Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - When you see a bike on Craig's List...

...that is missing just a front or just a rear tire, does it make you go...'Hmmmmm' ?

Maybe I am too suspicious but I usually get a mental picture of a bike rack somewhere with just a tire locked to it.

If there is even the slightest change that it is a stolen bike, I pass.

That is my course of action too.

it could be the poor dude got the wheel stolen ...

That is possible too. I just brought this up because I saw 2 bikes on Craigslist today that I was semi interested in (a $50 Specialized and a $50 Fuji) and both were missing a wheel. I don;t see it terribly often but I do see it.

I came out of the library one day and my rear wheel had been stolen. It works both ways!

Went to the grocery store and made sure I secured my new bike. Came out and my saddle, pump and ditty bag were all gone.

OTOH...I recently sold a bike where I tacoed the front wheel. Didn't bother to replace it, just sold it. It happens.

...that is missing just a front or just a rear tire, does it make you go...'Hmmmmm' ?

Maybe I am too suspicious but I usually get a mental picture of a bike rack somewhere with just a tire locked to it.

If it's missing a tire, then perhaps the tire blew, and they didn't want to buy a new tire, although I would probably just pick up a cheap tire and put that on..... If it's missing more, like the whole wheel, then it should raise questions.

Tell the seller you would like to record the serial number, and run a police check, if they get antsy, then it's probably stolen. If they are calm about it, then record the serial number, and ask the seller for identification like a drivers licence, record that number as well, Call the local police non-emergency number, and tell them that you are thinking of purchasing a used bicycle, and are suspicious and would like to know if it's been reported stolen. They can check their reports and see if that bicycle has been reported, if it has, give them the sellers drivers licence number you recorded.

One of the key issues though, people need to record the serial number on their bicycles, the year, colour, make and model. You should also register your bicycle with the local police department, as they will check found and turned in bicycles with the registry, and you will stand a better chance of getting your bicycle back, or at least part of it. If your bicycle is stolen, even if it's your beater bike, then report it stolen to the police.

A local bicycle dealer who dealt in stolen goods, had in their possession 3000 bicycles, less then 1% of those were registered, a viewing managed to get some 250 more united with their owners, the remainder will be auctioned off by the police department, once the time period has expired. Does mean that there may be some good deals on used bicycles in the near future......

The downer of that, Wog, is whether the police dept. bothers to check the register or maintain it. We used to have one in this city and I think it fell by the wayside because registering your bike in no way meant it would get linked to you in the future.

If it's missing a tire, then perhaps the tire blew, and they didn't want to buy a new tire, although I would probably just pick up a cheap tire and put that on..... If it's missing more, like the whole wheel, then it should raise questions.

Yeah, I meant wheel and tire. I have made that mistake so many times you think I would be extra careful to check myself. But, alas, I don't. lol

+1 Works both ways.

Years ago I had a wheel stolen, and I took what remained of the bike and traded it in at the local LBS.

If the seller has a reasonable story, and you go to his home and believe it is an honest deal, I would go for it. Certainly a bike missing a wheel will have a huge discount, and many of us have a wheel or two, or more sitting around.

Kind of the old peanut butter cup analogy. I take your bike missing wheels and mix it with my spare set of wheels, and I then have a good sellable bike.

The downer of that, Wog, is whether the police dept. bothers to check the register or maintain it. We used to have one in this city and I think it fell by the wayside because registering your bike in no way meant it would get linked to you in the future.

It actually goes both ways, suppose the police department sets up a registry, and it will accommodate the 50,000 bicycles in town nicely, but they only get 5 registrations? They give up. What needs to happen and probably does, some places is to get bicycle dealers involved, so when you buy a bicycle, the dealer has the forms, you fill out the form, put a stamp on it and toss it into the mail box. Of course the other issue is that maybe it would be better if registration was handled at the state/provincial level. Considering that the province (state) already has a pretty good vehicle registration system in place. Bicycle registrations would not necessarily need annual renewal, and a small registration fee could be implemented.

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/bikewheel.jpg