Specialized Secteur - Black - Welwyn Garden / Herts

[thanos]

My specialized secteur 2010 (black) was stolen / cut lock (4 months old from evans cycles)
It was chained on a rail outside the Welwyn Garden City Waitrose.
not insured.. used it for all my commuting needs
cctv footage from waitrose has been provided to hatfield police.
serial# WUD092123096E
Topeak small bag, crud racer fender, specialized bottle holder also on the bike..

cctv picture of person driving off...

Picture of the bike

I reported the theft to the police.. so much for a new bike and health goals.
For all that its worth get insurance, and use dlocks, take the wheel with you if you can.. locking up the wheels and frames has no effect expecially if not using dlocks

 

[potsy]

Terrible news Thanos

can only hope you get it back.

All the best advice says to use D-Locks,though I'm yet to leave mine anywhere out of sight.

 

[thanos]

Terrible news Thanos

can only hope you get it back.

All the best advice says to use D-Locks,though I'm yet to leave mine anywhere out of sight.

Hey good to hear from you!

I look at the corner in the flat that i kept it in which is now all empty.. me v. sad.. must be going through the stages..
Most of the accessories gone too darnit..
The deal with the dlock was carrying it... ruck sack is the way to go, but couldnt afford to have the extra weight and space taken over. Now i know better.
Hope its a lesson to other cyclists. Supposedly a safe place and yet cables/chains mean nothing (kryptonite or not).

I need a drink.. laters

 

[e-rider]

Nobody deserves to have their bike stolen but using any form of cable lock does make it very easy for theiving scumbags like this. Lets hope he gets payback one day. Insurance is pretty much a must for any expensive bike even if left at home - it's usually pretty easy to break into most peoples houses! Unfortunately due to huge volume of stolen bikes, insurance companies make you pay through the nose fo a policy! An £800 bike would typically cost about £75 per year and then you might have to pay up to £200 excess depending on where/how it was stolen.

I always use top quiality D-locks but there are plenty of people who claim their bikes were stolen using these too, so it looks like insurance is the best bet, but defo don't waste your time with cable locks.

I've had 4 bikes stolen over the years so I feel your pain - one was 2 weeks old and I'd saved for a year to buy it! That still makes me sad and that was back in 1997!

 

[Brandane]

Sorry to hear about the theft of your very nice looking Secteur, Thanos, what a sickener. Thieving scum like this should be properly dealt with so that it puts others off from doing something similar. But the brutal truth is that the chances of them ever being caught are slim, and if they are caught then they get a slap on the wrist, or a £100 fine (for stealing a £900 bike?? Come on....). Cut their hands off, then they might not do it again to some other person who has worked hard and saved to buy a bike.

 

[thanos]

Nobody deserves to have their bike stolen but using any form of cable lock does make it very easy for theiving scumbags like this. Lets hope he gets payback one day. Insurance is pretty much a must for any expensive bike even if left at home - it's usually pretty easy to break into most peoples houses! Unfortunately due to huge volume of stolen bikes, insurance companies make you pay through the nose fo a policy! An £800 bike would typically cost about £75 per year and then you might have to pay up to £200 excess depending on where/how it was stolen.

I always use top quiality D-locks but there are plenty of people who claim their bikes were stolen using these too, so it looks like insurance is the best bet, but defo don't waste your time with cable locks.

I've had 4 bikes stolen over the years so I feel your pain - one was 2 weeks old and I'd saved for a year to buy it! That still makes me sad and that was back in 1997!

freakin eh..
and you still buy new ones?
I have to say I miss my current one (I walked it to the gym this evening and it was horrible 35 mins), as I came home I gave the evans discounts leaflet a quick look but at the moment, having to look over my shoulder isnt exactly the feeling or duty I want to have for owning a lightweight mode of transport. Shouldve been carrying a gold rated d-lock for sure (no questions there), however as I was coming back I saw a couple of guys on Willier bikes.. what are they supposed to do? I guess commuters are being hit the hardest.. and its them that use it for the noblest of reasons (the night before I just breazed through welwyn at 9:30p felt great).

oh well..
thanks for the input though.

 

[Eddie]

Have you phoned your house insurer to check that it isn't covered? Probably worth a shot.

 

[thanos]

Have you phoned your house insurer to check that it isn't covered? Probably worth a shot.

Its worth a shot, however it wasnt stolen from anywhere near the house and would consider it cheating to just pile up my mess for someone else to clean.
The whole gold rated security lock might crop up again.

Understood, chances are slim to none. Recovery alltogether is difficult, however if police manages to 'fine tune' the cctv footage (the one i posted isnt the only one, its just a quick sample with which I recorded the time of the event) maybe they can (or i can) figure out the identity of the person.

As far as the suburbs goes, he may be from Hatfield (making money reselling to students) but I doubt he is a person that leaves far away. How does 'word' of mouth flow that a specialized is at a waitrose.. or am i that unlucky that thieves where at this specific location..

Anyway still hopefull as far as contribution to possibly lessen this type of crime in this city. Having bikes stolen is something the police should do something about. After all it is a darn vehicle, stolen from a location in front of people and waitrose staff.. what does that say about safety in this town?

Now i need to get ready to walk to work.. great.. laters

 

[Brandane]

Its worth a shot, however it wasnt stolen from anywhere near the house and would consider it cheating to just pile up my mess for someone else to clean.

I wouldn't consider it "cheating" to make a genuine claim on your insurance if it is covered. The fact that it didn't happen at home does not matter, if the bike is covered under your house contents, then it is covered while away from the house.
First thing I did when I bought my Tricross last year was to phone the house contents insurers to arrange cover for the bike. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was covered under the existing policy, up to a limit of £1000. As Eddie says, surely worth a phone call to find out??

 

[Eddie]

My bike is covered for free by my More Than home insurance. When I spoke to them I asked if there was a need to use a particular strength of lock and they said no. As long as it was attached to a solid object.

 

[BSRU]

The house insurance is worth a try, my contents is with M&S and I found out recently they cover bicycles away from the house, no mention of what locks to use or in fact no mention of locking it at all.

 

[postman]

Bad news this .Don't know what i would do if some prat stole my Elite ,what a super bike .All the best to you with your insurance claim .Get one in you my qualify .

 

[thanos]

No coverage from insurance unfortunately (my fault for not covering the bike separately).
Adding insult to injury, the police hasnt followed up or shown up at the store to look at any footage.

The loss is mighty difficult to swallow; probably gets easier with time, but diff to justify the money gone too (spent several months considering this and that bike).

The difference some simple protection measures make hey.. was walking to the town center to get a coffee someone had a boardman hybrid locked with a cable at the train station (where bikes are frequently vandalized).. then again an exodus with double dlocks..

 

[e-rider]

No coverage from insurance unfortunately (my fault for not covering the bike separately).
Adding insult to injury, the police hasnt followed up or shown up at the store to look at any footage.

The loss is mighty difficult to swallow; probably gets easier with time, but diff to justify the money gone too (spent several months considering this and that bike).

The difference some simple protection measures make hey.. was walking to the town center to get a coffee someone had a boardman hybrid locked with a cable at the train station (where bikes are frequently vandalized).. then again an exodus with double dlocks..

you'll recover eventually

it's amazing how many people buy £500+ bikes and use cables locks (with or without the hardened shells) as they are still sssoooooooooo easy to break

lock education needs improving, however, if everyone started using decent locks the criminals would get better at breaking them!

see if you can get a cheap (£60) run-around just to prevent you walking everywhere - that might make you feel slightly better

No surprise about the police either. When my last bike got stolen I was amazed at the police station of talk about checking CCTV footage, door-to-door enquiries, follow up calls etc. NONE of which actually happened - not one single thing that they 'promised' to do was done! Pretty much what I expected before going to see them.

 

[Crankarm]

Sorry about your loss but I can't understand why you expect the police to do anything for you? I wouldn't call them for anything unless it was an emergency where I was fearful for my safety or that of my family. I used to call them about cycling incidents with maniac motons but gave up when I realised they weren't interested and that it was pretty low on their list of priorities.

You and others have to take protecting your bike, your means of transport seriously. A crappy cable or combination lock however robust it looks is as much use as a cheesy string. You need Abus Granit X Plus D locks preferably two - one on either wheel through the frame to the Oxford hoop or Sheffield stand. To carry them you need a pair of decent panniers so each D-lock in either side. This way you maximise your chances of your bike still being in the same place you left it when you return to it. Also take the saddle with you and the QR seat clamp so this will also deter some one who wants to nick and ride it away.