[Closed] Found my stolen bike! But...

I spent a year bemoaning and looking out for my stolen bikes.

It's a hiding to nothing.

Put the effort into finding a new one on Retrobike...

I found a ‘new’ one to replace a bike that was stolen from me many years ago. Now I’m scared what my wife is going to say when she sees another bike in the garage.

My friend had 4 bikes nicked in a burglary some years ago. I managed to recover two of them, some six or so years apart!
One was being ridden through the local main line railway station. Scrote was trying to blag it through the barriers, kicked off and got arrested instead of just legging it.
The second one (an old Pace RC300) I spotted locked up outside the same station) and we cut the lock and rescued it.
A third was located by another riding buddy and went through the proper channels (police) but the bike wasn’t returned 🙁
Keep the faith, they can turn up.

So I had a p/c from the police a WEEK after I initially called them, wanting more info about the bike / screenshots of the seller and the ad.

Heard nothing.

Last night a p/c from the cops and a voicemail "about your bike". Got all excited.

Police have looked up the person who was selling the bike. "She's known to us". Going to pay her a visit but (and these were the cops words) "she might just tell us to **** off, and we can't do much about that".

I appreciate it's not crime of the century, but at least they're still trying. I think.

I've only ever had one bike stolen but it was my daily commuter, my trusty workhorse and I was devastated. I managed to get it back 5 years after it was taken. It popped up on Facebook marketplace but had already sold by the time I had been alerted to it. I contacted the seller saying it was my dream bike that I had wanted one since I was a kid, please could they pass on the buyer's contact details. They gave me the phone number of the chap who bought it, I rang him up and explained everything, said I'd give him back what he paid (£50!?!?!?) and he was more than happy once I'd sent pictures of me riding it many years before, met him in a pub carpark at 23:00 and my trusty Genesis Day One was back home where it belongs.

matt_outandabout
Full Member

I spent a year bemoaning and looking out for my stolen bikes.

It’s a hiding to nothing

Got to agree with this unfortunately. Nearly 3 years ago I had 8 bikes stolen (6 of mine, 2 family members bikes) plus tools, kit and spares (more parts dating back to late 80s/early 90s)

I spent hours over the following year looking for any of it to show up. It never did.

So, sadly, it’s about looking forward not back.

I’d also say to anyone, whatever bike(s) you have now, enjoy them!

I’d also say to anyone, whatever bike(s) you have now, enjoy insure them!

One good news story (sort of); last week at LUBP a lad turned up to ride his new (to him) bike (purchased from FB marketplace), turns out it was a bike stolen from another chap who also happened to be at the park that day and recognised his bike.

In the hands of the police now, the outcome most likely is lad gets his bike back, other fella is out of pocket and the seller if they can be traced may be charged with handling stolen goods.

Insurance is a must as the police don't/can't/won't take these things that seriously.

desperatebicycle
Free Member

I’d also say to anyone, whatever bike(s) you have now, enjoy insure them!

Nice idea and valid. Not that it helped much as some of mine weren’t something you’d just be able to replace whatever the payout. So I’d stick with my original thought and add yours 😎

If all these damn online markeplaces would simply add a mandatory field in the description for the frame number of these bikes, the world would be a better place.

My friend had 4 bikes nicked in a burglary some years ago. I managed to recover two of them, some six or so years apart!

The second one (an old Pace RC300) I spotted locked up outside the same station) and we cut the lock and rescued it.

After several years, odds are there's probably someone out there who'd thought they'd bought it legitimately and had it stolen.

They gave me the phone number of the chap who bought it, I rang him up and explained everything, said I’d give him back what he paid (£50!?!?!?) and he was more than happy once I’d sent pictures of me riding it many years before, met him in a pub carpark at 23:00 and my trusty Genesis Day One was back home where it belongs.

Nice (but unusual!!) to see things sometimes end happily (almost). I don't even ride much any more, but having one of my bikes nicked would be like losing an old friend.

If all these damn online markeplaces would simply add a mandatory field in the description for the frame number of these bikes, the world would be a better place.

I have to say this seems like an uncommonly good idea! And extremely easy and cheap to implement.

I'd never had a bike stoien until I moved to Germany! (Even after working as a bike courier in London!). A long time ago Mrs Stern had a bike nicked. It was a Giant bike we had bought while living in Taiwan and not a model available in Europe. Cut to a year later we had just moved into our new house and I saw someone riding said bike past our house. I gave chase and waited till the guy riding it arrived at his flat. Accosted him and told him he was riding a stolen bike. To cut a long story short the police were called, the bike confiscated for over two years until it came to court for a judge to rule that the photos I had of the bike were the same as the bike in the custody. All because I didn't write the frame number down! So the moral kids is always write down your frame number!

When we eventually got the bike back three or four years after it was stoien the main pivot was toast because the guy who had it before was a fat t%$t and had bent the frame!

So I’d stick with my original thought and add yours

Well, mine is to actually keep them safe and not get them nicked in the first place, but yes, enjoyment is key 😀

The Police told me when mine got nicked that very few owners record frame numbers - that's why they offer postcode stamping etc.