I need a bike - fast!

Quoted message said:

My brand new Mountain bike was stolen after I had only ridden it twice ( and have the scars to
prove that!) and I am now seeking a replacement! What I am really after is a second hand
get-me-around London; something that I can lock up and leave without too much worry. I will
eventually reinvest in something more expensive, but I am now bikeless in London - my worst
nightmare! Anyone have a mountain bike they are looking to sell? Please let me know - this is
serious! You can email me on [email hidden] thanks!

That really sucks. That would really [censored] me off. I cycle around London too and am always scared of
leaving my bike anywhere - even if I lock it up.

One of my friends has a useful trick - make the bike look really ugly. He has some great bikes but
they look worthless covered with green and black duct tape. Might be worth doing in future if you
buy a good bike again.

Might be worth trying eBay for a decent second hand bike - just for getting around.

--
...meandering mule...

mule <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My brand new Mountain bike was stolen after I had only ridden it once

my friends has a useful trick - make the bike look really ugly. He has some great bikes but they
look worthless covered with green and black duct tape.

My friend did the same to his lovely Marin, brown hammarite paint, gods that was painful to see.

He rode it for a week or 2 to make sure it was *the one* then out with the paint, close eyes and
splodge brown paint all over the beauty!

For contrast he splodged yellow all over the components as well.

never stolen afak, and I have noticed that there are quite a lot of stealth nice bikes around
the capital!

Fragg

Hey Fraggle,

Yeah, I'd have to be REALLY sure that I wouldn't want to sell my bike to paint it. Would anyone
believe there's a Stumpy or Cannondale underneath a putrid-looking paintjob? Unlikely!

The other thing I'd hate to do would be to paint my components, especially my front forks...but if I
painted my bike and wanted it to look inconspicuous I'd have to do the forks as well...yuck...

Did he use a special paint? I am tempted. lol

--
...meandering mule...

Fraggle said:

My friend did the same to his lovely Marin, brown hammarite paint, gods that was painful to see.

Brown hammerite - urgh!

Quoted message said:

For contrast he splodged yellow all over the components as well.

I recently did up a wreck so that it worked and painted it in black hammerite. I put drop bars on it
(it started life as a mountain bike) and mounted the MTB shifters on the drops, along with a bell. I
used black duct tape instead of handlebar tape and took all the stickers off all the components.
Mudguards and a rack later, I have a perfect stealth bike. Unfortunately, all my friends keep
telling me it looks terrific....

--
Jim Price

jimprice.dsl.pipex.comjimprice.dsl.pipex.comOpen ↗

Conscientious objection is hard work in an economic war.

"Lisa Baumann" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My brand new Mountain bike was stolen after I had only ridden it twice (

and

Quoted message said:

have the scars to prove that!) and I am now seeking a replacement! What I

am

Quoted message said:

really after is a second hand get-me-around London; something that I can lock up and leave without
too much worry. I will eventually reinvest in something more expensive, but I am now bikeless in
London - my worst nightmare! Anyone have a mountain bike they are looking to sell? Please let me
know - this is serious! You can email me on [email hidden] thanks!

Lisa,

My sister used to live in L--d-n; she'd budget around 40 quid per month for a bike and lock - buying
the bike from Police auctions or second-hand - on the basis that it was cheaper than a bus-pass. If
it didn't get stolen that month, she won, if not, she lost. Over three years, she claims that she
won, because she spent less on bikes than public transport.

...however, she *did* use the bike to get around, rather than a fashion statement, so they tended to
be knackered sit-up-and-begs.

Regards,

Pete.

mule <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Hey Fraggle, Did he use a special paint? I am tempted. lol

Hey!

I don't think so, maybe there is a market for grotty colours of paint that is *really light* bet a
coat of hammarite weighs a good few oz.

my bike is fairly unattractive, through age more than anything 🙁
f2.pg.photos.yahoo.comhydraaoOpen ↗

Fragg

mule said:

One of my friends has a useful trick - make the bike look really ugly. He has some great bikes but
they look worthless covered with green and black duct tape

Is the right answer. Brush-painted in lurid girlie pink also apparently works. Make sure the bike is
not new enough to be attractive - second hand bike shops are the place to go. A second hand
aluminium-framed rigid MTB with a coat of Hammerite applied and a couple of decent locks will ride
just fine and usually put the toerags off.

Unfortunately the [censored] merely go and nick someone else's more attractive bike.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ New!
Improved!! Now with added extra Demon!

Just zis Guy, you know? must be edykated coz e writed:

Quoted message said:

mule said:

One of my friends has a useful trick - make the bike look really ugly. He has some great bikes
but they look worthless covered with green and black duct tape

Is the right answer. Brush-painted in lurid girlie pink also apparently works. Make sure the bike
is not new enough to be attractive - second hand bike shops are the place to go. A second hand
aluminium-framed rigid MTB with a coat of Hammerite applied and a couple of decent locks will ride
just fine and usually put the toerags off.

Unfortunately the [censored] merely go and nick someone else's more attractive bike.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ New!
Improved!! Now with added extra Demon!

Succumb to the dark side, two wheeler with USS, then if they get through the lock they fall off
within 20 feet and give up.

--
Ian

catrike.co.ukcatrike.co.ukOpen ↗

Ian said:

Succumb to the dark side, two wheeler with USS, then if they get through the lock they fall off
within 20 feet and give up.

They've not had much of a go at my OSS 'bent either ;-)

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. chapmancentral.comchapmancentral.comOpen ↗ New!
Improved!! Now with added extra Demon!

Quoted message said:

Hey!

I don't think so, maybe there is a market for grotty colours of paint that is *really light* bet a
coat of hammarite weighs a good few oz.

I was thinking that too. Maybe the "Stealth" paint that the Americans use on their planes are quite
light. Anybody got a pot?

Quoted message said:

my bike is fairly unattractive, through age more than anything 🙁
f2.pg.photos.yahoo.comhydraaoOpen ↗

Well at least a lot of the time it's the rider that counts. I learnt how to ride as a small child
but hadn't cycled again until relatively recently. It shows in my poor skills (but not in my bike)!

So if you see anyone with legs and arms akimbo + with road rash, that'll be
me.

--
...meandering mule...

Ian said:

Succumb to the dark side, two wheeler with USS, then if they get through the lock they fall off
within 20 feet and give up.

Though some low-life had Douglas Carnall's SMGT away from outside the NFT not long before
P-B-P in '99...

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

Quoted message said:

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One of my friends has a useful trick - make the bike look really

ugly. He

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has some great bikes but they look worthless covered with green and

black

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duct tape

Kids riding round the nearby council estate in Blackpool have their bikes crudely hand painted and
wrapped in coloured tapes, to disguise the fact that its an expensive stolen bike. I saw one on the
Promenade with the derailler painted matt black but I recognised it an XTR. If you owned and lost
that bike you wouldnt recognise it now.