Bike Stolen

mattsaw

One of the guys from the office next door came into our office this morning to say he'd seem someone riding-off on my bike.

It was locked on a rack directly outside our office, and we're right at the end of a secuded mews so it certainly wasn't an opportunist.

Our network guy and a designer took off on their fixie and BMX in the same direction and managed to corner him around a mile down the road, and by being very load and shouty at him he dropped the bike and took off into Hammersmith.

Bike back safe and sound I've never felt a bigger sensation of relief as returning dejected from my own fruitless search I saw it back in the bike rack. - Christ I was lucky!

Kudos to the police as well as while we were all out hunting for the thief one guy called the police and within minutes they joined us in the search. There were a couple of plain-clothes guys on foot, a car and another on a bike. They took it really seriously and even after the bike was recoved they drove our network guy around looking for the thief.

UndercoverElephant

Good to have a happy ending. Make sure you tuck your bike in well tonight, she must have had quite a fright.

Good effort to the designer catching a Bianchi on a BMX, by the way, even if it was being ridden by a scrote.

mattsaw

Good effort to the designer catching a Bianchi on a BMX, by the way, even if it was being ridden by a scrote.

Hes pretty quick, although it did take a few minutes to get his breath back. I think the clipless pedals slowed the guy down quite a bit as well, apparently when he took off on foot he was far faster than he had been on the bike.

asprilla

Excellent stuff! Its times like this that I back Sharia Law.

/Asprilla goes down to basement car park to check on pride and joy

Mr Plum

Best stolen bike story I've heard in a while! Congrats on getting the bike back and it was awesome of the people you work with to give chase.

davmaggs

nice one, some good news. Well done to the people who helped out.

Order a whacking great lock today as that thief might try it again in a few weeks when you are back in routine.

mudcow007

sweet congrats mate!!

how was your bike locked up?

when i was at school ('96) we all parked our bikes at the bike sheds all together our school was split between two seperate buildings of about 600 yards between them, one day a van turned up snipped through most of the bikes chains an threw the bikes in the van and drove off leaving mine and another bike, but taking about 8 others

i was lucky that day!!

EKE_38BPM

Phew! Scary.
When I first read that, I read BMX as BMW and wondered why UE was impressed that a BMW caught up with a Bianchi (there again, in London traffic, that would be impressive).

Time for a lock upgrade methinks.
I use one of these as a secondary lock as I like to think that the 110dB alarm will deafen any scrotes tampering with my steed.
How did the thief defeat your lock?

Glad you got your bike back. I think you owe BMX man a drink.

stuaff

Well done those men!

Wrath Rob

Great story, glad you got it back. Hopefully one of you will spot the thief later and they'll get collared.

clarkey cat

sounds like the BMX guy was in on it.

EKE_38BPM

clarkey cat wrote:

sounds like the BMX guy was in on it.

Eh? The only way I can see the BMX guy being in on it and actually getting a benefit is if he then recommends a lock to the OP and has an interest in the sale of the lock.

bails87

EKE_38BPM wrote:

clarkey cat wrote:

sounds like the BMX guy was in on it.

Eh? The only way I can see the BMX guy being in on it and actually getting a benefit is if he then recommends a lock to the OP and has an interest in the sale of the lock.

Ah, the long con? It's a lot of effort for 10% commission on the sale though

clarkey cat

you can never trust a fully grown man on a BMX.

DonDaddyD

Glad to here your bike was recovered and that the police were supportive in catching this person.

However it was in Hammersmith and the police do seem to be quite active around there.

Don't think the BMX guy was in on it at all.

mattsaw

The bike was only locked with a bog standard chain and padlock. Since we're so secluded with gates and CCTV and a good 200m off of the road I stupidly assumed it was safe.

http://img853.imageshack.us/i/76382190.png/

So this weekend I'll be investing in a big chunky lock.

EKE_38BPM

Mattsaw wrote:

The bike was only locked with a bog standard chain and padlock.

So only secure against opportunist dirt bags, not tooled up dirt bags.

Mattsaw wrote:

So this weekend I'll be investing in a big chunky lock.

Have a read of the link I posted. Quite a few of the posters on there are cycle couriers and their livelihood depends on their bikes so they need locks they can trust.
No lock is inflalible, its all about how long they resist attack for. If your bike is in a secluded position that just gives a thief the chance to work in peace. Hopefully my 110dB alarm will shatter that peace.

mattsaw

That's the thing, whan I say secluded I mean secluded from the road, it's right up against our glass fronted office as well as many other offices on three sides.He walked past about 5 people as well as around 200 people inside the offices before the bike could even be seen. Thats one of the reasons I don't think it was opportunist. I can't believe he had the balls to try it!

A few people realised what was happening which is why we were told so quickly what had happened and had the chance to catch up with him.

I'll check out your link though - cheers, I know most locks aren't 100% secure, but anything that would need woking on for a couple of minutes would have meant he would have been seen.

EKE_38BPM

Mattsaw wrote:

That's the thing, whan I say secluded I mean secluded from the road, it's right up against our glass fronted office as well as many other offices on three sides.He walked past about 5 people as well as around 200 people inside the offices before the bike could even be seen. Thats one of the reasons I don't think it was opportunist. I can't believe he had the balls to try it!

A few people realised what was happening which is why we were told so quickly what had happened and had the chance to catch up with him.

I'll check out your link though - cheers, I know most locks aren't 100% secure, but anything that would need woking on for a couple of minutes would have meant he would have been seen.

No lock is 100% secure. Its just a matter of time and tools.

And balls, you can't forget balls!

thelawnet

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Phew! Scary.
When I first read that, I read BMX as BMW and wondered why UE was impressed that a BMW caught up with a Bianchi (there again, in London traffic, that would be impressive).

Time for a lock upgrade methinks.

Was just looking at those, 'Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Mini Lock', hmm that sounds good, mini, must be light:

'Weight: 2.09 Kg'

Eh???

I use one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BICYCLE-SHACKLE-L ... 0588402977
weight is 429grams

Not great admittedly, but a lot better than the nasty cables a lot of people use.

EKE_38BPM

I suppose it depends on how much you want to keep your bike?
A bottle jack would probably make short work of that, or maybe a butter knife. I don't know, I'm not a thief.

thelawnet

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I suppose it depends on how much you want to keep your bike?
A bottle jack would probably make short work of that, or maybe a butter knife. I don't know, I'm not a thief.

Well there are enough bikes locked with poundland cables that you can go through with a butter knife (or a pair of cable cutters at least) about someone with a bottle jack.

My bikes is rather conspicuous, wouldn't be the best thing to steal anyway.

notsoblue

Nice to hear a bike theft story with a happy ending!

Saw something dodgy this morning, was a chap who looked like a builder, in scruffy clothes, riding a green carbon BMC. He was awkwardly pedalling the clipless pedals with scruffy trainers and there were two old takeaway coffee cups in the carbon bottle holders. Was clearly nicked, I was tempted to ask him if it was his. I should have really.

EKE_38BPM

notsoblue wrote:

Nice to hear a bike theft story with a happy ending!

Saw something dodgy this morning, was a chap who looked like a builder, in scruffy clothes, riding a green carbon BMC. He was awkwardly pedalling the clipless pedals with scruffy trainers and there were two old takeaway coffee cups in the carbon bottle holders. Was clearly nicked, I was tempted to ask him if it was his. I should have really.

I imagine the conversation going something like this:

NSB: "Nice bike, where did you get it?"
Builder: "Got it from a bloke down the pub. Why'd you ask?"
NSB: "I was wondering how much a nice bike like that would cost."
Builder: "Well the bloke wanted £50 but I talked him down to £25 coz the pedals are rubbish. I mean, just look at them! Good cup holders though. Costa me up!"

tx14

maybe lock it closer to the street? if there are people constantly passing by, it would be safer.

t4tomo

thelawnet wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I use one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BICYCLE-SHACKLE-L ... 0588402977
weight is 429grams
.

confused shipping on that link

WE DO NOT SHIP TO

Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland, British Isles, Channel Isles, All other isles off the mainland

ONLY MAINLAND UK DELIVERIES ONLY

Since when was the MAINLAND not part of teh British Isles?

EKE_38BPM

t4tomo wrote:

thelawnet wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I use one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BICYCLE-SHACKLE-L ... 0588402977
weight is 429grams
.

confused shipping on that link

WE DO NOT SHIP TO

Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland, British Isles, Channel Isles, All other isles off the mainland

ONLY MAINLAND UK DELIVERIES ONLY

Since when was the MAINLAND not part of teh British Isles?

Maybe geography wasn't their stongest subject at school but they delivered to me OK and I live on a small island in the North Atlantic, about 30 miles off the coast of Europe.

notsoblue

EKE_38BPM wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Nice to hear a bike theft story with a happy ending!

Saw something dodgy this morning, was a chap who looked like a builder, in scruffy clothes, riding a green carbon BMC. He was awkwardly pedalling the clipless pedals with scruffy trainers and there were two old takeaway coffee cups in the carbon bottle holders. Was clearly nicked, I was tempted to ask him if it was his. I should have really.

I imagine the conversation going something like this:

NSB: "Nice bike, where did you get it?"
Builder: "Got it from a bloke down the pub. Why'd you ask?"
NSB: "I was wondering how much a nice bike like that would cost."
Builder: "Well the bloke wanted £50 but I talked him down to £25 coz the pedals are rubbish. I mean, just look at them! Good cup holders though. Costa me up!"

I reckon thats an accurate prediction!

rick_chasey

Buy your network guy a beer.

Sounds like a legend.

EKE_38BPM

If he was riding a BMX he may not be old enough to drink. Get him a nice sweetie instead.

mattsaw

Rick Chasey wrote:

Buy your network guy a beer.

Sounds like a legend.

I spent £20 on chocolate brownies for him, he's far happier with those