Avoid Buying a Stolen Bike
In order to avoid buying a stolen bike there are a few steps you can take Don’t post wanted adverts… These are a free pass for criminals to pass off bikes onto unsuspecting buyers without the risk of publicly advertising the bike. Remember if you pick up a stolen bike, the police may take it back and you could even be charged with handling stolen goods. Look at the History If the ads on Gumtree, google the mobile number if the ad has one, this should give an indication of how many ads this person has posted and if they have used different names for each one. Consider the Price If it’s too good to be true, be extra cautious have a quick look for any stolen bike reports in the area, googling “MODEL OF BIKE stolen in AREA” should bring up any potential reports. Consider the Seller Do they look like the type of person to own that bike, are they able to tell you about the parts and the way it feels? If they seem to struggle to identify the bike or aftermarket parts you may not be getting the whole story of how they came to own the bike. Check the Frame Number This is easy to do, simply enter it into google, you shouldn’t get any results. Remember if you have your doubts about a bike the local police force can check their databases for the frame number to see if it’s stolen, it won’t take long and could stop you losing...
Had a bike stolen in Gloucestershire?
Police have released photos of over 20 bikes they believe have been stolen in burglaries and thefts across the county. Officers are appealing for the rightful owners to come forward after carrying out a connected warrant in Gloucester last week. A digital camera and cinema system are also included in the gallery. If you recognise any of the bikes or other items call police on 101, quoting incident 181 of May 10. Find the Online...
Lost a Bike in Cambridge?
If you have lost your bike in Cambridge or the surrounding area it could be amongst this lot of 60 bikes recovered by the police from one address on March 20 2012! Officers are holding an open day to identify the bikes which will be held at Parkside Police Station on Wednesday (May 16) between 5pm and 7pm for people to come and identify their...
Bike Theft Victim, Investigates
I’ve found an interesting article on Outside Online. It describes the experiences of one cyclists over many years (and many bike thefts), of a cyclist trying to understand the bike thieves mind set. The most interesting part of the story is when the cyclist does catch up to a bike thieve he doesn’t find some drug popping addict, but a homeless man with some pretty clear mental problems. The author explores the concepts from prevention, the act, to the “online obituaries” sites like mine can become. Quote from OutsideOnline.com – Who Pinched My Ride? “This past year, Kryptonite introduced a system of supposedly tamperproof security stickers, which can be scanned with a cell-phone camera for instant ownership checks. It’s a fine idea, but in our tests the stickers came off with a knife. Maybe catharsis is all we have. YouTube is awash in surveillance-tape dramas like mine and patiently filmed revenge scenes, in which bike thieves are caught, busted, beaten, set up, tricked, shamed, and exposed, but it’s all to little or no avail. We are left with missing bikes and unlimited rage. Bike mechanics in Brooklyn can be found wearing T-shirts that read BIKE THIEVES SHOT ON SITE. It’s entirely possible that last word is misspelled.” The articles quite long but it’s a good read so I recommend it! Oh and we will hopefully be trying our own UK brand of poorly locked GPS enabled...
Theft Proof Your Bike The Ridiculous Way
I’ve just found this very funny blog post, from someone who clearly sees the funny side. “Nothing sucks worse than having your bike stolen. I have friends who have had upwards of three bikes stolen, and I have upwards of ten friends who have had any bike stolen. Bike theft is easy in cities and college campuses. Bikes seem to grow like flowers, and people will pay for a used bike without asking too many questions about its origin. Bike theft is a good way for people to make some quick cash. Heck, if I weren’t the moral, upstanding person I choose to be, I’d totally steal a nice sports bike to pay the rent. They say that when outrunning a grizzly bear, you don’t necessarily need to be fast; you just need to be faster than the person behind you… The same rule applies to bike theft. You don’t need to make your bike super secure. To prevent bike theft, you just need to make your bike slightly more annoying and unattractive than the other bikes on the rack. Or you can always get a pennyfarthing bicycle. It’s impossible to look cool while stealing a pennyfarthing bicycle. I certainly wouldn’t do it.” Theft Proof...
Stolen Bike Ads
So for me the jury is out on whether to post an ad about your stolen bike (if the bike thief spots it what are the chances of him selling the bike online?) However one cyclist from America had a message to pass on to the person who stole his bike, that clearly needed to be said. Taken from...
Bike Stolen in London?
If your bike was stolen in London this website is an excellent tool for browsing Gumtree and eBay quickly. A website called Bikeshd was launched in January 2010 to deter thieves from flogging stolen bikes. The website lists bikes for sale in London and was created by Lars Bortfeldt after his bike was stolen and he spent hours scouring sites like Gumtree and eBay trying to find it. According to the London Cycling Campaign, 23,000 bikes were stolen in London last year – an average of 63 a day – and one in six cyclists who had their bike stolen then spotted it for sale online. It’s just a small step, but Lars hopes the more pressure we put on thieves and the closer we work together with police, the better our chances of cracking down on the substantial amount of bike crime in the city. Article written by Shelley Lee Jones licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported...Read more“The images in the Gumtree listings were blurry, the description was vague and for some strange reason the bell had been moved from the left side of the handlebars to the right. However, Marc knew he had spotted his bike.”
Justice for Bike Theft Victim
From Road.cc A 29-year-old London man has been jailed for two years for selling stolen bicycles online, with an accomplice handed a 52-week jail sentence suspended for two years, following an extensive investigation by Metropolitan Police units funded by, and operated in partnership with, Transport for London (TfL). Good news for those involved I’m...