Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - STOLEN track bike alert (London)

Hey all, hopefully word will get around, as I can't see anybody but a courier or track rider buying this stolen bike...

My Condor Potenza was stolen from right outside a pub a few weeks ago. It was locked to a lightpost 15 feet away from a pub full of people with a wall full of windows looking onto the street, well-lit, in a (supposedly) good part of London, with lots of foot traffic.

I had the bike chained up to a tall lightpost using a massive ABUS Steel-o-flex lock, as well as a Kryptonite D-lock connecting the front wheel to the frame.

I can only assume they were professionals as they probably needed powertools (will bolt cutters get through one of these?) to get through the main lock, which meant they needed a vehicle. I doubt they popped both locks and rode it away; they took all the lock parts with them. There was no cutting debris on the ground where the bike was. How DO they get through these locks? http://www.tinyurl.com/79f98

Apparently nobody in the Duke of Cambridge saw anything, although I have NO idea how that's possible.

Unfortunately, I have no photos of the bike, other than what's on Condor's website ( http://www.condorcycles.com/showBike.php?id=35 -- I'm kicking myself now). It's the same blue bike (big top photo), but with a black saddle, grey handlebar tape and a single front Shimano brake, with the lever on the left side. I also had well-worn Shimano single-sided SPD pedals on it, and a number of paint chips, particularly around the rear axle nuts. The serial number on the bottom bracket is 139105.

I doubt if the bastards would try and sell this thing in London. I work in Soho; I see alot of couriers ride past every day, so I'd undoubtably see my bike. Then again, I doubt a courier would buy a bike they know has been stolen. Anyone know what city they might try and sell it in?

If anyone has any ideas where to look to try and find my bike, please let me know. I've been frequenting ebay and craigslist for a few weeks, with no luck.

Thanks for any help at all.
AG

Man that stinks! I feel for ya! I watched a documentary recently on bike thieves in New York City. It was amazing how clueless the average bystander is though. They had thieves walk up to a busy area with a bag full of power tools, and would proceed to break the locks in a very loud manner. Nobody even blinked. When questioned afterwards, none of the bystanders noticed a thing.

Again, sorry!

Go to brick lane every sunday morning for the next few months. stolen bikes tend to show up there. Even seen a few track bikes in the past couple years - mostly newer Condor Pistas. Only thing is you would need some big backup to keep it there until/if the cops come and it wouldnt hurt to have proof that its yours.

Bad thing is, according to English law, if somebody buys a bike in good faith then it is rightfully theirs. If somebody claims that bike was once stolen from them, that person has to take it up in civil court.

Good luck, which area was it stolen from?

Might also want to post it over on the Cycling Plus forums.

that really sucks! sorry to hear that.
yeah, check brick lane every sunday. full of stolen bikes. I have never seen those potenza ridden on the street, only in the shop and at Herne Hill. Never ride such a nice bike to pubs!

Thanks for the kind words, kids. I'm quickly learning that you need two bikes: a PoS to take to the pub, and a pristine beauty you never let out of your sight.

I started combing Brick Lane a couple of weekends ago, but it might be tough to find the right person at the right time. The bike was registered with the London police, and I carry around the tear-away part of that registration in my wallet. If I ever find it, I hope to have enough time to find a cop (or beat the crap out of the guy, depending on his size).

The cops were doing some sort of sting operation a while ago in Camden apparently. They'd leave a bike (unlocked, probably) and watch it from a distance. They'd then nab the guy who comes along and takes it. They didn't have to wait very long. A few times, the undercover cop had just turned around to walk back to the observation point when the bike was taken. They nabbed a few guys, but I think there's a bigger problem than just a few crackheads looking for a cheap source of income. They need to find the guys with the powertools and the van, maybe track the bikes and see where they go. They need to lock up expensive bikes using proper locks and see how they just 'disappear'.

If the City of London wants more people to ride, they're going to have to curb the constant bike theft. Within two weeks, two of my friends' bikes were also stolen (one a PoS, one a £400 mtn bike), in a very similar fashion to mine: they weren't stupid about where/how they locked it up. If they want your bike (and there's theives out there who really do), they'll get it, simple as that.

My extreme advice to people might be: don't lock up outside. Or: don't use your bike for anything but commuting, where you bring your bike into the office. But then, what the hell is the POINT of having a bike? What if I want to stop on the way home to buy something? Or run an errand at lunch? I don't want to have to ride some piece of crap all over town.

There, my rant's done for the day.
AG

Messengers rarely leave bikes for more than 10min.

Bermondsey fire bridgade had their hydraulic cutters knicked - with them, anything is game.

Its just dogs luck.

Go to the Duke (or York on clerkenwell rd, ec1) friday night with a flyer. Word gets round.

laters,
andy

Your bike was locked with a cable lock. No cable lock will survive three minutes against an experienced Pro. Most last closer to three seconds. The UK "Sold Secure" Insurance Institute has NEVER given a "Gold" rating to any cable lock, no matter how massive, how heavy, or how expensive.

In a "big" city, you MUST use a "gold" rated U-lock attached around your rear wheel plus around a sturdy steel post that is set in concrete. "Gold" rated U-lock locks sold in the UK include the Kryptonite New York 3000, the Abus Granit X Plus 54, and the "Urban" Paramount. Check out the lock tests in the April 2005 issue of "Cycling Plus".

When I park in bad neighborhoods, I use my "looks like junk" bike. It has "slapped on" ugly green paint, no decals, and looks twenty years old (which it is). Crooks don't know it has a Reynolds 531 frame and fork, nor do they realize that 1985 Shimano 600 parts work as nicely as 2005 Ultegra parts. It rides like a $2,000 bike, but LOOKS like a $20 bike.

"How To Lock Your Bike CORRECTLY...Unlike Everyone Else Does..." by Sheldon Brown

www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

Sorry to hear about the bike man, I know how it feels. FYI i'm the one who you emailed about the 2004 Pista that you saw on the fixedgeargallery forums. Peace..

if i remember correctly there was a blue condor pista on ebay.co.uk recently...
how do you find auctions that have ended?

advanced search - tick completed auctions only, but I think it only goes back 30 days...

hm..i only get listings till the 26th april but it lists only "completed auctions" so maybe
it wont list an auction if it has been pulled before its regular end. it was definitely
in that time frame.

if i remember correctly there was a blue condor pista on ebay.co.uk recently...
how do you find auctions that have ended?

A Pista? Or a Potenza? Which ebay? .co.uk? or .com?

A Pista? Or a Potenza? Which ebay? .co.uk? or .com?

I think it was a potenza because it was this baby blue colour. ebay.co.uk

Ah, I see it. This sure isn't it, though: http://tinyurl.com/9ha4x

nope. thats not it. the picture of the bike was taken outside slightly from behind...
I could swear it had london or even soho as location and that cought my attention
since I am in soho as well and see quite a few of those bikes.

Crap, I just combed 20 pages of expired ebay auctions, found nothing. If anyone sees the listing, please post it. Thanks a million, Sohi, you've given me a glimmer of hope.

Hey Sohi, I just thought of this: could you maybe look through your browser's history to see if you can track down that link on ebay.co.uk? The link may have been removed from ebay's search feature, but I think the pages remain in the database for a while.

Of course, it depends on how long ago you saw the link, and whether or not you cleared your history since then.

If you can find the link, I owe you BIG TIME.

AG

Hey Sohi, I just thought of this: could you maybe look through your browser's history to see if you can track down that link on ebay.co.uk? The link may have been removed from ebay's search feature, but I think the pages remain in the database for a while.

Of course, it depends on how long ago you saw the link, and whether or not you cleared your history since then.

If you can find the link, I owe you BIG TIME.

AG

ok, I am looking right now. couldnt find anything in the cached images but there are lots of
links in my history.dat of firefox. I have to find an efficient way to go through them.
when I copy&pasted some of them they where already invalid items at ebay.
btw. how tall are you? I might have an old frame from my old fixed conversion to give
away plus some random bits.

I'm 6'0", I think my frame was a 54, maybe a 56, but I could be mistaken.

In Firefox, the History tab (alt-h) lets you filter by site, just type 'ebay' in the Search field.

That'd be awesome if you had spare parts! I'm only in the UK until mid-August, but if I can put something together cheap, I might take you up on that.

Thanks again,
A

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