Ever witnessed someone crying into a helmet near a banged-up bicycle rack? If you live and ride in bike-theft hotbeds like Oakland, Portland, New York City, or Chicago, you probably have—or have experienced it personally. Indignation, violation, and anger aside, burgled cyclists’ tears mean that until the cyclist tracks down the stripped-down carcass of their beloved ride or saves up for a new bike, they’re back to carbon-based transportation to get to work. According to the thief deterrents behind the Skunk Lock, which douses bike thieves in noxious chemicals, one out of five robbed cyclists never get back on their bikes—that's some 330,000 US cyclists a year.

Having been relieved of five bikes in the past decade, I’ve learned a few things: Renters’ insurance is an apartment-dwelling cyclist’s best friend. It never hurts to lock your ride next to the fanciest bike on the block. And it’s impossible to prevent theft completely. Mosquitoes of the human ecosystem that they are, bike thieves have been known to dismantle or even make off with entire bike racks. 

But you can slow down the pilfering process, prompting thieves to move on to an easier target, like lions on the Serengeti seeking out the weakest impala. We checked in with veteran cyclists and bike-industry pros for the most effective ways to thwart thieves and keep you biking to work all year long. 

1) Uglify your ride. You may not be able to stop bad guys from trying to take your bike, but you can keep them from wanting to take it. A sloppy spray-paint job and some ugly decals go a long way. As this excellent ode to ugly bikes from Make magazine advises, so does rustifying your frame, tearing up your seat, and making your bolts look like crap. 

2) Or customize it. Add colorful, unique, or just plain weird cranks, pedals, or stems, or otherwise alter core parts. The idea is to render your bike so custom that a thief just knows that you or your friends will instantly recognize it in the window of that shady bike shop.      

3) Keep your parts with you. Walking or riding a bike without pedals is a classic hallmark of theft, so consider removing yours while you’re at work. (You'll need a pedal wrench. Remember, left pedal loosens clockwise!) Similarly, you could leak air from one tire after you park, then reinflate with the pump you carry when you're ready to roll.

4) Devise a multilock system. This is a no-brainer for most urban cyclists, but the idea is to make cutting through locks such a cumbersome ordeal that thieves will ignore your bike. A few tried-and-true techniques: Use multiple small U-locks, plus a longer chain lock to thread your bike to an earthly foundation. You could also use a U-lock through the rear wheel and rear triangle (thus securing the frame and wheel) and a cable lock through the front wheel to a foundation.

5) Bust out the bolts. Change out your bike’s quick-release parts (typically wheels and seat) with ones that would require a thief to lug around a wrench.

6) Invest in a GPS tracking system. There are app-tool pairings out there that’ll alert you when someone’s trying to steal your bike, and/or track your stolen ride’s journey through the bike-theft underworld. The athletes behind Complete Tri swear by Germany’s The Insect, which attaches to your bike frame, can be used in place of a bike lock, and will sound an alarm as soon as someone rides off with your bike. The more widely available SpyBike system comes with an app and desktop software that let you know where your ride is at all times, and its tracker blends seamlessly onto the seat post—a place most thieves never check for alarms. Once you activate the SpyBike tracker, it’ll text you once it senses movement—meaning you could (theoretically) swoop in and stop bike pirates in their tracks. Cheapskate workaround: Place a sticker on your seat that reads, "Please steal this bike! It’s equipped with secret GPS to better prosecute crooks like you.”

7) Use a communal bike-storage locker. Bike Link, available in many cities on the West Coast and in Canada, equips cyclists with prepaid cards they can use to store rides in inexpensive-but-secure lockers located near train stations and other commuter hubs. You won’t even need to carry a lock!

8) Get yourself some bounty-hunting friends. This option requires you to save up (to the tune of $3,398) for a coveted Vanmoof e-bike, which comes equipped with GPS sensors and antitheft software. The Dutch brand deploys a team of professional “bike hunters” across the world tasked with recovering stolen bikes—just in case these bikes’ snazzy flashing skull graphics don’t ward off thieves at the pass. And this team is good—last year, they recovered a Parisian’s bike all the way across the Mediterranean, in Morocco. And thanks to Vanmoof bikes’ accompanying app, you can unlock your ride with your smartphone as you approach and, should you forget where you parked, use your phone to locate it. 

This Bike to Work Week, we hope you ride well and bust all the thieves. Godspeed, cyclists.