Dawes Horizon stolen in Birmingham

[Lucy L]

Hello all,

I've had my bike stolen yesterday from the bull ring shopping centre in Birmingham. It was tied up at midday to a bike stand with a few other bikes and when I got back at 5pm they'd all gone. I've been to the police and I'm calling up the local bike shops today and tomorrow. There was also a CCTV camera so hopefully that'll help the police track the people who did it, although I'm not too hopeful.

I know I should have had a better lock (it was a kryptonite cable lock). I'm utterly gutted. I couldn't get insurance for it because I live in a shared house. I only bought it last May and I had so many dreams of touring abroad with it. I don't drive so now I'll have to start walking to work. I'll probably buy a new one eventually because I used to love going on long weekends with it and cycling to work every day and just riding it whenever I got a chance.




Here's the specs for it from the Dawes website: http://www.dawescycl...25-horizon.aspx

 

[ianrauk]

Sorry to hear about this.
You said that 'they had all gone'.
So you are saying they nicked all the bikes that were locked up there?

 

[caz]

Sorry to hear this. In fact, I only read this weekend in our local rag (just south of you!) that someone who had stolen a £2000 bike had been caught because he'd put it on ebay to sell. The owner spotted it there, told the police who tracked down the thief, but the bike had already been sold by that time. The thief got 13 months in prison.

So keep your eye on ebay!

 

[Lucy L]

I'm not sure if the two other bikes had been stolen or whether the owners had just come back for them.

I'm keeping my eye on ebay and gumtree (I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a similar bike on gumtree but it wasn't the same one). The policewoman told me that a gang had been caught stealing bikes and she said maybe it's them again. I guess if it is them the police will know from the CCTV.

 

[Lucy L]

Thanks Paul, I didn't think of that.

I moved to Wolverhampton for a graduate job 2 months ago and ever since I moved here it's been one thing after another. People in work are bitchy, I'm living in the nice houses in the middle of drug central and I have no friends here yet. I've been going on short touring weekends just to get out of this place and I was only in Birmingham yesterday to visit an old friend and losing my bike really hammered the last nail into the coffin, it was the only thing that was keeping me sane down here, now I just want to quit the job and go back up north.

I don't think this would have happened where I used to live. I think the thieves were targeting certain bike racks in Birmingham city centre. I think that they would have had the tools to cut through most locks and I'm just annoyed with the police, especially as they told me it was common. The bike racks were fairly close to the road so I guess it was an easy spot for thieves to put in a car and whatever. I think these are professional thieves, not just an opportunist so I doubt it'll be advertised.

I can imagine the phone calls from the police tomorrow will be difficult to handle and I'll be in work when they call so I'm really scared of just breaking down in front of everyone. I've cycled to work every day since I started the job, I even cycled to the interview, so people are going to notice that I'm not bringing it in any more.

I am completely and utterly gutted. When I bought the bike the bike shop assured me that lock would be enough to protect it. I mean why would they sell a lock that's so easy to break? It was broad daylight with CCTV cameras and people walking about.. I still can't believe it's gone.

 

[Lucy L]

http://coventry.gumt...9/60249659.html

I did a search for horizon and came up with this link. I think it can't be my bike as the ad is over 3 months old but what gets me is that it's exactly the same as my bike except for the picture. I'm thinking the post might have been updated since yesterday but not the picture itself. I'm going to contact craig@gumtree because I've heard on this forum that he's the best person to contact about stolen bikes being advertised on gumtree. I'd just like to ask if it the post has been updated today or yesterday.

I have absolutely no experience of selling on gumtree so if anyone could give me a heads up on whether you can edit like that it would really help.

 

[mcshroom]

It does look a bit dodgy as that is not a new Horizon pictured. Also the description lists drop bars and sti shifters.

There is no way the bike pictured is only 1 year old and the price is ridiculous for a 1yo horizon.

 

[Lucy L]

McShroom he's just copied and pasted from the Dawes website: http://www.dawescycles.com/p-25-horizon.aspx
It could well have been a stolen bike, but apparently it can't be mine. My friend looked at the google cache for that page and the ad was up a week ago. My bike was stolen yesterday.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...try/59/60249659.html&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

I text the guy to ask to see the bike and he said he's got 2 cars for sale but no bike. I just got a call from a withheld number, the other person didn't talk, I just said hello over and over. I think he wasn't expecting to speak to a girl. (it's a guy's bike, women's bikes and hybrids are so uncomfortable for me because I'm too tall for them).

So I'll be reporting the ad to the police because it's fishy but I guess it's not my bike.

 

[e-rider]

The guy has sold 5 cars recently through ebay and gumtree but no history of selling bikes on the web.

 

[Crankarm]

Lucy, I hope you get your bike back. I'm sure your colleagues will be understanding and supportive as the theft of your bike has clearly had a bad effect on you. When you get your bike back or a replacement buy the strongest and best lock of the market. The best lock is currently the Abus Granit X Plus D-lock at about £75. Buy two. This month's issue of Cycling Plus has a test report of various locks. The Abus GXP comes out tops yet again. Do not use ANY cable or combination locks, you may as well use string.

 

[Lucy L]

Thanks to all of you for your support. I'll be using Abus Granit X Plus from now on, although it'll be a while until I'm trusting enough to buy a bike as good as my old one. I called the dealer that I got the original bike from to get the serial number and he's calling Dawes to talk about getting me a discount on the same bike again. It's an '09 model so perhaps they have some spare ones in their warehouse that they'd be willing to sell cheaper to make room for new stock.

I'll see what happens with the police, the 'crime investigators' didn't call me today but work are allowing me to keep my phone on me in case they call during office hours.

The silver lining of having my bike stolen is stumbling upon this website. You've all been really helpful and reading about others' experiences of having their bikes stolen really helped me to figure out what to do next.

I've bought a second hand bike and will pick it up on Wednesday because after riding every day for the last 5 months I feel a bit lost without a bike :/

Thanks again for all your help, I'll stick around

 

[Davidc]

Sorry to hear that. Welcome along.

I can't add much to what's above, excepty to suggest that when you get a new bike you fit a VERY loud alarm as well as using a good lock.

 

[e-rider]

Thanks to all of you for your support. I'll be using Abus Granit X Plus from now on, although it'll be a while until I'm trusting enough to buy a bike as good as my old one. I called the dealer that I got the original bike from to get the serial number and he's calling Dawes to talk about getting me a discount on the same bike again. It's an '09 model so perhaps they have some spare ones in their warehouse that they'd be willing to sell cheaper to make room for new stock.

I'll see what happens with the police, the 'crime investigators' didn't call me today but work are allowing me to keep my phone on me in case they call during office hours.

The silver lining of having my bike stolen is stumbling upon this website. You've all been really helpful and reading about others' experiences of having their bikes stolen really helped me to figure out what to do next.

I've bought a second hand bike and will pick it up on Wednesday because after riding every day for the last 5 months I feel a bit lost without a bike :/

Thanks again for all your help, I'll stick around

did the shop have a record of the frame number? They don't usually.

 

[porteous]

Do you have house contents insurance? Lots of insurance firms cover bikes as well, check your policy. Things will get better. Good Luck!

 

[Lucy L]

[QUOTE 1191619"]
Welcome, amidst the misery.

Where exactly was the bike locked up?
[/quote]

Exactly here: http://maps.google.c...12,97.74,,0,6.5

The bike stands aren't on the map, they must have been put there after the picture was taken. They were in front of that wall, near the corner, where the 'C 2009 google' watermark is. I told the police it was from the stands 'outside Debenhams in the bullring'.

There are 2 CCTV cameras if you pan to the right and a few more over the road.

Tundra, they didn't, but it was worth a shot.

Porteous, I'll ask my landlord what his insurance is.