OMG YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY (Prev. Awwwwww.)

rolf_f

lost_in_thought wrote:

Awwww bless, just spoke to a chap called Damian at Fuji UK to tell him that the wobbly bottom bracket problem has been effectively solved by a bike thief, and he said 'I'll talk to the boss, see if we can do anything for you on a price for a new one'...

Awwwww. People are nice.

Correction - some people are nice. Others are thieving scumbags but really I shouldn't get in the way of your regaining faith in humanity

That is good news - potentially they could sell you a new bike for full price minus the cost of the frame and they'd not be any worse off and you wouldn't be half so badly off.

roger_merriman

nuts!

might be worth checking your household insurance and seeing if it covers it.

lost_in_thought

OMG YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

So there I was trawling through emails, and then listened to the 17 voicemails. I hate voicemails.

Number 12 out of 17 was from the Holiday Inn... to say that they'd apprehended some men trying to steal an orange racing bike with a basket that they have found out is mine, and it's in their porter's cupboard waiting for me!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

And no, redvee, I'd used a D-Lock, my 'spare lock', which the crooks had managed to cut 99.9% of the way through before the security guard got to them. He broke the plastic coating and took it into the holiday inn. Not using a D-Lock again, it wasn't a cheap one either.

gtvlusso

Fantastic new LiT - I am made up for you!!

The bike god or goddess clearly favours you this week!!

I love a happy ending - I think Wilma has even cheered up - though that might be the chicken breast she just swallowed in one......

stuaff

Splendid news! Hurrah for the security guard!

roger_merriman

lost_in_thought wrote:

OMG YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

So there I was trawling through emails, and then listened to the 17 voicemails. I hate voicemails.

Number 12 out of 17 was from the Holiday Inn... to say that they'd apprehended some men trying to steal an orange racing bike with a basket that they have found out is mine, and it's in their porter's cupboard waiting for me!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

And no, redvee, I'd used a D-Lock, my 'spare lock', which the crooks had managed to cut 99.9% of the way through before the security guard got to them. He broke the plastic coating and took it into the holiday inn. Not using a D-Lock again, it wasn't a cheap one either.

how lucky are you!

I order you to have a drink to celebrate! or i'll.... um well nothing to be honest.

davis

That's just plain cool, and kudos to the Holiday Inn people for tracking you down (by the way.... how?)

cjcp

8) What a result. Very happy for you, LiT.

I still hope the f****** catch syphilis.

lost_in_thought

davis wrote:

That's just plain cool, and kudos to the Holiday Inn people for tracking you down (by the way.... how?)

I did ask, the bike was shackled to the building I manage, in Dover Yard, which only a few buildings front onto. They went round to our reception asking if anyone in the building rode a bike to work, 3 people (myself included) did in mine, which was the first they'd asked. The accounts lady from another company who rides herself and had seen me on the fuji before said 'it's not mine but is it an orange racing bike with a basket'? So the security guys got my details and called me!

tailwindhome

lost_in_thought wrote:

orange racing bike with a basket

You would have thought that didn't need a lock.



Good news though

davis

lost_in_thought wrote:

davis wrote:

That's just plain cool, and kudos to the Holiday Inn people for tracking you down (by the way.... how?)

I did ask, the bike was shackled to the building I manage, in Dover Yard, which only a few buildings front onto. They went round to our reception asking if anyone in the building rode a bike to work, 3 people (myself included) did in mine, which was the first they'd asked. The accounts lady from another company who rides herself and had seen me on the fuji before said 'it's not mine but is it an orange racing bike with a basket'? So the security guys got my details and called me!

Ah, I see, an elaborate ruse. Classy ;-)

Seriously though, that's wicked. Nice to hear

Zachariah

If you have to leave you bike outside you should commute on a £20 rust bucket,
failing that you shouldn't be surprised to come out and find your bike gone.
Bikes are being stolen to order, the thief or "handler" maybe gets £20-£30 for each bike which is then sold on the internet or sent abroad.
Over SIXTY bikes are being stolen in London EACH day. It is highly organised and for the thief it is a quick reward and a low risk of being caught.
Thieves work in gangs. One to find the bikes, one to unlock them and then another who comes along to ride away the bike.

Now, following on from another thread where I questioned the economics of bike theft, let's break this down.

Three people (minimum) to a gang

60 bikes a day equals £1500 'handling' fees outlay by those higher up the food chain (using £25 midpoint)

So the entire thieving workforce of London 'earns' £1500 a day? How many of these people are there? More than just one gang of three, I'd bet. Not much once you split it up between a few bodies. Or do each of the three get this amount? In which case the Godfathers of bike thievery will be splashing out £4500 a day. I would have to ask for some hard figures to back this up, and to see if there really are enough buyers of dodgy internet bikes to support this. The figures just don't seem to make sense.

Zachariah

Oh yes - please name the D-Lock that failed and how they broke it! We need to force manufacturers to up their game on security.

mkchu84

that's great news! I'm really impressed that they made so much effort to find you. it does restore your faith in society! Just out of interest though, if you won't use a D-lock again, what would you use?

lost_in_thought

It was a Kryptonite D-lock, cost about £80, it's the big D-Lock rather than the little fahgeddaboutit one. I wasn't there at the time, but the security guard says they cut it. I don't know what with, but it looks like a saw of some nature from the remains of the lock. I am considering sending it to Kryptonite.

lost_in_thought

mkchu84 wrote:

that's great news! I'm really impressed that they made so much effort to find you. it does restore your faith in society! Just out of interest though, if you won't use a D-lock again, what would you use?

My 'normal' lock is this:


I won't use anything but again.... I will buy another to keep at work, but I will probably still keep the bike in my office.

mkchu84

That does look like a hefty lock! But I think you're right, walls and a door are probably more secure

Valy

lost_in_thought wrote:

OMG YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

So there I was trawling through emails, and then listened to the 17 voicemails. I hate voicemails.

Number 12 out of 17 was from the Holiday Inn... to say that they'd apprehended some men trying to steal an orange racing bike with a basket that they have found out is mine, and it's in their porter's cupboard waiting for me!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

And no, redvee, I'd used a D-Lock, my 'spare lock', which the crooks had managed to cut 99.9% of the way through before the security guard got to them. He broke the plastic coating and took it into the holiday inn. Not using a D-Lock again, it wasn't a cheap one either.

What is much better than a D lock? A bike chain?

jonginge

lost_in_thought wrote:

OMG YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Yay, indeed. Very nice save by the securiy guards.

stuaff

lost_in_thought wrote:

mkchu84 wrote:

that's great news! I'm really impressed that they made so much effort to find you. it does restore your faith in society! Just out of interest though, if you won't use a D-lock again, what would you use?

My 'normal' lock is this:


I won't use anything but again.... I will buy another to keep at work, but I will probably still keep the bike in my office.

FYI: Just had a look at Abus.com...my Granit X-Plus D-lock gets rated a 15, their maximum, your chain I think gets a 12, they do however do a City Chain that's also 15. Though even those might not have stopped them....

Edit: As RJS has since noted, indeed, pretty much nothing will stop someone that determined..

rjsterry

Glad there was a happy ending after all. Good on the security guard for going out of his way as well. As for the lock, an angle grinder with the right disc would make fairly short work of pretty much anything that was light enough to actually be practical as a lock, but worth enquiring all the same. I'm sure all feedback is welcomed.

_Brun_

I hate to be the bearer of bad news in such happy circumstances, but you now have a buggered bottom bracket to sort out all over again.

Strangely enough, my fixed needs exactly the same procedure carried out, which is what I'm planning to do tomorrow. Unless it gets nicked overnight of course.

Valy

_Brun_ wrote:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news in such happy circumstances, but you now have a buggered bottom bracket to sort out all over again.

Strangely enough, my fixed needs exactly the same procedure carried out, which is what I'm planning to do tomorrow. Unless it gets nicked overnight of course.

oloololol

nich

I think you should still get another bike, you know, as compensation for all the stress it's caused 'n stuff 8)

Wrath Rob

Great to see that for once the thieves were caught and you got your bike back. Yay for you!

lost_in_thought

nich wrote:

I think you should still get another bike, you know, as compensation for all the stress it's caused 'n stuff 8)

I like your thinking.

DonDaddyD

Excellent news!

itboffin

Jammie indeed but good news, any predictions for the lotto?

LiT / Brun I can recommend

http://www.totalcycling.com/index.php/p ... miche.html

essex-commuter

Brilliant news!!!!

Norky

lost_in_thought wrote:

I did ask, the bike was shackled to the building I manage, in Dover Yard, which only a few buildings front onto. They went round to our reception asking if anyone in the building rode a bike to work, 3 people (myself included) did in mine, which was the first they'd asked. The accounts lady from another company who rides herself and had seen me on the fuji before said 'it's not mine but is it an orange racing bike with a basket'? So the security guys got my details and called me!

Sometimes something happens to restore one's faith in basic human decency . That's great news. I trust you bought the security man a drink or three.