Brick Lane market the main sales venue for stolen bikes

[stonecastle]

The biggest market for stolen bikes in the country is the large Brick Lane market in east London. Most of the bikes sold on the regular licensed stalls are OK, but most bikes sold by flypitchers there especially young flypitchers tend to be stolen.

You can usually easily spot a stolen bike for sale there, if it looks an expensive modern bike and is being sold by a flypitcher for a bargin then it is usually stolen.

If it is an old knackered bike though that looks decades old then it is usually not stolen and is probably being sold by the owner who now just wants to get rid of it.

 

[joolsybools]

I've heard about this too and LCC advise not to buy bikes from Brick Lane. Please do not go there to buy a bike as you are causing demand therefore supply.

 

[skrx]

I experimented with Gumtree's bike section.

I looked for any advert where the text was all copied from the manufacturer's website, the bike iexpensive and "new", and the picture also from a website (rather than someone's garden). I emailed the sellers something like "Hi, I don't want to buy a stolen bike. Do you have proof of purchase?". None of them replied.

 

[Radius]

Unfortunately not recent news about Brick Lane, always worth having a look there if your bike goes missing. However, I have heard some good stories of people spotting a stolen bike they recognised (usually fixies so easier to tell), and slapping their own lock or two on it and notifying the real owner.

 

[dellzeqq]

There are bicycle shops in this part of the world that buy second hand bikes from children for cash. Think on.....