STOLEN - Kona Fire Mountain Deluxe (2009)

andymcd

Standard Kona Fire Mountain Deluxe 2009 model - so red and white.

Shimano SPD pedals fitted, plus Halfords 8f wired computer, Bikehut front and rear lights, black metal bottle cage, Mt Zefal mini pump and seat pack under saddle. Seat pack contained 5 plastic tyre levers, puncture patches and Evans Cycles multi tool. The frame is slightly scratched where the top bar meets the stem.

The bike was stolen between 2:30pm and 4pm on Thursday 12th July from a cycle area outside our offices on NG2 business park in Nottingham. The bike was locked to a bike rack using a Squires cable lock - the plastic shell of the lock was smashed and left behind. The thief left behind a Trek mountain bike (grey/green in colour) which is now in the possession of Nottingham Police. Our work bike area doubles as a smoking area so has a lot of through traffic.

If anyone knows anything - or can suggest which shops etc. to speak to in Nottingham please let me know!

mossj88

Hi,

I did a search on my website for fire's sold after the 12th and theres one for sale in Nottinghamshire... Theres also a suspicous advert in London (Bike for sale without picture, and the sellers not sure on year).

Nottingham Bike
London Bike

Thanks,
John

P.S Search Link

andymcd

Thanks John,

I did see those adds on your site - I ruled the Daventry one out because the pic still had reflectors in the spokes and normal pedals .

Andy

andymcd

I've seen an ad on Gumtree that looks suspicious. However, the ad says London and my bike was stolen from Nottingham. I've tried contacting the seller through the Gumtree site but have had no reply - I could try contacting him via the mobile number he's given but I'm nervous about him getting my mobile number. Is there any police site or anything that I can contact to highlight this on?

mossj88

Hi Andy,

What makes you think it's your bike?

Having been in this sitution the Police will only be interested if you can match for certain that it's your bike (through aftermarket parts, picture, scuffs etc).

If your sure then you can contact the Cycle Task Force at Met Police (cycletaskforce@met.police.uk), they often take an age to reply though, so if you reported it to your local police it would be worth asking them to contact the Cycle Task Force as well.

Thanks, John

P.S Alot of people recommend contacting the thief and arranging a meet but this is both dangerous and mucks up any police investigation.

P.P.S It ending up in London would not be an indication it isn't your bike, many bikes end up in London after being stolen elsewhere (my own stolen from Leicester, and someone who reported one on my website from Cambridge were both later seen (and theirs recovered) in London).

andymcd

Thanks John.

The add is the one you pointed out. I have no idea if it is my bike or not - other than it is the correct model name and the ad looks suspect. I did try contacting seller (via site) for picture and further description but they did not reply - there are some distinguishing features of the bike (particular scratching and SPD pedals) which *might* help prove it is mine.

I have tried contacting Notts police about it but they have been fairly uninterested so far (including yesterday when the thief returned to the scene and was nearly caught).

I'll try the met email address just in case.

Thanks again,

Andy

mossj88

Hi Andy,

Good luck with the Met (the team isn't large so they can only deal with one bike a day but they are all cyclists and volunteer for that team)... If you genuinly feel it's your bike, I'd contact the bloke by phone (posing as a buyer) and say your from out of town (not your own town) and would he possibly send a picture if the bikes still for sale. This goes against the police's recommended advice (don't hold me responsible) however I have a feeling that if it's your bike then it's the only way your going to see it again.

One of my projects is to allow people to rate up/down (and add comments) police forces based on their experience with them when dealing with cycle crime... Hopefully it will eventually provide some ammo for campaign groups to get the police to take cycle crime seriously.

Thanks,
John