Utterley Devastated

triggmiester

And so on Tuesday night the unthinkable happened, some thieving towrags broke into my garage and had away with all my bikes
After reading posts on here and thinking this was something that happened to other people, this has come as a massive wake up call. The worst thing is not knowing how "they" knew I had bikes in the garage, maybe an opportunist who saw me arrive home one day, or even worse they have followed me from somewhere.

It's looking like the insurance will happen with no problem, it's just the massive inconvenience and the fact that I miss my bike, I feel like my arm (or other appendenge) has been cut off. I would rather they had nicked my car, I wouldn't have felt so guttted then.

So, If there is any advice I can pass on, it's; make sure any back entrance to your property is locked, that your bike store has some beefy padlocks on and that your trusty steed is locked to something.

If I can wangle it any new machine I get will be staying in the house.

LeicesterLad

triggmiester wrote:

And so on Tuesday night the unthinkable happened, some thieving towrags broke into my garage and had away with all my bikes
After reading posts on here and thinking this was something that happened to other people, this has come as a massive wake up call. The worst thing is not knowing how "they" knew I had bikes in the garage, maybe an opportunist who saw me arrive home one day, or even worse they have followed me from somewhere.

It's looking like the insurance will happen with no problem, it's just the massive inconvenience and the fact that I miss my bike, I feel like my arm (or other appendenge) has been cut off. I would rather they had nicked my car, I wouldn't have felt so guttted then.

So, If there is any advice I can pass on, it's; make sure any back entrance to your property is locked, that your bike store has some beefy padlocks on and that your trusty steed is locked to something.

If I can wangle it any new machine I get will be staying in the house.

^^this. My bikes are kept in my dining room, the misus says they make a mess and look untidy, I say theres not a chance in hell they will ever get to the shed/outside/garage. If it becomes an issue she will have to divorce me.

Really feel for you chap, i think if it was me in your situation i would be pretty damn upset.

raymondo60

Deepest commiserations and sympathies. I have known the experience and can only comfort by saying I learned a very hard lesson from it. Good luck with the claim etc and hope you are out riding again soon.

team47b

Sorry to hear that.

Can't someone on here lend the man a bike?

napoleond

Arse. Sorry to hear that mate.

rubertoe

Not Good.

Like LL says - if you can possibly keep the bikes in doors, failing that Alarm the garage.

MaxwellBygraves

Gutted to hear it. I keep me bikes inside the house - safest place for 'em. Even shed/garage too risky these days.

triggmiester

So... after speaking to the insurance this morning I am feeling slightly happier.
With my road bike I am looking at £1200 to play with from Wheelies, Halfords or Evans, or if i want to go with a cash settlement I get approx. £900, so I am thinking a Canyon fom Germany as spec wise I cannot find anything comparable (unless forumites would like to advise me differently?)
For my 1 mountain bike I am getting a voucher for £849 for Halfords for a Boardman MTB Team (any good?) and for the other Mountain Bike a £649 voucher from Halfords for a Boardman MTB Comp (again, any good?)
My final old mountain I am being given a Trek 3500D from Evans, no voucher available for that one

Now it's just the time it will take to get all this sorted, but i cannot wait for a delivery of all my shiny news accessories that were also covered by the insurance

byke68

LeicesterLad wrote:

triggmiester wrote:

And so on Tuesday night the unthinkable happened, some thieving towrags broke into my garage and had away with all my bikes
After reading posts on here and thinking this was something that happened to other people, this has come as a massive wake up call. The worst thing is not knowing how "they" knew I had bikes in the garage, maybe an opportunist who saw me arrive home one day, or even worse they have followed me from somewhere.

It's looking like the insurance will happen with no problem, it's just the massive inconvenience and the fact that I miss my bike, I feel like my arm (or other appendenge) has been cut off. I would rather they had nicked my car, I wouldn't have felt so guttted then.

So, If there is any advice I can pass on, it's; make sure any back entrance to your property is locked, that your bike store has some beefy padlocks on and that your trusty steed is locked to something.

If I can wangle it any new machine I get will be staying in the house.

^^this. My bikes are kept in my dining room, the misus says they make a mess and look untidy, I say theres not a chance in hell they will ever get to the shed/outside/garage. If it becomes an issue she will have to divorce me.

Really feel for you chap, i think if it was me in your situation i would be pretty damn upset.

I keep one of mine in the kitchen all the time. The missus moans but tough!
I hope the thieving scumbags get flatened by a speeding east European lorry driver. :x

jordan_217

That is crap news, sorry to hear it. Glad the initial dealings with the insurance company seem positive.

If you want to drive to Northants you can happily have use of my Scott for few weeks

I know a few lads with Boardman MTB comp bikes and they rate them highly. I'm shocked at the spec you get for the money (in a good way).

Hope it works out.

DavMartinR

Sorry to hear about this.

I would take the advice give about storing you new bike in the house for the next couple on months if possible, because this happened to a mate of mine. Got a new bike through insurance then about a month later they were back trying to break-in to his garage again. Hope yours was a chancer but there are gangs out there and they know your going to get a new bike on insurance F@*KERS!!

bagpusscp

This is why i have this chap.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74418119@N ... 4498264872

He may look soft....weights is 45 kg....would you climb over the gate :twisted:

Dog Breath

Really sorry to hear that news. I can only imagine what you must be feeling towards these low-lifes.

I realise that any determined thief can always break in and steal your pride and joy, but being a bit paranoid this is what I have done to protect my assets.

> Wall mounted bikes with a heavy duty ground anchor (both from Tuskstore) attached to the wall.
> Heavy Duty Oxford chain securing bikes to anchor,

As up-and-over garage doors tend not be be the most secure, I drilled 2 holes in the bottom lip of the door and into the concrete floor. Into these I drop 10mm diameter bolts to prevent the door being opened unless these are removed.

Gives me peace of mind that I have taken adequate steps to deter opportunist thieves.

ilm_zero7

get a Staffie - then you're sorted !

greg66_tri_v2.0

[utter cnut*]

Did they steal your dictionary too?

[/utter cnut*]


* Irony. Don't you just love it?

Redhog14

It is definently true that you should watch out for your replacements in the short to medium term as Speedybird had her garage busted twice quite probably by the same toerags.

I have just built a bike palace to store the many machines we have between us ( and growing by the day..) and am quite concerned about this despite living in a rural area it would be a significant haul of cash even although they would get sold for buttons compared to actual worth. I plan to connect a cablepost through the floor of the shed and set it in concrete to chain them all up to. That and the very barky dog that lives in the garden...

+1 boardman MTB's spec is very good for the money you'll pay 20-25% more for a Trek/Spesh/Giant equivalent.

Kenjaja1

I am sorry to hear about the theft Triggmiester - & hope you get sorted out with appropriate replacements soon.

The comment about putting beefy padlocks on garage doors is well-meant but possibly not the best solution. The trouble with padlocks is that they are often easily opened (I've done it myself - but for honest reasons!). Also the clasps which the padlocks attach to are frequently extremely vulnerable.

If the door is a standard 'up-and-over' garage door then twin 5 lever mortise locks such as these from screwfix are worth considering.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/garage-door-l ... id=1374570 for a tad less than £20

To force an entry past these a thief would need to bend the garage door on both sides. Not impossible - but not easy either.

There are also other solutions - some much more substantial but, all of them more expensive and all worthy of consideration.

Another solution is to install an alarm in your shed or garage. You can get fairly cheap alarms which are just for outbuildings. Alternatively you can have a detector in your shed/garage as part of a whole house system.

If you do have an alarm then make sure you use it. I got lazy, stopped using the alarm and got burgled just over a year ago. Those bastards stole nothing of consequence (a bit of foreign currency) but did several grands worth of damage by forcing an entry and by being ham-fisted once inside.

Don't just secure the shed or garage. Lock the bikes up while they are in there. Most people do not do this but anything which slows a thief down or makes his job harder is worth doing.

I do not know if the police still provide the service but they used to be happy to visit your home and give free advice on home security. I used it once and it was excellent. I tried again when we moved house once and despite leaving several messages over a period of a couple of months, no one ever returned my calls. I guess there is a lot of variation in the quality of service - but if you can get it for free then use it.

As a final point I will remind everyone that, in the unlikely event of catching a bicycle thief we must not beat the cr@p out of them, or remove their dangley appendages with a blunt and rusty penknife while anyone is watching or while within the field of view of CCTV.

VirtualCyclist

Sorry to hear your story.

One thing to watch out for is theives returning when they think you've replaced everything on insurance.

My brother-in-law was burgled and then a month later theives returned, fortunately they found nothing as he'd not yet got round to replacing the tv etc on insurance.

nevman

bagpusscp wrote:

This is why i have this chap.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74418119@N ... 4498264872

He may look soft....weights is 45 kg....would you climb over the gate :twisted:

Er,no thanks-he looks kind of handy
For those wise words of advice can I offer this-I have recently seen a number of entries to sheds,garages and vans where even shackled bikes were taken-inside security is of no consequence to determined thieves who are targeting riders it seems.Concur here-keep what you dont want stolen in the house.You wouldnt leave the missus in the shed would you(in case it kicks off when the oil drips on the new shagpile).

alihisgreat

VirtualCyclist wrote:

Sorry to hear your story.

One thing to watch out for is theives returning when they think you've replaced everything on insurance.

My brother-in-law was burgled and then a month later theives returned, fortunately they found nothing as he'd not yet got round to replacing the tv etc on insurance.

Thats quite clever.. the bastards!

although you'd think people would up the security a bit after being robbed?

triggmiester wrote:

So... after speaking to the insurance this morning I am feeling slightly happier.
With my road bike I am looking at £1200 to play with from Wheelies, Halfords or Evans, or if i want to go with a cash settlement I get approx. £900, so I am thinking a Canyon fom Germany as spec wise I cannot find anything comparable (unless forumites would like to advise me differently?)
For my 1 mountain bike I am getting a voucher for £849 for Halfords for a Boardman MTB Team (any good?) and for the other Mountain Bike a £649 voucher from Halfords for a Boardman MTB Comp (again, any good?)
My final old mountain I am being given a Trek 3500D from Evans, no voucher available for that one

Now it's just the time it will take to get all this sorted, but i cannot wait for a delivery of all my shiny news accessories that were also covered by the insurance

Boardman MTBs are quality, borrowed my Dad's a few times when my bikes have been unavailable and i've got no complaints.

Not sure which one exactly he has.. i was trying to identify it but i doesn't seem to have a model name anywhere!

Woody80

Something to bear in mind (speaking from recent experience after the garage has been done over twice now), I'd upped the security as first time the bikes were inside the locked garage but not locked up inside. The second time the garage doors were replaced (wooden due to the garage) but sturdy and with two padlocked bolts, the bikes were locked to ground anchors - the other half's with an armoured cable and mine (6 week old Lapierre Spicy) with a sold secure gold chain.

Turns out padlocked bolts are useless as they prise open with a screwdriver so the best padlock In the world does nothing. I think the thieves (pretty sure the same visitors) then used my hacksaw (I'd organised the garage with tools conveniently hung up) to cut the armoured cable to remove the GF's bike. My chain wouldn't yield to such tactics (there's a scratch where they tried) so they went through the frame and looped the lock out!

I'd never considered this. I'd recommend several locks with wheels, frame and forks chained to the floor if they do need to live in a garage or shed. Don't for a moment think that a massive chain, padlock and ground anchor will stop the bike being removed, I was absolutely gutted and baffled at the same time.

Looking at Datatag now as well since I'm pretty certain that I've seen the GF's frame built onto another bike locally but might not be able to prove it