Theiving, and Other Activities
Got my bike stolen either last night or this morning. Kryptonite cable was cut, from a large apartment’s garage. There are several cut cables lying on the ground- a kind of theft graveyard. I had just been warned by my sister to store the bike in my apartment, in the bedroom actually, to which I laughed- she told me this last weekend! “Told you so” stories aside, if you see a brand-new Specialized Sirrus (black) with carbon seat post- for sale somewhere probably - please drop me a line. I miss it sorely. I was just going to take it out to GGBridge and Larkspur. This is the first nice bike I’ve ever had- and I was just getting used to more than 3 gears, and a good quick release.
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That well and truly sucks [understatement, yeah] I’ll keep an eye out on my walk through UN Plaza/Public Library Main Branch area - which is one of the more notorious open air ‘markets’ in town. FWIW: you might wanna troll craigslist (the bike and lost and found sections). I’ve seen random postings by good samaritans who buy obviously stolen bikes for a song and then post online that they’ve found them and will return to the owners if proof can be established. Really cool. Good luck.
Thanks Sean. I feel like I’ve “joined the club” of bike enthusiasts. Seems like (from the stories I hear) if you are at all serious about the activity at some point your bike will be stolen. Sister’s ex-boyfriend had his bike stolen from inside a locked truck! OK, I have started checking craigslist now- and I have a post on there too. Thanks.
I own the same bike (colors, type). It wasn’t me! All jokes aside - I feel for you. I bought the Sirrus to replace another Specialized stolen in Santa Cruz more than a year ago. Same story - cut cable. You had a cable attached to that bike, eh? Not to make you feel any worse than you do but next time go with a U-Lock and follow these locking procedures here:
http://missinglink.org/Pages/bike_locking.html
This is great advice for anyone reading this and concerned about their bike. I hope you get it back! I’ll keep a look out for it!
That sucks. A friend had a locked Stumpjumper stolen from a locked apartment building garage as well.
I think what people say is that it’s best to lock your bikes up with two locks of two different types. One U-lock and one cable lock, for example. This is the advice even when one is out and about and leaving one’s bike out for relatively short periods and probably goes doubly so for when you’re leaving the bike around for extended periods.
Though, I imagine, if your bike’s in a fairly secluded place for an extended period, there’s no way you’re going to be safe from a determined thief.
Seems like today is sucking for a lot of other people too. Note: we have security cameras, so theif may be caught on tape!
The SF Bike Coalition also has a great theft prevention section on their website including a nifty flash animation about proper locking technique.
i bought a bike today in oakland fitting that description. i was biking home from coffee and this kid asked if i wanted to buy a bike. i normally say know and keep going, but i saw how new it was and i knew it was stolen and thought the person might want it back. he started at $200 and i talked him down to $75… i posted on CL and answered your ad as well.
tell me the serial # and it’s yours for $75. i hope that doesn’t sound too harsh, but you simply want your bike and i just want my money back, right?
frank
found the owner in under 1 hour on craigslist. wow.