Fifty Plus (50+) - Have You Had Your Bike Stolen?

I noticed in the first bike thread that a number of you have had stolen or missing bikes.

So, lets find out how many.

You may vote several times, but only on your first time. Once you click "vote" that's it.

My first bike, a Raleigh Super Course was stolen from the bike rack when I was in high school. It was never recovered.

I just had a Raliegh Super course stolen as well. It's an epidemic. :)

I had a really nicely tricked out Specialized Stumpjumper, and had it parked just inside the door of the room we were doing some computer work in. The bike was about 20 feet away from both me and my friend. I was there about 2 hours, and when I went to leave I noticed the bike was gone.

Apparently some dirtbag was walking by, saw the bike, saw we had our backs to it, and reached in and quietly rolled it out and took off.

The bike was worth a couple grand, never seen again.

I had a bike stolen when I was in college. It was locked to a wrought iron fence over night. When I came out in the morning, the lock was still there, and still locked. The bike, however, was gone. Never figured that one out.

Was the fence still there?

My son had just gotten his brand new(to him) Peugeot 10 spd many years ago, which he had saved $100 for.

He and his friend went into a store on a strip mall, and when they came out a few seconds later, both bikes were gone, never to be seen again.

I had a bike stolen when I was in college. It was locked to a wrought iron fence over night. When I came out in the morning, the lock was still there, and still locked. The bike, however, was gone. Never figured that one out.

another theft attributable to the ghost of Houdini.

I had my recumbent, faired, BikeE stolen while I was having lunch in a restaurant. When I came out and noticed it gone, I called 911 for the hell of it, and the dispatcher asked me if it was one of those "funny sit down bikes." They had already recovered it. The first patrol car who saw it without me on it, stopped the kids who were running with it, because they didn't know how to ride it. "What did you do with the old guy who rides this?" The police sent a car to the restaurant and took me to where the bike was found. I live in a small city of half a million, but I am extremely conspicuous to the police and other drivers, who may not know me, but certainly know my bike. I was happy to have my bike back and now I double lock it when I'm in a less savory part of town.

I had a bike stolen when I was a kid. I lived in a small town then..where everybody practically knew everyone. 2 kids stole it right out of our front yard one night while our family was sleeping. The local police chief caught the 2 kids... they were about to paint the bike. We didn't even know it had been stolen. The police chief recognized the bike.. which was mine. He brought it to our house the next morning and told us what had happened. I was just a kid, but I was shocked when he told us that it was 2 of our second cousins who stole it.

My son recently had a Trek 4300 mountain bike stolen in southern florida. He had purchased it used about 6 months before this happened. He paid $200 for it. It was his first bike store bike and he truly loved the bike. He was into motorcycles before then. He told me that he locked it up to a rack. Went into a resteraunt , and was in there about 45 minutes. When he came out the bike was gone. He filed a police report, but it has never been found.

I found out later that it wasn't locked up with a lock. He locked it with a cable lock. The thief just cut the cable and took off on it. On the bright side. He will be purchasing a new 4300 mountain bike within the next couple of weeks. And he told me that he will be using a different lock. Probably a new york lock.

My Brother had a bike stolen when we were a kid. He was to stupid to lock it.
My son had a bike stolen when he was bout 10. Ditto
I had my Continental stolen when I was 31. Out of a bike rack where I was living. they used wire cutters to nibble away at the 1/2" cable, snip a wire at a time. It's been about 25 years and it still pisses me off when I think of it. Never seen again by me.
Joe