Lowest of the low...bike thieves

[DarcyInOregon]

Actually I have a story about getting my stolen bike back.

I was in high school, in 10th grade. I had purchased a ladies' Raleigh 5-speed with my own money, in a beautiful blue. This was a lot of years ago because I am 53 now. I commuted to school and everywhere else on that bike. At school, I locked the bike to a chain fence on the school property. One day I found the cable cut, and no bike.

I had the bike licensed with the police department. A few months later the police called me and told me my bike was recovered; the license was glued to the frame and the thieves never removed it. However it was the frame only. The thieves were two drop-out boys from the high school, and they had stripped the bike and sold everything on it, including the wheels and the bike bell.

Because the thieves were juveniles, I took the parents to small claims court to get the money to fix my bike to where it was. I got an estimate from the bike shop and the cost would be about $150. It turns out each boy was from a single parent family. Thief number one had an aging prostitute alcoholic mother. Thief number two had a widowed father who worked as a janitor. The judge found against the father because he was the only one with an income. The father came up to me after the judge's decision and asked me if he could pay me $10 a month. My father was with me, and I asked my dad if I could borrow the money from him to fix the bike, and in return I would pass on the monthly money from the judgement. My dad said yes, and my parents were quite poor, so that was a significant yes. So I told the thief's dad it was ok. My dad gave me the money to fix my bike, which I did, and over the next 15 months the janitor paid $10 a month and I handed each check to my dad when it came in.

Funny thing is I can't remember what happened to that bike. I eventually got a 10-speed road bike, and I can't remember what happened to the Raleigh. Can't remember what happened to that 10-speed either.

Darcy

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Buy heavy duty locks, and if possible don't leave your bike locked up where there aren't any people hanging around.

[Triskeliongirl]

I am sorry for your loss. I had my beloved bike friday pocket rocket pro stolen locked securely to a bike rack near a security guard booth at work. I used a combo cable lock, and I learned after the fact how easy it is to break BOTH combo and cable locks. I purchased a NYC kryptonite lock for nearly $100 that weighs 5 lbs, and keep it permanently on the bike rack, but no more bike thefts! I have a second one that I use if I go downtown and want to leave it. You could consider a used touring bike, you can put a rack on with shopping panniers for errands, and also have it for road riding and even touring which can be a lot of fun.

[7rider]

Oh, that sux about the theft.
I had a bike stolen from the front yard of a friend's house. I laid it down - on the ground, in front of my parked car, out of sight of the road - for 5 minutes while I went in and talked to my friend before heading off on a ride. When I came out again, it was gone. Never found it. I got it replaced (less the deductible) through her homeowner's insurance.
Scour Craigslist - the bike(s) could turn up there.
Good luck.

[missymaya]

I'm sorry northstar for this to happen, it really sucks!! I receive a weekly email of all things cycling going around in my area and one of the messages was that a brand new Specialized Tarmac was stolen from one of the guy's I ride with. But, he was able to get it back, I think he found it on Craig's list also. He was lucky. I hope you get it back or get a new bike

[Triskeliongirl]

I forgot to say that while my bike was never recovered, I was advised to, and did, scour all the local pawn shops, local newspaper ads, etc. I also sent a picture to all the bike shops in town in case it was brought in for appraisal/service (believe it or not thieves sometimes do this), or sell it off cheap to an unsuspecting soul that brings it in for service, etc. My bike club also ran a picture in the south texas cycling news, since it was a very distinctive bike the hope was that folks might spot someone riding it, but all this did was cause my husband to get repeatedly stopped since he also rides a blue bike friday that looks very similar to my stolen one, expect that it is a larger frame size. I also listed it in the stolen bike registries on line, and we have a club member who is on our local police dept. bike patrol that kept a lookout for me, circulated info. to the other officers, etc., and told me to phone him if I ever see someone riding it for assitance. I do know friends that have recovered stolen bikes successfully, but my bike was never recovered. I was able to file a claim on my homeowners policy, but I had a very large deductable so while it helped, it didn't help as much as I would have liked.

[suzieqtwa]

I had my bike stolen off the back of my jeep while locked ,with a cable lock at 1pm ,2 feet from my work on a busy intersection. That was 6 months ago ,and I still look at all the bikes when they pass by me. I havent even purchased a lock for my road bike as Im so paranoid about how thieves can get into any lock. Ive started commuting to work ,and I put the bike in a small room that locks.
It took me months to get over it...not really sad ,but more mad at how someone could steal something that wasnt theirs. Im sure mine was sold for a hit of crack or something.

[mimitabby]

I think nothing of wheeling my bike into the ladies' room with me... and into restaurants ..