You, sir or madam, are evil.
Effective, but evil.
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You can’t easily saw through the wheel of a bicycle. The rim is under (a whole lot of) compression from the spokes. The slot you are cutting will try to close, pinching the sawblade and immobilizing it long before you get through.
Cutting the rear wheel means the thief would have to carry the bike rather than ride away on it, and fixing it will cost more than the sale of a stolen bike would gain the thief. So even if it COULD be done, they aren’t gonna bother.
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Maybe for your basic “grabby crack head” thief, but they are unlikely to have those tools anyhow (because the tools sell for as much or more than a bike). But some bike thieves make a business of it. They would have no issue with consumables, as long as the return is good. Cutting discs are dirt cheap, about a quarter a pop for good ones, so cost there is a non issue for anybody willing to get and use such a tool. The cutters for that hydraulic bolt shear cost about $10 a pop, but I could see it for high end targets…
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Yep me and a bike owner caught a bicycle thief in action in San Francisco. He was using a big lead pipe with a bicycle grip on one end, twisting the cable lock over and over, presumably until it would snap. He was a clean cut white dude wearing a paramedic uniform, presumably to look “trustworthy”.
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For at least 80% of bike racks in my area it’s only possible to lock up the bike by a wheel if you’re using a U-lock. Blows my mind how something can repeatedly be created that’s not fit for purpose.
I prefer his old strategy of dabbing random bits of paint on an old Robin Hood 5 Speed to make a bike that nobody would want to steal.
I think it’s looks amazing, mind, particularly with the matched pump.
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So instead of being caught with easily identifiable burglar tools like bolt cutters he gets caught with an easily identifiable illegal billy club, which even more illegal if concealed 
Strange choices.
You could say that. But the number of bent, cut and what have bike wheels I’ve seen scattered around NYC says otherwise. Along with stripped frames and intact wheels still locked to structures.
A person stealing bikes is not going to fix a cut wheel. They are going to discard it. The parts of the bike have value in themselves. And its as simple as replacing something left behind with parts stolen elsewhere or selling to some one who will replace the part. Even after that any unusable part still has value as scrap metal. Scrap metal values drive people to strip wire out of buildings and vehicles, pull metal parts off unattended anything. These guys are not paying to replace or fix things. They’re stealing parts and doing the work themselves.
The regular bike thief has the parts to replace whatever they cut, or knows the value of what they have to make sure its worth their effort without said part. The opportunist is hoping to get at least a $10 drug fix. At the very least the scrap yard will give them that.
You tube is littered with videos of people doing just that. And as multiple people have noted above, the habitual thieves use vans and trucks.
Sounds like a hydraulic jack handle to me. I suppose you could be arrested for carrying one, but there’s plenty of legit reasons you might be doing so (most of them related to owning a jack). Which I do, its in the back of my car…
Its not a huge item (maybe 2 feet long and 7/8" thick) but the chance the pipe was lead is pretty damn low (I don’t even know if you can BUY lead pipe) so I think we also need to take “big” and “bicycle handle” with a grain of salt.
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Why bother with any tools.? If you have those quick wheel release levers and the like is through the wheel. just pop them and walk .
If you aren’t jacking up your car at the time I’d say there is a good case to be made that you don’t have a legit reason to have a club in your possession while on foot. But, it really depends on whether the officer who stopped who wants to arrest you or not. And if the prosecutor decides they want to prosecute you or not. It’s one of those things where minorities are going to get shafted more often than white people.
Bent wheels would still be locked up, so are irrelevant to the discussion. The method of locking through the rear wheel inside the rear triangle prevents separating it from the frame without cutting, so intact wheels locked to structures and fully stripped frames… also irrelevant.
You’ve really seen cut wheels? OK, so that can happen… in New York, sure. New York is a famously tough place for bike theft. The method I mentioned works for my high value bikes here in Minneapolis, though most of my locks are big enough to also go around the frame (and sometimes a crank arm) - filling the space inside the lock helps prevent prying attacks, even if not strictly needed.
I’ve seen stripped frames… no lock is gonna prevent that, seems to usually be the result of a seat getting stollen, bike left in place for a week or more, then some opportunist comes by with tools. And I suppose a certain percentage of thieves would not care about the wheel damage, as you say.
Point being, locking the rear wheel as described is pretty much as good as any other method, and maybe better than just locking the frame. Is it going to prevent any and all thievery? No. But its about as good as a lock can do on an open street.
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“I found it laying in the street. Have a jack at home that I lost the handle for. Lucky for me, eh?”
Seriously, true story, that actually happened to me. Lucky thing for me I live in a place where I can walk around carrying a stick without being hassled by the man, I guess.
If the cop is gonna hassle you for having part of a common automotive tool that could potentially be used as a weapon, what about, say, A BIKE LOCK??? Equally dangerous weapon. And do you think you are LESS likely to get hassled by the same cop for something like bolt cutters??? Seems like a reach… and as you say, would depend as much on the color of your skin and the officer / prosecuter in question as on the law.
Me, I have enough pictures on my phone of crap I’ve built from scrap metal using a welder and other tools that I probably could get away with strolling down the street with a battery powered grinder in one hand and a lug wrench in the other, because I probably WOULD be able to show I have legit (if odd) reasons to do so (on my way to the hardware store etc). I also happen to be white and over 40.
I think there was actually a movie where Paul Newman played an apprentice safe cracker, and his mentor advised him to take up making sculpture as a hobby, so that he’d have an excuse to buy and transport oddball tools. 
It only has to work once. You can buy a new angle grinder with the money you get from fencing your new bike.
Paul Newman also played a drunk with a pipe cutter that he used to cut the heads off of parking meters. Didn’t work out so well for him in that movie. 
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I found that locking the rear wheel only is difficult because the frame keeps the rear wheel spaced out an inch or two from whatever you are locking to. So you need a U lock that is larger (and therefore more defeatable) than what I use for locking just the frame. I use pitlocks to lock the wheels and other components to the bike.
“This content is not available in your country due to a defamation complaint.”
Gotta love British libel laws.
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So, this lock is only defeated by thieves who are really thieves.
Plus, imagine how difficult it would be to throw large-handle bolt cutters into a backpack. Is that even physically possible?
Unless they also watch youtube. 
