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Stolen: Giant Trance e + 2 Pro 2019 (Western Cape)


SpootNICK

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That SUCKS !!!!

 

Boggles the mind, as they CANT use the bike without Giant selling them a charging unit ....

 

They cant even buy a key without assistance from "Giant" (dealers/importers/etc) .....

 

 

Then again, wonder if they targeted "an e-bike", or just "any bike" .....

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Location: Western Cape. That's a big-ish place. Care to elaborate, could help narrow down the search, and assist others to avoid danger areas?

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5 hours ago, TNT1 said:

Location: Western Cape. That's a big-ish place. Care to elaborate, could help narrow down the search, and assist others to avoid danger areas?

I saw a FB post matching this description of happening on the Banhoek trails on Saturday morning around 11h30

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  • 2 weeks later...

Getting a charger sorted is not exactly difficult. There are a lot of DIY options or ready made variable charging options available for LiPo batteries. 
 

a dodgy locksmith can probably also sort you out with a new barrel/key 

But even after all that effort, how do you sell a stolen e-bike? Unlike a regular bike that just has a static serial number, these bikes are linked to online systems/apps etc, all linked to the Serial Number. And you wouldn’t be able to have it serviced anywhere, because as soon as they link up to check the bikes info, all the owner detials will come up not?
 

 

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6 hours ago, DonatelloOnPinarello said:

Getting a charger sorted is not exactly difficult. There are a lot of DIY options or ready made variable charging options available for LiPo batteries. 
 

a dodgy locksmith can probably also sort you out with a new barrel/key 

But even after all that effort, how do you sell a stolen e-bike? Unlike a regular bike that just has a static serial number, these bikes are linked to online systems/apps etc, all linked to the Serial Number. And you wouldn’t be able to have it serviced anywhere, because as soon as they link up to check the bikes info, all the owner detials will come up not?
 

 

Actually a pretty decent quality key ... I have yet to find a local "key cutter" with a blank for it.  Just to get a spare for my original key.  One actually referred me to a proper locksmith that specialise in automotive keys ... have not followed up on this yet.

 

 

 

Serial number linking back to the owner ...

 

YES, the dealer CAN setup your details to match the bike details on the Giant database.  So when my bike goes to any dealer that actually connects it to the system and then bothers to correlate bike to owner details ... technically it is possible ...

 

PRACTICALLY .... took my MONTHS to get the dealer to set this up.  Initially they would do it at the first service ... they "forgot" ... each follow up it was another excuse .... finally they went through the process, which was less than 5 minutes.

 

They only link the bike to their system if you have an electrical gremlin ... this particular dealer.

 

Ended up taking the bike to another dealer for its major service .... despite it being a major service, linking to their computer is an optional item, for a few hundred rand more ...

 

In this modern electronic era it SHOULD be so easy to trace and lock these stolen ebikes !!  You cant even use the Rider App without being connected to the grid .... SO easy to lock a stolen bike, in modern electronic terms.  And yet the manufacturers dont seem to give a hoot ....

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and technically you can lock stolen cellphones over the air, yet thousands of them keep getting stolen.

a) lack of will to actually implement what can be done

b) perps would have a person that can jippo it anyway.

c) they probably didnt know it was an e-bike until the battery ran flat and they struggled

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13 minutes ago, ouzo said:

and technically you can lock stolen cellphones over the air, yet thousands of them keep getting stolen.

a) lack of will to actually implement what can be done

b) perps would have a person that can jippo it anyway.

c) they probably didnt know it was an e-bike until the battery ran flat and they struggled

Jip, "c" ....

 

Going to be in the closest pawnshop ...

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30 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

Actually a pretty decent quality key ... I have yet to find a local "key cutter" with a blank for it.  Just to get a spare for my original key.  One actually referred me to a proper locksmith that specialise in automotive keys ... have not followed up on this yet.

 

 

 

Serial number linking back to the owner ...

 

YES, the dealer CAN setup your details to match the bike details on the Giant database.  So when my bike goes to any dealer that actually connects it to the system and then bothers to correlate bike to owner details ... technically it is possible ...

 

PRACTICALLY .... took my MONTHS to get the dealer to set this up.  Initially they would do it at the first service ... they "forgot" ... each follow up it was another excuse .... finally they went through the process, which was less than 5 minutes.

 

They only link the bike to their system if you have an electrical gremlin ... this particular dealer.

 

Ended up taking the bike to another dealer for its major service .... despite it being a major service, linking to their computer is an optional item, for a few hundred rand more ...

 

In this modern electronic era it SHOULD be so easy to trace and lock these stolen ebikes !!  You cant even use the Rider App without being connected to the grid .... SO easy to lock a stolen bike, in modern electronic terms.  And yet the manufacturers dont seem to give a hoot ....

Thanks, since I don’t own an eBike, my only exposure is to what I have seen. At the specialised dealers they they check diagnostics and do battery analysis with every service. I assumed that was the norm. There also seem to be regular firmware upgrades, which is why the dealers connect to the bike on each service. Surely if flagged as stolen, the dealer wouldn’t need to correlate data, it should just pop up immediately with a Notifiaction, and lock the bike - in a perfect world and all. 

I guess it’s an extra cost issue and would affect (albeit hardly) battery life, but I’m surprised that especially the more expensive e-bikes don’t have a tracking device hardwired into them as well. 
 

as far as stolen phones - at least for iPhones, they are far less often stolen, and the ones that are get used for spares. The locking does make them unusable, but the spares value is obviously still high enough to make it lucrative. 

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