Had my bike stolen, need consoling

shockedsoshocked

The Bastards!

Jumped over the back fence in to garden and managed to get in to the garage, taking the most expensive item in there with them! I'm absolutely guttered. Any other Thursday i'd have been home but was visiting a friend who's home from Uni, and my parents were out visiting a relative who's mum has just passed away. Only my sister was in the house and she was pretty shook up by it. She thought it was me banging about in the garage, had a look out the back window and saw two scrotes lifting my bikes (road and MTB over the fence). To be honest fair play for the MTB, it weighs a ton and was fucked anyway, but i'm devastated about my road bike.

Spent a lot of money and time on that thing. Finally got it just right and my racing is coming together and now this. I honestly feel like just getting the insurance and giving up the cycling. Seems you can't have anything nice!

The worst thing is I was supposed to be meeting the team out tomorrow for a bank holiday ride!

crown_jewel

That sucks. But don't let the 2 dumb bastards also steal your joy in riding.

JLM74

Horrible news, but don't let it put you off.

trickeyja

This happened to me when I got one of my first bikes. It was only a mountain bike but still it was pretty annoying. We'd left it in our garden shed, and like you, it was broken into. I think people must have been watching my bike and preparing to steal it, otherwise they wouldn't have known the shed was there.

However the police came round in the evening, took fingerprints and did a small investigation. The found that the people who stole it were wearing gloves so they couldn't identify them. Nevertheless they were able to confirm what happened and we got in contact with our house insurance the next day and it turns out that it was insured because it was in a locked shed on our property. The following day a new bike was delivered!

Don't give up cycling! I didn't. But since the incident, I have always kept my main bike in the hall of the house. Try to keep yours inside somewhere if at all possible. I will never feel happy leaving mine in a shed again!

redddraggon

What bike was it? Give us some pics, it might crop up on ebay, you never know.

ride_whenever

I'm so sorry to hear that, had one stolen, my gf had hers taken, try to keep your chin up and, although it hurts, start looking for a new bike.

Keep an eye on gumtree and ebay, you never know.

ColinJ

That's bad news. I had my first racing bike nicked from the school bike sheds and I can remember how that felt.

Assuming that you use the insurance money to but a new bike - be aware that it is common for thieves to come back a month or two later to nick the replacement !

Jake151 wrote:

Maybe put some really sharp nails along the top of you fence? so if anyone trys it again then they will be stuck there will a nail through their hand.

An understandable reaction but one that would probably land you in court if somebody got injured like that.

shockedsoshocked

redddraggon wrote:

What bike was it? Give us some pics, it might crop up on ebay, you never know.

The bike itself is a Scott CR1 Team 07, with Bontrager X Lite Wheels, and Dura Ace Chainset.

Best picture is probably from the Eddie Soens:



It's pretty recognisable, to me at least. I've changed the stem and added some Planet-X bottle cages (not many of them about in Boro) so if I ever saw it again i'd know it was my bike. We've rang the insurance and i'm covered up to £2500 which is about right. Just a pain having to go through it all to get a new one :evil:

a_n_t

Jake151 wrote:

you are legally aloud to protect your property

i hear that



allowed.

ColinJ

Jake151 wrote:

its like a farmer being allowed to shoot someone if they are trying to steal their cow, as long as they put signs up that they are going to do it tho

A farmer is entitled to shoot a dog that is attacking his livestock. He wouldn't be allowed to shoot the dog's owner though, unless he could convince the authorities that he genuinely believed his own life was in danger if he didn't use deadly force in self-defence.

dilemna

Sorry to hear it was nicked. It's horrible when it happens. I felt totally sick when one of my flock disappeared. Did you make a note of the frame number as we can all look out on eBay for you as I guess many us visit ebay. Where are you so if anyone local sees a cheap bike or bits matching yours for sale in a local rag then they can PM you. Unfortunately as previous poster has indicated they will come back at some point to have a reccy as they will have known it was a decent racing bike and figure a replacement will be availabe soon. So keep a look out and keep the new one inside.

WRT to the nails atop fences, in NI loads of properties have broken pieces of glass cemented onto the tops of garden walls in Belfast and also razor wire. No one seems to kick up a fuss about that probably because it is so common and thieves know that if they climb over a 7ft wall then they are going to hurt themselves.

shockedsoshocked

dilemna wrote:

Did you make a note of the frame number as we can all look out on eBay for you as I guess many us visit ebay.

I didn't. Often looked at it and thought "I should really make a note of that" and write it down. Won't do that again! Going to get a proper bike rack mounted on the garage wall too. They'll have to take the house with them next time!

teagar

dilemna wrote:

WRT to the nails atop fences, in NI loads of properties have broken pieces of glass cemented onto the tops of garden walls in Belfast and also razor wire. No one seems to kick up a fuss about that probably because it is so common and thieves know that if they climb over a 7ft wall then they are going to hurt themselves.

Apparantly the law (my parents tried the broken glass/nails etc),in Britain at least, doesn't allow the broken glass/nails trick. You're allowed properly installed spikes, but they need to look menacing and sharp, very obviously, otherwise they're not allowed. (i.e. they tell anyone passing it to f--k off).

At least, that's what the local planning department told us.

Anonymous

One thing to do is put your name and contact details on a piece of paper in the seat tube. My mate did that and it was apparently priceless when the guy at cash converters who was arguing that it wasn't my mates bike finally lifted the seat out and there it all was...

LardLover

Sorry to hear that fella. I can't imagine what it must feel like.

ademort

ShockedSoShocked wrote:

The Bastards!

Jumped over the back fence in to garden and managed to get in to the garage, taking the most expensive item in there with them! I'm absolutely guttered. Any other Thursday i'd have been home but was visiting a friend who's home from Uni, and my parents were out visiting a relative who's mum has just passed away. Only my sister was in the house and she was pretty shook up by it. She thought it was me banging about in the garage, had a look out the back window and saw two scrotes lifting my bikes (road and MTB over the fence). To be honest fair play for the MTB, it weighs a ton and was farked anyway, but i'm devastated about my road bike.

Spent a lot of money and time on that thing. Finally got it just right and my racing is coming together and now this. I honestly feel like just getting the insurance and giving up the cycling. Seems you can't have anything nice!

The worst thing is I was supposed to be meeting the team out tomorrow for a bank holiday ride!

I had my bike stolen from a hotel in Amsterdam years ago. It was a Kirk precision limited edition, it was my first self build and i was well gutted :shock: . Apparently thieves jumped over the back fence at the hotel, stole a number of bikes and calmly walked out of the rear entrance after opening the door from the inside :x . What made it worse was while at work on a construction site nearby a man approached me and asked about my bike. He said that my roommate had told him that our bikes had been nicked, we had reported it to the police but they did,nt give us much hope of ever finding them.The man told me that he lived in Antwerp and could get us any type of racing bike for a fraction of the price. In the break the man came to see me and my mate and showed us a list of bikes that he could get his hands on and the price list.It was plain to see the bikes must have been nicked :x . He wouldn,t say that they were stolen but he didn,t need to. This guy was just a scumbag IMHO and no better than the tossers who nicked your bike. Anyway we had some luck, on our last workday we recieved a call from the police in Amsterdam Zaanstad, to our amazement the police had recovered both our bikes after a raid on a nearby houseboat . Both bikes had only minor damage, scratches, broken spoke and flat tyres, but for the rest they were in full working order. I sincerely hope that you get your bike back, intact and just as it was when you left it in the garage. All the best.
Ademort

hisoka

Just going to say "damn that sucks"
I know your pain, mine was taken a while back too.

Diogenes

Bad news but keep going, I'll keep my eyes peeled.

I was looking at a sure fire way of deterring scrotes like these, but apparently snipers on the roof is illegal.

D

grandad3

Sad news mate. I've got some mates down in park end (i know :!: ). I' ll ask em about it, they may see it about or of heard out.

I'm getting an alarm for my garage, just too much of it happening wot with the credit farce going on.

get a new bike with insurance money when they pay up, might see you on the road sometime.

I ride a black/yellow giant ocr with full campy. Its a beauty

gergusmcbergus

you've got my sympathies friend
i remember when i was 13 and i got my bike nicked. it wasn't worth much at all,just a crappy MTB but it worked and i went all over the place on it.
its a real kick in the bollocks - don't let it put you off cycling though - strive on with diligance

hugo15

Sympathies Luke. I will keep my eyes open as I am out and about. I have also posted a link over on MTBE.co.uk for you as the forum is very Teesside based.

Stephen

shockedsoshocked

Thanks everyone. My local bike shop (Westbrooks) kindly lent me a bike to train on for the next couple of weeks till the insurance comes through. At the end of the day i'll me getting a much newer and better bike but i'd still rather have the one I worked and saved for and spent lots of time doing up.

tlw1

bad news - but don't let the scumbags put you off. More importantly, get some mags and start planning the new one.

Sounds like a decent bike shop you deal with.

Special K

NapoleonD wrote:

One thing to do is put your name and contact details on a piece of paper in the seat tube. My mate did that and it was apparently priceless when the guy at cash converters who was arguing that it wasn't my mates bike finally lifted the seat out and there it all was...

This is interesting. So what's the score with getting your bike bike once you've "found" it, say on eBay or CashConverters. Police involved?