Bike Description
Grey Hybrid bike, with hydraulic disk brakes, Shimano gear set and shifters. Frame size medium. The bike had rear mudguards from TOPEAK, light brackets on the handle bar and on the right hand rear wheel frame. On the frame triangle left vertical tube, it had the bracket for a U Lock. On the 45 degree tube, on the left hand side, you can see scuff marks where the U LOcks used to rub. There was scuff marks on the head tube on the front where the hydraulic tube used to pass. The front brakes gave out squeals when applied.Theft Description
The bike was locked at the back yard with a Kryptonite U lock with a H&S 6mm Chain Lock. The chain lock was around a Tree Trunk. The thief cut through the H&S 6mm chain, and ran away with the U Lock still fixed. This happened during the night or early morning of 23 April 2017. The back yard is accessible, but the bike was not visible from the outside.Recovery Description
I was very lucky to be at the right place at the right time and looking at the right direction! On the way to work on my spare bicycle, I saw a grey Scott fleetingly go past on the other side of the road. I followed the guy for some time and was able to spot some of the key features on the bike. I could not keep up with him that day, but on the next day I was waiting to see if he would come again as it seemed to be the cyclist was going to work. So I saw him again and I stopped him, explained that the bike looks really close to my bike and he cooperated and showed me the frame number. The number was a Match! I told him to wait for police but he wasn't willing to and gave me his number to call later to pick up the bike and pay 90 quid for it. I had one hand on the bike and asked him to step down which he complied to and then after a bit of an argument he tried calling his mates in. I took the opportunity to call 999 and was able to get the police down at the scene. After he saw that I had called the police, he stopped and gave up. We wished for the police and explained to the policeman the situation. After a few queries to both me and the other guy, he gave the bike to me. The police let the guy go as there was not sufficient evidence to arrest him as he told he got the bike for 90 quid of someone on the street. After a few reprimands the police let him go, waited till he vanished and then explained what the policeman would do as part of the next investigation. He got his details off him so he would look into it and let me know if something comes up. I was able to truck back both my old and the stolen bike to my home. Mostly it went without any issues. Very happy to get the bike back. Keep an eye open always and it definitely helps if your bike has some feature that you can spot from some distance. Also I kept my eyes out in here and of course did the usual posters and others around my area.