[Closed] Bikes Stolen from House whilst we are in - Bristol Again

How did they get in???

sorry to hear about your bikes....not to many Nicolai's about hopefully it will be recognised
😳

Which area of Bristol?

BLIMEY! That's some front. Sorry to hear that fella. They obviously knew exactly what they were after. You been followed home?

The same thing happened to my sister when she lived in Leeds. She was working upstairs, came downstairs and someone had cleaned her out. Telly, DVD player, Camera and everything they could carry. While she was upstairs!!! 😯

really sorry to hear about that

Does anybody in Bristol have a bike now? 🙁
the number of time I've heard of bike thefts in Bristol specificity is astounding!

Bikes will be replaced, but I really hope you can secure the house so you and the family feel safe again.

You mean they broke into your house, ignored the dog, & knew where the bikes were kept?
It's a friend of a friend.

*insert expletives here*

Speculation aside, it's really common for thieves to come back for seconds, usually a few months down the line when they know you've got your insurance replacements.

I would ask to be put in touch with the priority crime team as I understand they're allocating extra resources towards bike theft now. At least they should be - about £20k's worth went walkabouts in one week recently. 🙁

sheeeeeet.

Guys we were in the Lakes with came home to find their shed cleared out in Berkshire -
Salsa big momma 29er
Lynsky rd bike
Lightspeed rd bike
Lapierre Xcontrol 510
SurlyCX

Got any photo's?

Which part of Bristol were they taken from?

How on earth did they know to go to that cupboard!

Even just a simple wall anchor/lock might of prevented the theft, a pain yes but worth the extra effort each time storing the bikes away.

Although they would almost certainly come back tooled up at some point.

Something similar happened to me 10 years ago. 4 people in the house. No one heard or saw a thing. 2 weeks later I saw the bike and got it back.

Have you got any photos as riding around Bristol all the time so will keep my eyes open. Can't be that many Nicolai AM's in Bristol.

As a resident Bristol biker we really need to club together and do something about all these thefts. Not sure what but it is getting a joke now

That's awful 👿

Im interested to know how they got it. Was your back door unlocked?
Personally I'll make sure ours is always locked if we're sat in the front room you could easily sneak in.
Sorry about your bikes, not a nice feeling though.

F***! that's bad.

To know your movements that well

It's a friend of a friend.

Even if you were followed home how would they know you kept them in your kitchen cupboard.

How did they get through the door was it unlocked?

If the doors weren't locked, I'm not 100% certain your insurance will cover it... 🙁

I've got to ask here - do we all really lock the doors of the house when we are in?!

I don't. As a Dad with 3 kids we always thought it safer to have the doors unlocked in case of fires etc (while we are in and up and about obviously). Now the kids are grown up - 2 strapping lads amongst em - it would'nt occur to us that anyone would try and walk in while we are all around.

This does sound like someone who has knowledge of you, which makes it worse somehow. Hope you find the bikes and the b*stards that took em.

Sorry to hear your news. Glad you and yours are ok, but bet you are not sleeping sound after that!

--What can we do to get the polis to treat this targteted bike theft as a serious and organised crime?

Maybe the new police commissioner can be 'targeted' and join this up with 'cycling city' = safe from theft!.

Bris needs a zero tolerance campaign, publicity with pics and/or collared felon's on an official bris stolenbikes site - add in some data gathering so true scale can be seen by all (great job on that by the way whoever does it).

People coming in the house when it is occupied is an 'aggravated' offence (isn't it?).

If different high value items were being systematically targeted in this way I could imagine more being done.

Hruumphh

for next time maybe?

[url= http://www.loc8tor.com/uk/loc8tor-plus-pack.html?___store=ukview ]locator alarm thingymajig[/url]

My sympathy. It's horrible that scumbags will just walk in and lift stuff like that. We had a laptop nicked when my wife was alone in the house a few years back, this was when we lived at the end of a farm track, the nearest neighbours were 1/4 of a mile away. Luckily they legged it when she came downstairs to see what the noise was. It's not so much the theft itself as the feeling of insecurity that you get afterwards - you think of home as a safe place, then suddenly discover that it isn't really that safe after all.

We even got CCTV footage of the burglars from the neighbouring mill, and very clear webcam pictures of them from our front door, but the police **** up the ID process somehow so the CPS let them off without even attempting to prosecute. Pathetic.

do we all really lock the doors of the house when we are in?!

I didn't used to but I do now! Wife gets yelled at if she forgets (and vice versa).

Everyone's assuming they targeted the bikes.
Could it have been just a random opportunist checking back doors and kitchen cupboards late in the evening who struck lucky ?

That's terrible. Hope you find them. I'm upping security right now!

Sorry to hear your news and glad no one was hurt. Defo sounds like a targeted theft - if they broke in and took only the bikes. I recently had my bikes stolen, which seemed to be done in a similar fashion from my garage.
Makes me wonder where these bikes end up... I mean you hear hundreds of bikes stolen and very very few recoveries!

motozulu - Member

I've got to ask here - do we all really lock the doors of the house when we are in?!

I don't.

I do after a mate went into his kitchen to get a cuppa and was stabbed by a junkie out on the rob.
Keys are kept by back and front door in case of fire.

Jesus wept. Right I'll keep a look out. I wouldn't move but I would relook at security.

bonchance - Member

Bris needs a zero tolerance campaign

I agree but this is hardly the thread to discuss such matters.

I've got to ask here - do we all really lock the doors of the house when we are in?!

yes, the back door is locked at all times, even though we live in a very low crime area (touch wood).

We've always locked our doors when in partly due to a naughty dog and now a naughty 3yr old.

I wouldn't want mrshora to be in alone with a door unlocked.

How the **** did the thieve know where to go though? Has anyone been to the house- friends of children etc?

Whereabouts in Bristol?

Everyone's assuming they targeted the bikes.
Could it have been just a random opportunist checking back doors and kitchen cupboards late in the evening who struck lucky ?

You reckon they were looking for a packet of Frosties?

It doesn't sound like a coincidence that they just happened to pluck a Nicolai out of a cupboard on a Wednesaday evening whilst Taz is elsewhere in the house on his regular conf calls, the kids are tucked up and his wife is doing her usual Wednesday night activities.
Whoever it is has knowledge of the family's movements.

Ugh gutted for you. As per other posts, interested to know which area of Bristol to and if anything else was taken. Does seem pretty unusual to just target bikes that are out of sight inside a house with the owner in it.

Is the gas/electric meter in there? Maybe a tip off by one of the readers?... Sorry about the loss of the bikes tho. nothings safe!

Edit: Trust no one!

I've got to ask here - do we all really lock the doors of the house when we are in?!

I do, but my missus isn't great at it.

My parents got robbed (car keys, phones and wallet) when a little shite opened the backdoor and took the stuff.

If he had been brighter and just taken the keys he would have had their cars overnight, but they noticed the missing phones. He also did 5 houses in the road at the same time, unfortunately for him one was owned by a Copper so it became a priority case and he was cause in days after doing this for months.

Mind you I also have another reason to do it, as a couple of months ago, someone (who I have never seen before) let himself into my house to deliver the parish magazine and the dog heard him and escorted him out .......

Mind you I also have another reason to do it, as a couple of months ago, someone (who I have never seen before) let himself into my house to deliver the parish magazine and the dog heard him and escorted him out of the house ...

I've had this- knock and try the door with a cheery 'hello!'.

I imagine not all opportunist thieves come in teenager/spotty packages.

Really sorry to hear about the theft, I live in Bristol and will also keep an eye out. A chap living on my road got broken into 2 years running just for his bikes, 2nd time I was the one to find his front door kicked in and the alarm going off - locked doors and alarms don't stop the f*****s.

I've had this- knock and try the door with a cheery 'hello!'.

No knock, no hello. Whomever it was as I have no reason to believe he wasn't delivering the parish magazine legitly but he wasn't the normal person, just opened my front door which wasn't locked as it was Sunday afternoon and let himself in, ignoring the 'Caution Dog Sign'

First I knew about it was I heard a faint noise in my hallway, following by scrabbling claws as the dog heard it and picked up speed followed by shouting, and scrabbling and the man was taken out of the house by the dog.

By the time I got there he was outside holding his arm, shouting 'your dog attacked me', to which I replied 'who are you? and what were you doing in my house' to which he 'held up a single paper pamphlet'. I rang the editor of the parish magazine to apologise and they said they hadn't had a complaint, and b. if someone had gone into their house their dog would have done a lot worse.

In hindsight, it sounds much dodger than I thought at the time ........

NB: I used to live in Clifton, and I had a steel security gate levered off the wall, and front door of my flat kicked in. Luckily I was away in France with the my bike at the time, so they only got some 'other bikes' downside was front door was left smashed in for a couple of days and open as it wasn't clear from the street that it had been done, and my missus had ~ 20K of jewellery left by her grandparents to her nicked.

Makes me shiver that twice a row mrshora left the front door wide open all day absent-mindedly recently.

Will keep a good eye out for you.

Several good first points of call - Southmead is always a good bet, seem to remember hearing there was a well known face up there but the police never seemed to have enough to just land on him properly.

Also worth notifying all the Crack Converters type places around town too - East St in Bedminster has a couple, I work near there so when I pop to the post in a bit, will have a sneaky look. Saw a Scott Genius in there a couple of years ago for £700, so on that assumption, someone sold it to them for £400 tops. I reported it but not sure the police ever did anything about it......

From my perspective, the longer the police leave the serious issue, the greater the risk that as and when a bike thief is caught in the act, the outcome becomes very unpleasant indeed.

So has the OP still not told us where this happened? Or am I missing it on my phone screen.

The thieves are getting very bold. We've had a spate of thefts in our area whilst people are in the house and I've had the car broken into followed by an alarm activation in the middle of the night when someone tried to force the garage door (where the bikes are).

Since then we've installed a digital CCTV system which sends photo snap shots via e-mail to my phone if anyone (or thing - ****in cats !) walks into a zone at the front of the house. Since we've installed it we have got 2 really good images of scum bags trying the house car and garage in the middle of the night and the police are using them as evidence.

The most recent spate shows scrotes walking past our house to the neighbours with their hoods up and looking away trying to avoid the camera. Hence, it appears to be having the effect.

We're told by the Police that a CCTV sticker or a Police campaign sticker which states the house security and contents has been assessed by the Police are great deterrents. I'm told they surveyed convicted burglars and most said they avoided those houses with the cameras and stickers.

If anyone wants a camera I have a cousin who installs them. Just send me an e-mail and I'll pass on the details.

Here's one of the ****ers from about 12 months ago. This was 11:00pm on a Friday night when my daughter was up watching TV on her own. If the door wasn't locked I dread to think what he would have done.

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I got an eyespy247 camera for my house, which I would highly recommend

Hi All

Appreciate the comments & feedback. Been away all morning and then with CSI, Insurance etc hence no reply

This was in the Westbury Park Area just off the Downs

We usually lock the back door even when in but we don't make an absolute point of it. We will now.

I have no doubt this was targeted bike theft. There was other stuff they could have grabbed but chose not to. I ride locally a lot. I don't know if I have been followed home but it is certainly a probability. They knew what they wanted and where I kept it. I think the Hummer was a 'bonus'

I have pics of the Nicolai with BOS forks that I can dig out(Marzocchi's are only about 2 weeks old). Not sure if I have a recent Hummer pic.

Surely this is something we should be pestering our new Police Commissioner about. Online petition plus Friday lunchtime 2 wheeled protest outside the cop shop?

Sorry to hear of your loss - will keep a look out in Redland area.

Interesting piece on BBC Points West this lunchtime about George Ferguson wanting to make Bristol even more of a cycling city - might be a good start if the powers that be start taking bike theft as seriously as they do other crimes. Perhaps Bristols' cyclists should be getting a petition together to present to George and Sue Mountstevens (Police Commissioner) about increasing police activity in identifying and punishing the culprits.

richc - ha! would've loved to have seen the guys face as your dog/horse ran towards him!

Must admit, I always check to see if I'm being followed back from A/C or Leigh woods these days. I live a fair way away so it's pretty easy (I think) to notice anything odd.

The time my bikes got nicked was about a week after builders had been to the property. I was pretty convinced they must have let someone know where/how the bikes were kept considering they'd been fine for 12 months before that. Felt like a bit of a coincidence to me.

might be a good start if the powers that be start taking bike theft as seriously as they do other crimes.

What makes you think they don't?

Last time I spoke to the police about this was after last year's wave of follow-home thefts from Leigh Woods and Ashton Court. They said that they were treating it as a priority and, given that a number of people subsequently mentioned a police presence at the trails, I believe them.

It's easy to lash out at the police but they are very much restricted by what the CPS can do to secure prosecutions and convictions, falling budgets, and all the other stuff that they have to deal with.

Now feeling incredibly uneasy. I cycled back last night from a lap of Ashton and Leigh Woods. Only to pass a fairly out of place character about a quarter mile from home. Only to stop say good bye to a mate and then complete the run home. As i was wheeling the back in aforementioned scally sidles up on his bike. stops at a house on the opposite side of the road and plays with his phone, doesn't knock or go to the door. Then walks off on the phone.. Now going to be wondering about my bike whenever i hear a noise... It's such a shame you can't even own a bike keep it in your house without worrying. A damning indictment of the society we live in.

Take a photo next time. This happened to me too when I lived in Clifton. Young scamp on a Raleigh activator passed me in the opposite direction. 2 minutes later with the bike leant up against the house, I spot him again. He moved off, only to linger at the top of the road. Nasty feeling, nothing came of it however thank goodness

Back to the thread: OP, I'll keep me eyes peeled.

Excitable 1 - What system is that?

Had a look at the Eyespye 247 just now. May be what I need.

I do wonder if I will end up seeing a few unwelcome visitors in my garden overnight

Speculation aside, it's really common for thieves to come back for seconds, usually a few months down the line when they know you've got your insurance replacements.

Time to start keeping a live angry tiger in that cupboard.

also keep an eye on gumtree and ebay. a friend had a his Five stolen a few months back and has seen it appear for sale on various ebay listings. police raided two properties but sadly didn't recover the bike, but did get the prick who lived there for other offences.

might be a good start if the powers that be start taking bike theft as seriously as they do other crimes.

What makes you think they don't?

I believe the police are instructed to prioritise burglaries from dwellings - as opposed to garages and sheds.

That's what I was told when my garage was burgled anyway.

So the OP here should be top prioity. There's probably a task force being put together right now.

Also worth notifying all the Crack Converters type places around town too - East St in Bedminster has a couple, I work near there so when I pop to the post in a bit, will have a sneaky look. Saw a Scott Genius in there a couple of years ago for £700, so on that assumption, someone sold it to them for £400 tops. I reported it but not sure the police ever did anything about it......

A friend of mine got her stolen bike back from that store - they were actually really good about it, giving details to the police etc.

Tell you what - I'm bloody glad I live where I do. As I said maybe I am lulled into a sense of security knowing there are 4 adult male family members who live in my house so the girls have someone about at any particular time of the day - might be different if it was just me and the Mrs and daughter.

Someone raised a very good point too about this shoite getting nasty - ask yourself - if you DID catch someone in your house and you got the upper hand - at what point would self defence end and sheer rage take over.

I'm not sure I could stop myself.

I always double lock the door when I am in, and put the chain up, and never answer the door unless I know the person.

But then I live alone, and downstairs from a psychopath.

Sorry to hear about your bikes, that gives me the chills to think that somebody could be in the house when you are there !

But then I live alone, and downstairs from a psychopath.

Thought about moving? 😯

Taz, I'm kind of assuming you're on this already, but if you've got any pictures of your bikes then email them to me at stolenbristolbikes@gmail.com and I'll put them up on the blog.

I've got to ask here - do we all really lock the doors of the house when we are in?!

I don't. As a Dad with 3 kids we always thought it safer to have the doors unlocked in case of fires etc (while we are in and up and about obviously). Now the kids are grown up - 2 strapping lads amongst em - it would'nt occur to us that anyone would try and walk in while we are all around.

I fit locks and the number of people who have no descent 5 lever mortice dead or sash lock on the front and rear doors is staggering, some just rely on a cheap rim cylinder lock, think yale type lock with small screws and glazed pannels next to it.Remember a yale type lock can be opened from the inside so once theyre in , they have an easy escape route.

Finally if they do get in,fear from both sides will cause a laock of rational thought, if they have a crowbar or screwdiver in their hand sthats what theyre going to use against you, while you may just have a remote control off the tv.

Stop them getting is best.

While when you go to the toilet or bathroom there is usaully a mortice lock or a descent bolt.

Is there such a thing as a Tracker system for bikes like with cars? Surely a transmitter of sorts down the seat tube can't be beyond the realms of possibilities these days?

*runs off to source chinese manufacturer and nerdy app developer

Yes I have thought of moving, but when I came here I had moved 6 times in 3 years and wanted to settle, and the cat likes it here. And he will die eventually, he eats nails for dinner. And I don't like giving in to bullies.

the cat likes it here. And he will die eventually, he eats nails for dinner

...3, 2, 1 . . . .aaaaand your back in the room . . .

That's the neighbour, not the Cat ! Eating nails is the only reason I can think of for a person to be so grumpy and unpleasant ! And the only thing he ever puts in the shared recycling bin is boxes for nails. No food containers, ever. I rest my case.

...ha ha, granted, I should have stopped at the full stop

A student place I lived in for a year got done the day after a "handyman" had been round to do our garden.

Fairly convinced it was him who came back that night and made off with the TV, video, a load of CDs and a camera. Fortunately, we were all in (asleep) so he only got to the living room, all of my stuff including my bike was upstairs in my bedroom.

And he did do a very good job on the garden, the edges were very neat... 😉

But yours definitely sounds targeted and professional - not many opportunists will risk going into an occupied house but if someone knows what they want and where it is, they can be in and out in seconds.

Thanks Ant - emailed you

The guy who did my (very good) tilling. ...offered me two new Orange bikes 'cheap'.

Someone recently said they used a small keyring style rape alarm when their bike was in the garage, fairly discreet and hard to spot if you're a thief in a rush. They grab the bike not knowing the alarm is attached to it, the pin comes out as its wrapped around something else and the alarm goes off. Might put them off if it's still locked or they don't fancy riding away with an alarm going off. From memory the actual alarm bit was under the seat. There are loads on ebay like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Personal-Anti-Attack-Anti-rape-saftey-Security-Alarm-night-/330720627954?pt=UK_Safety_Alarms&hash=item4d007c4cf2 just replace the straps with fishing line to make it harder to spot

I had 2 bikes stolen a few years ago from a locked garage. I now keep my bikes in a locked steel shed in a locked garage. The bikes are all locked together by a huge chain which is then secured to a ground anchor. The garage is alarmed too.

You can never be too careful.

Christ that bad, folk coming into your house when you're at home to nick your bikes - sorry to hear that taz, hope your insurance will sort you out quick and without any hassle.

I'd be ok wi breaking their fingers followed by wrists, i doubt they'd be up for stealing very much wi their hands in a cast.

Tax, it's an Axis Camera Station. They also have a remote server so that you can plug into your camera and live view whilst you're away from home or in another room !

imnotamused - yes there is the Bikespy which is a GPS tracker. Just got one that I am going to test.

That's horrible Taz, really hope you get them back. The invasion of your space is bad enough let alone getting your prized possessions taken :(. I think a bike security thread would be a good idea, targeted bike theft seems to be on the up all the time so a one stop resource would be helpful.

I've got mine locked with Gold standard heavy duty chains, but i'm looking to go a bit further.

I'm going to get an auto dial alarm, which as well as being noisy as **** will ring any telephone numbers stored in it. I'm also going to use a cable alarm, which if cut or tampered with will go off.

If someone gets to the bike they will first be deafened, I'll get a phone call to say so, they will have to cut a heavy duty gold standard chain as well as trying to get away with the bike (not a quick job).

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Two more images. These are from 2 weeks ago. Not known locally to the police. They think they are a gang from Manchester or Liverpool. They took two cars and carried out several 'while your in' raids.

In the first image the scum bag looks at the camera after trying the car door then says to his mate 'camera', who then promptly looks up at the camera himself. Dosey **** !

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