They done stole my bike!

pangolin

Some time between 6 and 10, outside St Peter's Chuch in Norbiton, my old friend left me.

It was a GT Arrowhead originally that I had bought from a mate, but only the frame, rear wheel, shifters and seatpost remained. I'd spent about £300 over the years now I add it all up, giving it new forks, disks, better saddle, pedals, wheel when the front one broke.

*Sniff*

Now it's been stolen.

Hopefully it will buck whatever ungrateful wretch tries to ride it into an oncoming bus.

Anyway... We must move on. I still have my road bike. A replacement is needed for a bike I can leave places where there is more risk of it being stolen (haha!).

I've kinda wanted a single speed for a while, but not been able to justify the room 3 bikes would take up. But now! Every cloud eh.

Any recommendations? Langster? Plug? Bowery? Something between £300 and £400. I may paint 'arrowhead' on the top tube in memory of its predecessor. Probably not though.

dhope

Commiserations

On the new bike front, I like my Langster, and now is a good time to get a new bike...
£360?
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/speciali ... 46075.html

bunter

theivin' varmints! worse than war criminals, murderers and pederasts in my book...

Berk Bonebonce

You know, gears were a great invention.

jeremyrundle

Was it locked and with what, I saw a chap buy a cheapish £250 bike, and a £10 lock DUH :shock: :!:

I have a full set of Pinhead losck fitted properly :!: and a top range (heavy) lock.

dhope

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

You know, gears were a great invention.

:roll:

roger_merriman

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

You know, gears were a great invention.

heh they where but for flat old london they doable and simplifies the bike, mainly no gears to need fettling etc.

cyberknight

Thieving bas***s !

tape razor blades to the handlebars when you leave it or get some of theose pedals with a QR so you can take then off .

Or as i read somewhere geta fixie and laugh when they try to stop pedalling and fall off :evil:

Hope your insurance covers it and you get a nice new friend.

My bikes are either in my garage locked with a chain to a wall mount or at work in a secure bike shed with 2 locks and CCTV .

pangolin

Berk Bonebonce - Thanks for the input!

jeremyrundle - It was locked with a decent cable lock and a cheap combination lock. Will get a proper Abus lock for the next bike I think, same as I use for my road bike.

cyberknight - That's one good reason for a fixed! Though if I was close enough to see them ride off I don't think I would stand and watch, hoping to see them fall off...

dhope - Yeah I quite like the Langster, though not massively fond of the 2010 model. Quite liked the 07 red one. Anyway, as long as it's not the London model!

cjcp

B@stards! That's very close to me, too. What colour was it? I'll keep an eye out for it.

pangolin

Cheers CJCP

It was grey frame, GT and Arrowhead written in Red.
Black forks with Bomber written on them.
Black platform pedals.
Red handlebar grips.
Avid Juicy front disc.
Specialised BG saddle.
LX cranks.

Don't think you'll see any others matching that description!

cjcp

Will keep an eye out.

Clever Pun

Sorry to hear that...

Langsters are really heavy aren't they??

Evans have a sale on right now (who doesn't?)
http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/sale/complete-bikes/single-speed-bikes/single-speed-road-bikes

this caught my eye a little
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/charge/plug-racer-2010-road-bike-ec020535

dhope

Clever Pun wrote:

Sorry to hear that...

Langsters are really heavy aren't they??

Evans have a sale on right now (who doesn't?)
http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/sale/complete-bikes/single-speed-bikes/single-speed-road-bikes

this caught my eye a little
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/charge/plug-racer-2010-road-bike-ec020535

I thought Charge Plugs were porkers?
Langster steel heavy possibly?

Paddy Wagon for £340... (£410 at Evans)
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/products. ... 7283&rs=gb

And you can always get Evans to pricematch once you've found the cheapest online

jeremyrundle

Who would you blame if a car with keys in the ignition was stolen, same with a cheap lock, sorry.

cjcp

jeremyrundle wrote:

Who would you blame if a car with keys in the ignition was stolen, same with a cheap lock, sorry.

Eh? In that scenario, it's unlikely that the car was locked. Reality is that if someone wants your bike, they'll find a way of stealing it, no matter how good the lock.

Clever Pun

dhope wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

Sorry to hear that...

Langsters are really heavy aren't they??

Evans have a sale on right now (who doesn't?)
http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/sale/complete-bikes/single-speed-bikes/single-speed-road-bikes

this caught my eye a little
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/charge/plug-racer-2010-road-bike-ec020535

I thought Charge Plugs were porkers?
Langster steel heavy possibly?

Paddy Wagon for £340... (£410 at Evans)
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/products. ... 7283&rs=gb

And you can always get Evans to pricematch once you've found the cheapest online

Ah I see you have a langster tbf I knew it was one or the other or both...

jeremyrundle

cjcp wrote:

jeremyrundle wrote:

Who would you blame if a car with keys in the ignition was stolen, same with a cheap lock, sorry.

Eh? In that scenario, it's unlikely that the car was locked. Reality is that if someone wants your bike, they'll find a way of stealing it, no matter how good the lock.

Perhaps, only perhaps, but whatever the possibility, if you value your bike then you don't use a "cheap" lock as he said he did. I do feel for him, don't get me wrong, but can you honestly say that a quality lock would not have helped.

cjcp

jeremyrundle wrote:

cjcp wrote:

jeremyrundle wrote:

Who would you blame if a car with keys in the ignition was stolen, same with a cheap lock, sorry.

Eh? In that scenario, it's unlikely that the car was locked. Reality is that if someone wants your bike, they'll find a way of stealing it, no matter how good the lock.

Perhaps, only perhaps, but whatever the possibility, if you value your bike then you don't use a "cheap" lock as he said he did. I do feel for him, don't get me wrong, but can you honestly say that a quality lock would not have helped.

He had two locks - one cable, one combination. Probably safe to say that bolt-croppers were used. Would a decent lock have helped? Kingston (which includes Norbiton) has a big bike-theft problem. I've heard that some people will go as far as tailing people out of Richmond Park to find out where the cyclist lives. If people are going to those lengths, a decent lock is no real deterrent.

dhope

Clever Pun wrote:

dhope wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

Sorry to hear that...

Langsters are really heavy aren't they??

Evans have a sale on right now (who doesn't?)
http://www.evanscycles.com/categories/sale/complete-bikes/single-speed-bikes/single-speed-road-bikes

this caught my eye a little
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/charge/plug-racer-2010-road-bike-ec020535

I thought Charge Plugs were porkers?
Langster steel heavy possibly?

Paddy Wagon for £340... (£410 at Evans)
http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/products. ... 7283&rs=gb

And you can always get Evans to pricematch once you've found the cheapest online

Ah I see you have a langster tbf I knew it was one or the other or both...

I'm not defending the langster particularly, haven't ridden any other SS's so not sure how heavy it is compared to others. Think the Charge only comes in steel, so that'd account for its chunkiness compared to alu(?)

cjcp

Boardman SS?

pangolin

cjcp wrote:

Boardman SS?

Ah hadn't thought of that, will investigate.

Also, anyone got any experience of On One?

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPMPRS/on-one-pompino-road-sport

dhope

pangolin wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Boardman SS?

Ah hadn't thought of that, will investigate.

Also, anyone got any experience of On One?

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPMPRS/on-one-pompino-road-sport

Not personally but hear only good things.

Hatbeard spotted this a few days ago
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... _Bike_2010

£300 from a claimed £750 is quite a discount, not entirely convinced by the styling but not seen one in the flesh to properly judge.

hatbeard

before I order my pink beast I tried getting evans to pricematch the kona paddy wagon off tritons cycles but they rejected it because it wasn't in stock in my size at tritons, I thought I'd give it a go on the off chance they weren't paying attention otherwise I was giving serious consideration to getting one of those.

pangolin

The colouring on that SE one is enthusiastic! But yeah the price is right. What's your pink beast Hatbeard?

...

Oh my.

hatbeard

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=56048

dhope

hatbeard wrote:

before I order my pink beast I tried getting evans to pricematch the kona paddy wagon off tritons cycles but they rejected it because it wasn't in stock in my size at tritons, I thought I'd give it a go on the off chance they weren't paying attention otherwise I was giving serious consideration to getting one of those.

Blimey, took all of 3 minutes for a reply once someone mentions your name. Do you have a special alert set up, or flashing red phone[/modem]?

Hatbeard, hatbeard, hatbeard, hatbeard, hatbeard.
:shock:

hatbeard

haha I didn't see your post until I posted mine honest

pangolin

What made you go for the cheaper one Hatbeard? Just the price or the website it's from?

hatbeard

pangolin wrote:

What made you go for the cheaper one Hatbeard? Just the price or the website it's from?

I got it pricematched at evans actually and i'm having them deliver it to store so they'll set it up for me hopefully and I can ride it straight home. plus you get a free 6 week service with all new bikes from them.

I went for the se draft lite as it's cheap and cheerful. it's primary function for me is to get me to the pub/supermarket and back and be locked up in dodgy areas. the other one was obviously a much better spec but it kind of defeats the point of having a hack if it's rrp is almost as high as your main bike for my needs the base model is adequate.

I'm probably going to attack it with hammerite paint or gaffer tape to de-pink it as much as possible but also to make it look a bit tattier and more undesirable.

my tricross is my main commuter and I'll probably stick to using that day to day unless I know I'll be going somewhere other than home -> work -> home.

if it was going to be my only bike I'd have spent a few hundred more though and got one of the other amazing deals on the end of year line bikes like a charge/on-one/kona etc. but for my needs this will do fine.

nich

hatbeard wrote:

pangolin wrote:

What made you go for the cheaper one Hatbeard? Just the price or the website it's from?

I got it pricematched at evans actually and i'm having them deliver it to store so they'll set it up for me hopefully and I can ride it straight home. plus you get a free 6 week service with all new bikes from them.

I went for the se draft lite as it's cheap and cheerful. it's primary function for me is to get me to the pub/supermarket and back and be locked up in dodgy areas. the other one was obviously a much better spec but it kind of defeats the point of having a hack if it's rrp is almost as high as your main bike for my needs the base model is adequate.

I'm probably going to attack it with hammerite paint or gaffer tape to de-pink it as much as possible but also to make it look a bit tattier and more undesirable.

my tricross is my main commuter and I'll probably stick to using that day to day unless I know I'll be going somewhere other than home -> work -> home.

if it was going to be my only bike I'd have spent a few hundred more though and got one of the other amazing deals on the end of year line bikes like a charge/on-one/kona etc. but for my needs this will do fine.

I think your'll become a singlespeed addict and ditch the tricross