Stolen Bike - Advice

corriebee1
corriebee1 Posts: 390
edited August 2018 in Commuting chat
Had my 14 month old Cube Attain Pro Disc stolen last night out of the back of the car. Somehow the car was unlocked so it's likely my fault (as much as I'd like to blame one of the kids!).

Not expecting any insurance so won't claim. But wondering whether to report it to the police or not. If I do, I guess I'll have to declare it next time I renew home (and possibly car?) insurance, with a possible impact on premiums even if I don't claim?

Anyone been through anything similar? What are the odds of the police turning the bike up? I am just gutted and slept for 2 hours last night having been called by a Neighbour at midnight to tell me my boot was open.

Comments

  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,300
    Sorry to hear that, I feel your pain.
    Not too sure what impact telling the police will have on your insurance, but there is a very slim chance telling them will help. Over the next few weeks watch Ebay and Gumtree for bikes like yours, I had a bike stolen and it was listed on Ebay as being a 58cm although it was clearly marked as a 60cm. Presumably the thieving scrote thought that would put me off, thankfully I got the bike back but I was lucky.
    Good luck.
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  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    How would anyone know the bike was in there ?
    If it's visible though yes it's gonna get stolen. I'd never leave it in a car on show.
  • mattsaw
    mattsaw Posts: 907
    Try using this to keep an eye on new classified listings - http://findthatbike.co.uk
    Bianchi C2C - Ritte Bosberg - Cervelo R3
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  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    Similar thing happened to me, left the house one morning to find the boot of the car and one of the doors open.

    Half the contents of the boot were on the ground. Luckily my bike wasn't in the car, but i do often leave it in there.

    They did steal a dewalt cordless drill, a camping stove and a handful of "parking change".

    I guess i must have left the car unlocked. I did wonder if someone had cloned the signal of the remote unlocking, but i reckon it was most likely kids taking a chance, just pulling on the handles of all parked cars.

    I didn't report it, but I suppose if it does turn up on gumtree etc and you then approach the police, it probably would be best to have reported it stolen in the first place?
    Felt F1 2014
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  • corriebee1
    corriebee1 Posts: 390
    oxoman wrote:
    A lot of clever junkies will raid cars as easy targets for easily to sell stuff rather than take the car. Holiday time being a busy time for them it seems. All the OP can really do is keep his eyes peeled, use social media and report it. Also in future try to make the bike stand out from standard spec. Makes it easier to recognise hopefully.

    Pretty much this. And these guys got lucky. And i was extremely stupid/lazy. I've been doing this for c 3 years though. Through the week i leave the bike in the back of my estate car with the extendable cover drawn. If you're really looking (or if you're already in the car looking for parking change and sat-navs!) then you'd know there was a bike there but it's certainly not obvious.

    I have reported it online to the police, and registered it with find that bike. I've put out a couple of social media feelers but i'm not holding out much hope. And i'm sure i can forget about my Garmin too! Very sad times.

    Was driving around lots of the night looking for scrotes wobbling about on high saddled 60 cm frame with clip pedals, then got up at 6 and went out on the MTB to see if it had been ditched anywhere. No luck.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    My old MTB was nicked from Loughborough when my son was using it as a student hack. Saw the stripped frameset on Ebay a week later (unusual brand so easy to find), seller in a dodgy part of Manchester.

    I had no photos, serial no or proof of ownership, and since it was 10 years old didn't bother plod or pursuing it personally. Bloody annoying, but not worth a 300 mile round trip to argue with a career criminal (looking at his other Ebay items he appeared to be fencing stolen & stripped bikes on an industrial scale...)
  • tootsie323
    tootsie323 Posts: 199
    I've had a bike stolen three times (edit - should add, not the same bike!) and actually got lucky the third time. First was my fault - I left my (cheap!) bike propped up when I quickly popped inside to fetch something. In the three minutes it took me to do that it was gone.
    Second time it was stolen when locked at a bike rack at a local supermarket chain. The lock wasn't the best but it was (I thought) quite robust. Supermarket CCTV didn't capture it because the cameras were trained n the car park, not the bike rack!
    Third time was from my flat when I was away and somebody else was staying there. To cut a long story short, somebody else decided to hold a party. And he no longer stays. A couple of weeks later I was over at the other end of town and saw a familiar looking bike propped up outside a shop. As I approached it to check, a couple of lads came out and walked away, one wheeling the bike. I confronted them - maybe not the best idea in hindsight, but they gave up the bike with little argument and did not hang around for the police to show up.
    Each time I did report it to the police, but did not mention it to the insurance providers (the first was a cheap BSO, the second at an age where it was not really worth it). Wish you luck.

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