thieving bampots

[noadapter]

Was out doing a bit of christmas shopping up here in Glasgow, so i chained my bike (trek 7.2 silver) and came back an hour later and some scum had pinch me bike, i chained it to a bike stand where 3 other bikes were chained so i assumed this was a safe place. The question is what is the point of chaining your bike if anyone can just take it. I have heard that these fannys steal then sell bikes on Gumtree and Ebay i shall be checking out these sites out for my bike and inflict the appropriate punishment

 

[gavintc]

One of the girls at work had her bike nicked from outside the office in Glasgow. It was well locked, but disappeared. A few weeks later, out shopping on new bike, with an upgraded lock, hey presto that one went as well. She now does not use her bike for trips in Glasgow. There are some determined thieves in Glasgow.

 

[Tynan]

the right tools will break anything but very good locks very easily

'd never leave my bike anywhere other than at least semi secure premises, and then with locked with something heavier than I'd like to carry around with me

hard luck

 

[PBancroft]

At the moment if anyone nicked my bike I'd be inconvenienced but the bike is inexpensive enough I wouldn't be TOO angry.

The problem is this makes me a little complacent. Sometimes I have been known to arrive at the supermarket and realise I haven't brought a lock. Rather than cycle the half mile home I simply leave it unlocked outside the door.

Thus far its survived... probably won't forever though.

If its a steed that you loved and will miss, you have my condolences. Otherwise its an opportunity to upgrade!

 

[BentMikey]

The right tools will break even good locks fairly easily.

 

[Tynan]

yeah but the tools have to get better and it all gets takes a bit longer and a bit more hard work, it's as much about where you leave it as what you lock it with

obviously

 

[alp1950]

Was out doing a bit of christmas shopping up here in Glasgow, so i chained my bike (trek 7.2 silver) and came back an hour later and some scum had pinch me bike, i chained it to a bike stand where 3 other bikes were chained so i assumed this was a safe place. The question is what is the point of chaining your bike if anyone can just take it. I have heard that these fannys steal then sell bikes on Gumtree and Ebay i shall be checking out these sites out for my bike and inflict the appropriate punishment

Scum. Lowlife.

Where in Glasgow was this?

 

[swee'pea99]

yeah but the tools have to get better and it all gets takes a bit longer and a bit more hard work, it's as much about where you leave it as what you lock it with

obviously

And for how long. Obviously.

 

[Vikeonabike]

Noadaptor,
Have you reported it to the Police, make sure they check city CCTV coverage. You will generally find that criminals are creatures of habit so if they have them on CCTV they will be recognised by the cops or the CCTV operators.

 

[Ravenz]

how would anyone feel if they ended up buying a stolen bike.. what checks do you do to make sure it isnt stolen..? if the trade in stolen bikes was made more difficult, would leaving the bike unattended become less of a lottery?

how do you spot a possible stolen bike..?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2682625139_f0dc3dd8f5.jpg

.. distinctly dodgy and why do people write stupid blogs.. like anyone cares... but thats going off subject....

 

[col]

If they want your bike they will get it most of the time,where i lock my bike it has a coded lock on the door to a bike shed,which has a big sign saying beware cycle thieves operating.This is also in full view of a security box too,worrying.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I'm very wary about any second-hand bikes, frames or expensive components. I bought a frame a few years back off e-bay, supposedly that the vendor had bought aspart of a job lot in an off a sale of uncollected mail items. I was worried was stolen because of the unusually low price so I spent a couple of months contacting the manufacturer, distributor, importer, user forums etc. to check, but in the end it seemed the vendor was legitimate (well, no more than just a little bit dodgy!), it was just that he didn't know anything much about bikes, and was just concerned about making selling for more than be bought the stuff for... I would never buy any stuff from anonymous sellers, those all-purpose second-hand shop, or off market stalls or ads in local free papers.

 

[Mr Phoebus]

Some tea-leaf has stolen part of the thread title.

 

[swee'pea99]

how do you spot a possible stolen bike..?

I have to say, ebay fan that I am, I don't think they do nearly enough to try to prevent people selling stolen gear.

I had logged searches for a couple of months, looking for a particular kind of bike - hybrid, 24 gears, 700c wheels and a few other criteria - and pretty soon noticed what looked to me some very dodgy sellers out there. People listing bikes with 'slight damage to the paintwork where my lock has rubbed the frame', who had sold 20 very similar bikes over the last month and a half.

To be fair, after I reported one such to ebay, they disappeared shortly afterwards - but others quickly appeared, operating in the same part of London. My guess is, they just invent a new id and carry on.

I'd like to see ebay being much more proactive about making an effort to identify apparent thieves, and work with plod to have them checked out and, if possible, prosecuted - and efforts made to return good to their rightful owners.

I'd start, for just one - I have to say not uncommon - example, with this guy. No accusations, but.... But I'd like to see someone in ebay making the little bit of effort to notice his listings and at least wonder how this guy comes to be in a position to be selling his tenth expensive bike in a month ('Cash on collections'), especially given that at least one buyer of those ten has actively fingered him as dubious.

 

[Nigeyy]

I think this is a tough one -I've bought stuff from ebay and craigslist and had no idea if it was stolen or not (one hopes it wasn't). And quite frankly, I didn't feel inclined to spend the time and effort checking up -realistically, I can't see how you can prove something was stolen unless it's incredibly unique, bears marks of thievery (e.g. lock damage), has a serial number on a frame (even then, not everyone registers their bike anyway), or the seller admits to it.

I don't mean to sound off hand with this, but I can't see a practical solution. I think you have to trust the seller or your impressions of the seller. I will say I have seen some ads from the same person selling numerous different kinds of bikes and you do wonder -but then again, I wouldn't do business with them. Likewise when you see someone selling a top end bike for fifity quid, your suspicions are aroused immediately -but got to be honest, as well as not buying from them unless I was convinced it was legitimate (e.g. someone wealthy just emptying their garage), I don't report them to the police. Perhaps I should, but truthfully, I have better things to do with my time and I figure the police wouldn't do that much anyway.

I know I might offend some people with what I've posted, but just being honest about it.