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Illuminating in some aspects...
What I'd really like to see is a similar piece talking to one of the fences.
There was a very similar article in the Albion BMX magazine a few years ago. They used to use a rechargeable angle grinder. It's noisy and messy but fast and he said "What are you gonna do if I wave an angle grinder in your face?" to which I imagine the answer for most people, would be sweet FA.
Interesting how he says they target no-logo fixes. I thought that whole thing came out of making your bike look cheap and unattractive.
Interesting how he says they target no-logo fixes. I thought that whole thing came out of making your bike look cheap and unattractive.
Yeah good point.
And he clearly doesn't have much knowledge of bikes, but [i]does[/i] know what he can shift quickly on Gumtree or to fences.
"but the money was barely enough to pay bills and rent. You can’t live on today’s minimum wage....."
"I learned that my family is more important than having designer clothes on your back or expensive trainers, or loads of money"
It doesn't sound like there's any real remorse here despite the sob story at the end of the article.
Perhaps I'm being naive but the part I never understand in these exposés is who's buying all these stolen bikes. If the grunt reckons he's getting £400 - £500 from a fence for a £1000 retail when new bike, then the fence must be selling them on for £800+ (I assume the fence makes more than the grunt). Who exactly is buying second hand bikes, which you must have a good idea aren't legit, for £100 - £200 below new retail price?
Who exactly is buying second hand bikes,
Sent in a container to Beijing innit!
They get through millions of them apparently.
lucky7500 - That's the bit that puzzles me too, I'd be more interested to hear from the fence TBH.
I was surprised how much he got paid for run of the mill bikes too.
wtf is fence?
Is it like lamp? I love lamp.
If the fence is flogging them on in huge numbers, and has a large number of thieves working for him, they only need to make £100 per bike.
"roadside" thefts are overwhelmingly committed by drug addicts who will take the path of least resistance ie. the bike with the least or weakest security. We've stopped them with huge bolt croppers strung on a bit of rope around their necks; Oxford has a massive amount of cycle crime and I've never heard of one being taken with an angle grinder (not saying it doesn't happen, just that it's not a representative example).
What are you gonna do if I wave an angle grinder in your face?
the answer is call the police, where the offender risks getting CS gassed, Tazered or bitten by a landshark.
they were always locked back up on the street
one of our regulars does this. Steals a bike, moves it to a different area of town, locks it up and leaves it for a few days. If it doesn't get recovered by police/victim he has it away. And as he's seen unlocking it he looks legit to passers-by.
That's still £600 though which would absolute top money for an immaculate bike from a knowledgeable seller. I'd never consider putting a bike on the classifieds for two thirds of its new price, particularly if I was after a quick sale with as little attention as possible.If the fence is flogging them on in huge numbers, and has a large number of thieves working for him, they only need to make £100 per bike.
[quote=crashtestmonkey said] offender risks getting CS gassed, Tazered or bitten by a landshark.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=land%20shark
Some deterrent !
he says that a £200 is the minimum value that they would take - all of us with 26 inch mtbs are safe then 😀
Yeah, the interviewer should've stabbed him repeatedly, in the face.
What you need to do is catch the and D-Lock them to a traffic light, lamp post (or my personal favourite, a ship about to leave NY) I can't comment about the last one (a hardcore bike courier in NY told me about that one a few years ago) but I will say that a traffic light is a good one (allegedly). There's no evidence to link it to anyone, but I'd love to see them grind it off from around their own neck.
And he clearly doesn't have much knowledge of bikes, but does know what he can shift quickly on Gumtree or to fences.
That's the critical thing. I'm always surprised when I hear about thefts of stupidly exotic high end kit or really distinctive bikes - where on earth do you sell stuff like that?!
I read an article somewhere a few years ago saying that Specialized Allez were the most commonly stolen road bikes. I guess partly that's cos they're also one of the highest selling models in the UK so there must be loads but crucially, it's far easier to shift a mid-range bike for £300 than it is to shift a top end specialist bit of kit.
Perhaps I'm being naive but the part I never understand in these exposés is who's buying all these stolen bikes.
I used to think that. Was telling a guy I faintly know through work, about my bike being nicked, and he told me his had been nicked too. Went on to say it was a really good bike, Cannondale something or other which he bought off a friend of a friend in the pub for £100! Needless to say, he had no idea where it had come from, only positive was that it was subsequently nicked a few weeks after he bought it.
Wouldn't surprise me if the guy who sold it to him came back and nicked it. Don't know if he is just incredibly naive or plain stupid.
think my current Birdy folder might have been nicked as I bought it from gumtree - however my Birdy folder had just been nicked as well, so one in, one out...
I'm always surprised when I hear about thefts of stupidly exotic high end kit or really distinctive bikes - where on earth do you sell stuff like that?!
Yeah I want to know what happens to these, I suspect there's a whole different network of thieves and fences targeting people's homes and bike shops - and probably stripping bikes to avoid the frames being recognised.
Wasn't there a guy in Cheshire a year or so back that had a few thousand stolen bikes in his barn?
Maybe that's it, there are enough people out there who do the same thing.Wouldn't surprise me if the guy who sold it to him came back and nicked it. Don't know if he is just incredibly naive or plain stupid.
The blokes in these interviews are just brazen opportunists who want quick cash. I think the people who steal high end exotic stuff from around trail centres and uplift days probably do know exactly what they're looking for.
These bikes are so expensive that it probably is worth the extra time to break them for parts or slide them into your own collection. I know I could massively upgrade my knackered old tanks if I could lift a few free bikes from somewhere and do some part switching.
These bikes are so expensive that it probably is worth the extra time to break them for parts or slide them into your own collection. I know I could massively upgrade my knackered old tanks if I could lift a few free bikes from somewhere and do some part switching.
Somewhere in another "interview with a bike thief" type thing was a comment from one guy nicking pretty high end kit saying that he'd switch the wheels round as soon as he could.
Obviously a description of the bike is out there with this kit, those wheels etc but if caught by the police, it wouldn't match the description. 99% of the time the police won't be clued up on specialist bike kit, high end factory wheelsets etc (or how easy it is to swap things like that), they'll just think it's a different bike.
This is an interesting read, I'm sure there are similar characters this side of the pond...
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/wolf-amongst-the-sheep-bike-theft-2014.html