Stolen Bike Reister?

no_Spam said:

My week old Cannondale Bad Boy 8 Ultra was knicked in Cambridge last week,
cable lock cut.
Is there a register of stolen bikes?
Any ideas how to find it, save wandering around Cambridge looking at every
black bike I see?

Firstly, sympathy. Having a bike stolen is a very unpleasant experience.

Secondly, a new cannondale was almost certainly stolen to sell. Watch EBay,
and possibly small ads in local papers; and get a description of your bike
to everyone in a thirty mile radius who deals in second hand bikes. And, of
course, report the theft to the police (although I imagine you've done that
already).

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Morning had broken, and there was nothing we could do but wait
patiently for the RAC to arrive.

Geoff Cooper said:

My week old Cannondale Bad Boy 8 Ultra was knicked in Cambridge last week,
cable lock cut.
Is there a register of stolen bikes?

The Police take a very detailed description of the bike, including
distinguishing features such as types of pedals and types of tyres. This
is computerised. I had a stolen bike returned to me once because the
sergeant who got it back could look it up.

"John Hearns" <[email hidden]> skrev i en meddelelse
news:1203186690.6303.1.camel@Vigor13...

Quoted message said:

Geoff Cooper said:

My week old Cannondale Bad Boy 8 Ultra was knicked in Cambridge last
week,
cable lock cut.
Is there a register of stolen bikes?

The Police take a very detailed description of the bike, including
distinguishing features such as types of pedals and types of tyres. This
is computerised. I had a stolen bike returned to me once because the
sergeant who got it back could look it up.

Dont you have serial numbers on bikes in UK?

/tomov

On 16/02/2008 19:24, [email hidden] said,

Quoted message said:

Dont you have serial numbers on bikes in UK?

Yes, but that assumes it hasn't been filed/ground off by a thief.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul Boyd
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On 16/02/2008 19:24, [email hidden] said,

Quoted message said:

Dont you have serial numbers on bikes in UK?

Yes, but that assumes it hasn't been filed/ground off by a thief.

Canondale frame numbers used to be stamped into the chainstay - I
wouldn't fancy filing off too much of that. :-)

In message <[email hidden]>, Rob Morley
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul Boyd
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On 16/02/2008 19:24, [email hidden] said,

Quoted message said:

Dont you have serial numbers on bikes in UK?

Yes, but that assumes it hasn't been filed/ground off by a thief.

Canondale frame numbers used to be stamped into the chainstay - I
wouldn't fancy filing off too much of that. :-)

Somone who sell/buys a stolen bike might not care so much.

I used to work for a hosing association, one of the tenants had a MTB
(which he rode a fair bit round town), it had some of that brown parcel
tape round each of the seatstays towards the middle/top end IIRC.

Turns out both stays had been sawn through at some point - the tape as
to hold them together - I presume to steal the bike.
--
Chris French

Thanks for your inputs.
I've done all the police stuff etc.
I'm watching Ebay etc
My point was as 1/2 a million bikes are stolen in uk each year
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4899094.stm
And 3000 in Cambridge alone, I would have thought that their would be a
register or website.
Just in Cambridge, that's nine a day!
Excluding those that aren't reported.
Why aren't the police trapping these toe-rags?
That silly programme, "Swag" set up a trick bike that squirted water onto
the crotch of the thief.
Good laugh maybe smartwater or sulphuric acid would be effective!!
Or a spike in the saddle?
Any other suggestions welcome.
By the way, it was locked securely and right out of sight behind my wife's
untouched old MTB.
Geoff

----- Original Message -----
From: "chris French" <[email hidden]>
Newsgroups: uk.rec.cycling
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2008 12:47 AM
Subject: Re: Stolen Bike Reister?

Quoted message said:

In message <[email hidden]>, Rob Morley
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul Boyd
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On 16/02/2008 19:24, [email hidden] said,

> Dont you have serial numbers on bikes in UK?

Yes, but that assumes it hasn't been filed/ground off by a thief.

Canondale frame numbers used to be stamped into the chainstay - I
wouldn't fancy filing off too much of that. :-)

Somone who sell/buys a stolen bike might not care so much.

I used to work for a hosing association, one of the tenants had a MTB
(which he rode a fair bit round town), it had some of that brown parcel
tape round each of the seatstays towards the middle/top end IIRC.

Turns out both stays had been sawn through at some point - the tape as to
hold them together - I presume to steal the bike.
--
Chris French

no_Spam said:

Any other suggestions welcome.
By the way, it was locked securely and right out of sight behind my wife's
untouched old MTB.

The thief is local to you, because they spotted the bike (in only three
weeks, you say) and knew where you lived. They weren't just grabbing a 'get
you home' bike, because they'd have taken the mountain bike. They weren't
casual, because they knew where the bike was kept. And they knew what bikes
are worth, because they specifically went after a Cannondale.

So you're looking for an habitual bike thief who lives within three or four
streets of you - or else who followed you home one day. The police might
have some ideas (though they probably won't - and probably shouldn't - tell
you).

But the overall conclusion is: don't leave a bike you value outdoors
overnight. Not even in a locked bike shed, not even in a place where cycle
thefts are rare.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

[ This .sig subject to change without notice ]

In article <[email hidden]>, Geoff Cooper
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Why aren't the police trapping these toe-rags?

Burglaries, robberies and violent crime take priority. A lot of bike
crime is just casual theft, so unless a bike is recovered in the course
of another investigation the police are unlikely to pay much attention

Quoted message said:

Or a spike in the saddle?

Shotgun cartridge. :-)

Quoted message said:

Any other suggestions welcome.
By the way, it was locked securely

Big hardened chain, ground anchor, CCTV and alarm? Even then you won't
necessarily deter a determined thief.

x-no-archive:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Any other suggestions welcome.

Move to Scotland.

Good idea
Nobody steals bikes there.
And the people are so friendly to English immigrants....
trouble is, no work ;-/

"Jim Harvest" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

x-no-archive:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Any other suggestions welcome.

Move to Scotland.

x-no-archive:Geoff Cooper said:

Good idea
Nobody steals bikes there.
And the people are so friendly to English immigrants....
trouble is, no work ;-/

There is full employment in Scotland, though you may have to be flexible
in your choice of job and salary expectations if you live in cycling
country.

Being English generally does no harm in the job hunt.

On 17/02/2008 12:56, Simon Brooke said,

Quoted message said:

But the overall conclusion is: don't leave a bike you value outdoors
overnight. Not even in a locked bike shed, not even in a place where cycle
thefts are rare.

The last bike I had stolen was about 12-15 years ago - a not inexpensive
Overbury's Pioneer, and it was locked up in a locked shed in my back
garden. Now my bikes are kept indoors....

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd said:

The last bike I had stolen was about 12-15 years ago - a not inexpensive
Overbury's Pioneer, and it was locked up in a locked shed in my back
garden. Now my bikes are kept indoors....

That way if it gets stolen it counts as a burglary, and if you're lucky
the police /may/ be persuaded to take an interest.

--
Danny Colyer <http://www.redpedals.co.uk>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"The plural of anecdote is not data" - Frank Kotsonis

Jim Harvest said:

x-no-archive:Geoff Cooper said:

Good idea
Nobody steals bikes there.
And the people are so friendly to English immigrants....
trouble is, no work ;-/

There is full employment in Scotland, though you may have to be flexible
in your choice of job and salary expectations if you live in cycling
country.

H'mmm... I now work a hundred miles from home, which means I stay in
Hamilton during the week. There may be full employment in Scotland, but
there is not full employment everywhere in Scotland - at least, not jobs
I'm qualified to do.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

my other car is #<Subr-Car: #5d480>
;; This joke is not funny in emacs.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Good idea
Nobody steals bikes there.
And the people are so friendly to English immigrants....
trouble is, no work ;-/

There is full employment in Scotland, though you may have to be flexible
in your choice of job and salary expectations if you live in cycling
country.

Being English generally does no harm in the job hunt.

smiley, Smiley, SMILEY!

(and why would 'being English do you no harm' - it does in most other
countries of the world 😉

Danny Colyer said the following on 17/02/2008 19:33:

Quoted message said:

That way if it gets stolen it counts as a burglary, and if you're lucky
the police /may/ be persuaded to take an interest.

To be fair, the police actually took a mild interest when it was stolen
from the shed! I obviously had to tell them to keep the insurers happy,
but I was expecting a "What do you want us to do about it?" attitude.
Instead a couple of plod turned up to the house and took all sorts of
details. Maybe it was the value - something like £1200 which was a heck
of a lot of money for a bike then.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/