$10K bike stolen during race, organizers say they are not responsible (Page 2)

I suspect that it would depend on the situation.  If your phone is stolen when you left it in a locker without a lock, then common sense says it's 100% your fault.  If someone comes into the gym with bolt cutters and cuts off your lock to steal it (this has actually happened where I work), then things are starting to get a little grey.  If the gym has a system in place for holding personal belongings at the front desk, and they give your phone and car keys to someone else, again common sense says 100% the gym's fault.

In the case of bikes stolen out of transition, it seems that if a race required checking it into transition the night before the race, failed to secure the area overnight, and bikes were stolen, it would be hard for them to deny liability.  Bikes stolen during the race through deceit in spite of reasonable security measures taken by the RD would be a tougher argument.

Of course, all the above is just opinion, and in any event, common sense seems to not always apply to court decisions in recent years anyway.

I'm pretty sure we could come up with scenarios that do, indeed, show some kind of gross negligence....and your example is a good one.....you are required to leave bike overnight, no security, LOTS of bikes being stolen, different deal altogether than what happened in the original example. 

Dude.....it's painful.

Oh, I didn't think you took offense.  I just thought you may have misunderstood what I was trying to say.

All comes down to what a "reasonable person" would do or expect.

It appears from comments here and from the races I have done, that a reasonable RD puts measures in place to attempt to avoid bike theft. All races I have done require a number on the bike and a number on the  athlete both pinned, usually body marked and on the helmet. A reasonable RD would have people at the exit checking to make sure the numbers match. 

It is not reasonable to expect armed guards, sniffing dogs and a background check at the exit of T1 to be 100% sure that every bike is with the correct owner. But at the same time it is not reasonable to have no measures in place and have T1 be a free for all zone with no oversight at all. Sounds like this race did not have someone checking numbers so they may be 40% liable or something along those lines.

At the same time there is a duty on the athlete to act reasonably. If the transition areas are not secure it would not be reasonable to leave a $10k bike there. 

But at the end of the day I don't know that there is much remedy for the bike owner here. I am slightly nervous every time I check my $3k worth of gear into a transition area, I appreciate the security measures provided but I know at the end of the day there is no way an RD can guarantee my stuff won't get stolen. So I carry insurance on my gear and for the small stuff ($100 sunglasses) I accept the risk as a part of racing.

On another note, I don't see that bike being $10k, I think he got ripped off.

Also, I didn't think there was crime in Canada???  

Or even restitution in a criminal case.

Based on what??

The sad thing is that bikes are just scratching the surface of what thieves could get in transition.  A smart thief would target garmins and expensive sunglasses.  Super easy to stuff in a bag that will never get checked, and 500x easier to sell on the open market/ebay.

If you steal a $10k bike, you're going to have a hard time selling it, and posting a listing opens you up to getting caught.  Ask for too high a price and it will stay listed longer.  Ask for too low a price and everyone becomes suspicious.  Probably smart to sell it outside of the area it was stolen from, adding to the inconvenience of the theif.

If you steal a garmin 510, list it for $200 on ebay as a buy it now, and you've sold it in less than 24 hours to someone who likely lives 500 mile away.  Shipping would be less than $5.

Okie dokie.

Just a note on the homeowner's insurance comments. You really need to either read your policy or ask your agent to find out if your bike would be covered in this situation or not. Most likely it would typically be covered but there are many restrictions on specific property items. For example coin collections usually have a limit of say $1,000. One of the companies I sell for has a limit on bicycles, I believe it is $500. So if your bike was worth $1,000, you eat your $500 deductible and they cover the other $500. If it is worth $1,500, they will only pay you $500 due to the internal limit on bicycles. 

Also crashing is not a covered cause of loss on any personal property insurance form so it is typically not covered. Theft yes, most of the other things that we worry about happening to our bikes, no.

Most companies allow you to schedule the bike on your policy, this changes the contract to an every loss but those specifically excluded, removed the deductible, and lets you state the amount it is worth.

My Cervelo P2C is covered for $3,000 for the bike and everything on it. I have no deductible. And it is covered for almost everything but nuclear war. Cost's me about $20 a year. Crash, mysterious crack in the frame, leave it on top of the car and drive it into the garage, theft, etc. all covered.

If you have a nice bike, look into it!