Someone Stole My Bike

[Decolonize The Left]

So yesterday morning I got up and left my apartment and my fucking bike was stolen out of my motherfucking driveway. Now, you can't see the driveway from the street, so either someone walked up into the apartment complex (which doesn't happen often) or someone from the complex stole it. Either way, it's lame as fuck cause I use that to get around town.

So just today I'm driving with my girl and there's some dude walking my fucking bike. So I smash a couple turns and run up and it's totally my fucking frame with the wheels changed, handlebars replaced, and new seat.

Motherfucker tells me that he's borrowing it from his friend who got it six months ago. Tells me the shit's all fucked up and his friend wouldn't steal nothing. Then he foolishly gives me his address and phone number. So I drive around the block and go looking for this address, I find it and camp out and he's walking it back and puts it in his garage.

Fucking bike thieves. Now I gotta go find the receipt for the bike (I bought it from a community bike shop) and see if I can piece together enough evidence to get my bike back. This also means I'll probably have to get the cops involved which sucks, but I want my fucking bike.

This is basically what my bike looked like:
http://images1.americanlisted.com/nlarge/univega_viva_sport_bike_red_150_clinton_28702743.j pg

- August

[ed miliband]

it's an awful feeling right?

when my dad's bike got stolen he caught the dude with his bikes and got the cops involved - they basically said they couldn't do anything and they'd arrest him if he did anything about it

when my bike was stolen he called the cops on my behalf (cos i wouldn't) and once again they said they couldn't (or had no desire to) do anything about it

but yeah - people who steal bikes suck

[The Douche]

My friend built a single-speed on a raleigh frame with a flip flop hub, he rode it one time, had it in his driveway under the car port and somebody stole it. He only had it for a week.

Luckily I live in a more remote apartment complex, but I still keep my fixie inside the house, and chain up my moped.

[Decolonize The Left]

The fucked up thing is, it's a red univega - fucking no one has that bike in my town. No one. I rode that for a whole year and never saw anything like it. Then this motherfucker is walking my shit up the street fucking one day after my bike is stolen.

My girlfriend says she's gonna make posters for the stolen bike and plaster their block with them.

- August

[Sasha]

m68-oWBh9Ow

[Искра]

in croatia cops sell stolen bikes :D

[PhoenixAsh]

The same here...if they can not find their owner...then they bikes will be sold to bike stores or people.


@August...I know how that feels! Fucking awefull! Good luck. I hope you find it!

[PC LOAD LETTER]

My buddy's bike was stolen from a marta (subway) station. It was chained up in a row of about 15 bikes. His was the only one gone when he got back a while later. It sucks. The goddamn marta cops just kind of shrugged and basically told him to suck it up. They wouldn't even bother to check the cameras. It was his only means of transportation, too.

I used to ride my bike the roughly 3 miles to work. Then one day it started slipping off the gears when I would change, not even close to the edge of the derailleur ... just kind of like the gears said "Fuck it" and threw the chain off. I adjusted the derailleurs. Stopped for a day or so. Then it started slipping again. Adjusting derailleurs did nothing this time. At the same time, It refused to switch gears. To the point that it was essentially a single-speed 21-speed bike that would occasionally slip the chain off the gear.

Does anyone know of a bike message board for broke people that I could get some help on fixing this thing? As in, one where if you ask a question you aren't insulted for not having a $1000 frame? That seems to be all I can find.

[Lanky Wanker]

I'd be paranoid as hell leaving my bike out anywhere, even if it was chained down and the wheels/seat were taken off. Communism shall provide us all with bicycles, yay.

[CommunityBeliever]

We had a few bikes and a moped get stolen out of my apartment complex. Now I always bring my bike into my apartment. When I was living higher up it was really a pain to carry the bike up and down the stairs everyday because we don't have an elevator.

[Prometeo liberado]

That righteously blows! I've had one bike stolen when I lived by the sea. It really was my ride to and from work. $240 down the drain. On the bottom I drummled "Fuck You" just in case it was stolen. Hope they turned it upside down after they took it.

[An archist]

Round here, stealing bikes is a national sport. Your bike gets stolen? Steal one back.

[dodger]

ON the basis I used to own a Lada and the locks never worked. I might come down in the morning and find the door open. My house was never locked even when I went to work. I came home and my friend was at work there was somebody asleep on the sofa. I made us lunch and went out. I got back and my friend said your pal is very strange. I said I thought he was your friend. Kicked him out. Poor soul was from local Asylum. I gave up and bought a lock. We got burgled. They were obviously cultured and discriminating, they never stole a single painting that my ex (artist) girlfriend left me. A week later knock at the door, a local ne'er-do-well presented me with my credit cards cheque book and 2 1/4's of dope. I said keep the dope Abdul. "Tell the rest of your 40 Thieves I'll be visiting later. Never had any trouble after that. I have never stolen anything in my life. Nothing. Zilch. Except from employers that is. Kinda felt like I was returning a favour.

[Sasha]

Round here, stealing bikes is a national sport.

This, my locks are worth a lot more than my bikes.

Some tips from bikethief country:

Always lock your frame AND your wheel to a unmovable object. (heavy chain and padlock is best)
Make Sure your bike is better locked than your neighbours
Make sure your bike looks shittier than your neighbours
Make it instantly recognizable by painting, glueing, etc al kinds of shit on it.

[hatzel]

I once accidentally stole a bike. Staying in a student apartment block full of exchange students who would just leave their bike lying around in the...big cupboard thing when they went home. You can generally tell which ones are abandoned because they have no wheels or breaks or whatever and would often have a little notice on it from the landlord saying 'this bike appears to be abandoned. If it's yours, remove this notice. Otherwise it's going in the trash.' So I made a bit of a Frankenstein bike by salvaging what I could from the remains of others, put it all together...was feeling pretty proud of myself, and then somebody puts a little note on it, "this is still my bike." Turns out they were just having the tubes changed or something. Ah well. Just salvaged some more parts and made a new one :lol:

But this whole thing did teach me how pointless most people's bike locks are because I was just cutting 'em off *clicks fingers* like that. Like cutting a piece of thread. If you care about your bike make sure you get a real decent lock, not one of those flimsy little things. My bike lock is chunky as. Seriously it looks like it should have an anchor attached to the end of it...

[Blake's Baby]

I thought I'd posted in this thread last night.

It's shit when that happens, and there seems to be fuck all you can do about it, which even more shit. Nothing I can do about it either.

Obviously, far too late to say 'was the bike coded or marked in any way that you know about that the thieves probably don't, in case you can get the cops to take notice'?

[RevSpetsnaz]

You probably wont get it back. What bike thieves tend to do is steal multiple bikes and create an entirely "new" bike out of them. If you have the serial number written down, and the thieves havent filed it off of the frame, you can identify the bike that way.

[MotherCossack]

that used to be my worst fucking nightmare>
i remember coming out of the RIO cinema in daston E8.
having just seen 'SID AND NANCY' and my f**king new bike was gone ... My pride and joy....
a claude butler that cost me all i had {not much, but it all!

i was livid! but powerless
hopping mad!!! literally.

[bcbm]

a friend of mine had their bike stolen then saw it locked up outside a store awhile later so they just popped both tires with a pocket knife. another friend had their bike stolen then found it a week later on some random porch they were walking by. my bike has never been stolen because i try to make it look as shitty as possible

[Pretty Flaco]

when i was 13 a kid who lived down the block from me stole my bike and he thought it was funny and treated it like a joke or something so i decided i'd do something funny too and i told him this joke where the punchline is me busting his fucking lip open. i got my bike back pretty quick.


a friend of mine had their bike stolen then saw it locked up outside a store awhile later so they just popped both tires with a pocket knife. another friend had their bike stolen then found it a week later on some random porch they were walking by. my bike has never been stolen because i try to make it look as shitty as possible

if it's a crime of opportunity that doesn't really matter. probably the best thing is to buy a lock.

[gorillafuck]

that really blows. you should get a u-lock, those things are awesome. I never park my bike anywhere without one on it.

[Sasha]

that really blows. you should get a u-lock, those things are awesome. I never park my bike anywhere without one on it.

U locks are worthless, like Archemedes his criminal cousin said; give me a big enough lever and I can crack them all....

And a bike frame or the post you locked it too can in itself already function as a pretty sweet lever...

Hardened chains and padlock are the way to go, only an angle grinder can open that so if you lock your bike to a solid object its going nowhere without the whole neighboorhood noticing.

[Bostana]

Assholes.

I guess they watch to much T.V. Thinking since all the C.E.O's steeling Money from the Proletariat then they can steel your bike.

I'm Sorry about your Bike.
Good Luck getting it back.

[Decolonize The Left]

Motherfuckers put my bike on craigslist. Used a photo from the web (the same one I used in the OP actually). Grrrr....

- August

[Sasha]

Set up a meeting pretending you want to buy it, break their face..

[Искра]

Set up a meeting pretending you want to buy it, break their face..
...with a bike chain.

[Decolonize The Left]

Already on it. I emailed them, got a response, asked to set up a meet at a local coffee shop where I know all the people there and (more importantly), all have seen me countless times with the bike.

Also put the news out of fb and once they confirm I'm gonna let everyone know where the meet is gonna be and what time.

- August

[Susurrus]

C_lJbSJoIuw

[Sasha]

...with a bike chain.

Actually thats the only thing a u lock I better for :D

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Already on it. I emailed them, got a response, asked to set up a meet at a local coffee shop where I know all the people there and (more importantly), all have seen me countless times with the bike.

Also put the news out of fb and once they confirm I'm gonna let everyone know where the meet is gonna be and what time.

- August
Put the video of everyone stomping this guy on youtube

[Ocean Seal]

This, my locks are worth a lot more than my bikes.

Some tips from bikethief country:

Always lock your frame AND your wheel to a unmovable object. (heavy chain and padlock is best)
Make Sure your bike is better locked than your neighbours
Make sure your bike looks shittier than your neighbours
Make it instantly recognizable by painting, glueing, etc al kinds of shit on it.

Also keep you front wheel locked to the rest of the bike.

I'm thinking that for that reason the flexible locks might be better than the stiff and short ones.

[Decolonize The Left]

No it's all good. I went to the community bike store where I bought the bike over a year ago and they (being the awesome peeps they are) dug up my receipt and copied it for me - so now I have the motherfucking serial number of the frame.

My girl's filing a police report as we speak, and I'm waiting for this tool to bring me back my stolen bike.

- August

[Nox]

Already on it. I emailed them, got a response, asked to set up a meet at a local coffee shop where I know all the people there and (more importantly), all have seen me countless times with the bike.

Also put the news out of fb and once they confirm I'm gonna let everyone know where the meet is gonna be and what time.

- August


Ooooooh dude you've got to tell us what happens!

[Decolonize The Left]

I'm currently staking out the coffee shop. Just called the person and they'll be here in 20.

- August

[PC LOAD LETTER]

I'm currently staking out the coffee shop. Just called the person and they'll be here in 20.

- August
Based on my clock, August should be bustin' skulls about now.

[The Douche]

Bet $20 that August just never posts here again and we never figure out what happened.

[Nox]

Bet $20 that August just never posts here again and we never figure out what happened.

The tenson is killing me...

[PC LOAD LETTER]

I wonder if August got arrested

[gorillafuck]

oh this is intense

[Nox]

Bet $20 that August just never posts here again and we never figure out what happened.

You've jinxed it :lol:

[The Douche]

You've jinxed it :lol:

My past experience with message boards has shown me that when a poster is discussing some cool epic shit that involves real life and their relaying of real life activities to the audience, it never pans out.

[Decolonize The Left]

cmoney owes me twenty bucks. I shall collect when he comes out in May.

Not only am I now twenty dollars richer, I got my fucking bike back. Yeah. AND they put new grip tape on the handles so I actually got a better bike back (my old tape was all fucked and dangling off the sides n shit).

Thanks everyone for the support - I was super pissed and frustrated the past few days over this shit. But now I just rode my pretty red bike to this coffee shop so I'm feeling a lot better.

Cheers all.

- August

[bcbm]

tell us the details motherfucker


glad u got ur bik tho

[Decolonize The Left]

tell us the details motherfucker


glad u got ur bik tho

Alright, I'll give you the run down because I like you.

Friday: My bike is stolen out my garage. You can't see the garage/bike from the street, so either a) someone from the unit stole it, or b) someone staked it out earlier then came and swooped it while I was at work (I work in the evenings).

Saturday: I see my bike is stolen, look for the receipt, can't find it, go to get on the internet. While driving, I spot what looks like my bike. I confront the guy, he gives me some bullshit story, but I get his address. So I go stake out his house and see him putting the bike in his garage. So I go on the internet but don't see my bike. I develop the plan to make posters stating what my bike looks like, when it was taken, etc.. and post them all over his neighborhood and my own.

Sunday: I get up to get on the internet and make the posters when I see my fucking bike on craigslist. It has to be mine because the description is general and the photo is a photo taken from googling the make of my bike (I know this cause I used this photo to give to my girlfriend to put on facebook to put the word out).
So I contact the person, set up the meet a coffee shop where everyone knows me and my bike, and wait. But I still don't have the serial number so legally speaking, I can't do shit. So I go to the store and beg them for the receipt and they say they'll look into it.
But they call me 30 minutes later saying the have it, so I'm fucking pumped and go get my serial number. So now I'm in the clear. My girlfriend goes to the police, files a report, the police officers ain't got shit to do so they're all "well it's a 200 dollar bike but... thievery really pisses me off."
I didn't want to get the police involved but it was really the only way for me to for sure get my bike back. So the police are all bored and shit and tell me to camp out at the coffee shop and when I see the person with my bike to call them on their special car number and they'll handle it from there.
It took over an hour and a half but the person showed up. I could tell it was the person because they were all fidgety and all looking at their phone every few seconds. So the cops pull up when they're leaving the shop, cuff the person, my bike is in the trunk of their vehicle, they check the number, it's mine, I go get my bike back.
Apparently this person has a history of drugs and possession of stolen goods, but I don't think they stole my bike. I think they got it from someone who stole it, or from someone who got it from the person who stole it.

I feel bad that they are in jail now cause I don't want nobody to be in jail for some shit related to drug issues cause I know that shits fucked up. But at the same time they were trying to flip my fucking bike and I like my bike - I need it to get around town.

I decided to name by bike Porco Rosso after the movie:
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/[email protected]@._ V1._SY317_CR3,0,214,317_.jpg

Word.

- August

EDIT: I seriously doubt that if I wasn't a white guy the police would have spent over two hours of their sunday staking out a stolen bicycle. They said that they get hundreds of stolen bike reports a month or some shit and no one ever gets their bikes back. The truth is that this is what they're supposed to do, but they were passively racist during the stakeout - asking me about whether or not I saw the latinos go buy in the SUV and if I thought they had my bike. I didn't, so I told them that, but they were obviously over-suspicious of minorities. They also thought that there would be multiple minorities showing up to sell me the bike - like a crew or something. It was just one person like I thought but the cops were way over-zealous about the whole thing.

[bcbm]

pig lover

[Decolonize The Left]

mmmmmmmm pig.....

http://einsteinsdesk.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/drooling-homer-simpson.jpg

- August

[bcbm]

you believe your bike is worth more than a person's life:(

[The Douche]

Lol at the cops seeing a conspiracy of bike stealing minority gang bangers.

[Decolonize The Left]

For real. The cop was all "[this person] was probably just out to make a quick 200, but now s/he can put it towards bail. ahahhaa"

I asked him if I had the option of not pressing charges, but he said no b/c s/he already had priors. He was a typical white male cop douche with nothing to do but harp on someone else.

- August

[Ele'ill]

You should have just taken the bike from the person the first time you saw them with it.

[Decolonize The Left]

You should have just taken the bike from the person the first time you saw them with it.

Couldn't. It had different handlebars (which were all fucked up), different saddle, different peddles. I still can't say for certain that it was my bike (although I think it was) because I didn't have my serial number at that time so I couldn't verify the frame other than by sight.

When I recovered my bike it was exactly as it had been when it was stolen except for the new grip tape.

- August

[Nox]

I could tell it was the person because they were all fidgety and all looking at their phone every few seconds.

Haha I always do that in an awkward situation

[Klaatu]

My brother's car was stolen three times since October. Guess what... he lives in Detroit. The 2nd and 3rd times it was "borrowed" by his "friends" without his knowlege or consent. Just got it back (again) today, in fact.

To the OP: engrave a code number on the bike frame. Not your own license or state ID number, just your own password code, to prove it is yours to police. Hide this engraving work somewhere in the frame, where the thief won't notice it.

[CountryKid]

Someone stole my bike that was locked inside our back room in the house. Fucking tweakers.


I hope you get it back, or find a replacement soon man. :)

[arilando]

This reminds me of a certain meme.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I know how it feels, homie.
I miss my bike. It's currently in a 90-degree angle from getting hit by a car.

[Aloysius]

My brother's bike was once stolen right in front of him. It was on the sidewalk and he was on a friend's porch when some dude came over, hopped on, and rode away.

I stole a bike once. I was at this festival that celebrated this town's founding or some shit, and the thing was just laying on its side in the middle of this clearing, right by the road. Hopped on that fucker and rode off.
That's kind of the high point in my brief but storied criminal career.

[Nox]

My brother's bike was once stolen right in front of him. It was on the sidewalk and he was on a friend's porch when some dude came over, hopped on, and rode away.

Sneaky fucker, what did your brother do?


I stole a bike once. I was at this festival that celebrated this town's founding or some shit, and the thing was just laying on its side in the middle of this clearing, right by the road. Hopped on that fucker and rode off.
That's kind of the high point in my brief but storied criminal career.

When I was at the height of my criminal career I was stealing pick n mix! :D