BFG

So the bike is now officially mine and I can safely disclose the secret.

...Guess who got their hardtail back?
ME!!!!!!!!

For those not aware of what that means, check this thread.

Now for the story......Monday morning (2 days ago, I'm typing this Wednesday night for those of you who are time zone impaired) I slept in a little, which I never do, and took my time shaving and getting ready which meant I had to catch the late train (something I also never do) on my daily commute. I get on the train and see a dude with a bike, but he's a little way away and the train is pretty packed so I say to myself "When I get off the train, I'll walk next to him. I like perving on a nice bike subtly"

The train gets to the end of the line, and we both get off. I catch up to him and on my way there I notice he too was walking a BSX Comp down the platform, something I was no stranger to back in the day, and that he too was running an 08 XT rear derailleur, and that he too had a big ole distinct scratch (which was almost a gouge!) in the middle of the top tube....hang on a second....that's my bike!

So I stop the guy and pretend I just want to talk bike for a bit, but I wind up asking him how long he's had it "Yeah I bought it second hand on the 29th of December last year" he says to me. Funny how he remembers the date so specifically, but hey. I ask him where he bought it from and he said one of the local pawn shops (cyclops/harov3/whatever your name is now - it was Cash Generator in midland). I believed him because he was pretty well dressed, spoke with proper English and was pretty clean looking. He didn't look like a bike thief.

I ten said to him "Look, xxxx, I think you have inadvertently bought my stolen bike". He looked a little puzzled and then I explained to him (I was a little frantic, excited and jumpy by this stage as you can imagine) that it was stolen from my house on xmas eve 2007, a mere 5 days before he purchased it. He was very helpful and oh so co-operative. e said "Look, I paid good money for this bike, so I'm of course not just going to hand it over to you this morning" which I understood fully and explained to him that if I could get his number I would go to the local police station on my way home and speak to an officer about what the right course of action is, which I did. I gave him all the details I had, along with the receipt from the bike shop proving I owned it.

This morning I get a call from the Constable saying that if I go to the secondhand shop in question and quote them my incident report number, the bike is mine to pick up. The guy got his money back, and as far as I know, Cash Generator are in quite a bit of trouble. All I know is I'm really stoked to be back on my bike, my pride and joy. I rode it home this afternoon and, honestly, I shed a tear as I took off on it. It's beyond great to have my bike back in my shed, locked up safely. I'm not letting it go again.



Only things that were wrong with it were the back brake had no pads in it at all, so I grabbed a set on my way home, the pedals had been swapped out to Odyssey Triple Traps (I though these were Trials pedals? Anyway...) and the bars and stem have been changed to crummy Kmart items since Monday. I can live though, I'm just stoked to have it back, and in one peice.

=]

mtnbiker66

Nice. That is awsome! Do they have any idea who stole the bike?

BFG

Not as far as I know. The police would probably trace it back as far as they can, and if they catch him I assume they would find some other hot property too.

Best ride home today, ever.

BFG

I plan on selling at the least the fork and frame for something a little more XC orientated and swap the parts over to have a burly trail bike.

Something like a Jamis Komodo or SC Chameleon - I could still race 4x on one of those, whilst still be able to ride and race XC too, all on a budget.

Cyclist30907654

Heh. Planning upgrades already, eh?

Luke52

**** yeah, great work

BFG

Haha.
This young mind has been ticking over for some time now about what bike I'll be on in the not too distant future. All I know at the moment is that it wown't be a full on DH bike, but no weeny XC'er either. Im thinking an 05/06 Enduro or an 04/05 Bullit, I'm seriously stuck between the two, and both of those frames could be had for similar monies in Australia.

Whether I wind up with a burly hardtail and a do it all fully, or a really nice do it all fullyfrankenbike made from a mix of SGS/Diamondback parts, and stuff bought with profit from some stuff on both being sold, I'm not sure yet.

So many options.

santiago

That's amazing! You shave?

I kid, I kid - very awesome story. Congrats. This happy story can only get better if the bike thief is caught and somehow gets castrated.

BFG

Haha i get that all the time santiago. Yes, I do =]

It would be nice to meet the bike thief. Not say anything, just know who he is. I don't know why. He really screwed me up - or she!

cryptid01

Fixed, TGMBG style

BFG

Yeah that's what I meant.

Sorry, common typo.

born2bahick

Allright BFG!!!!! Happy for you!

phillypino215

congrats on gettin it back! i guess thats one of the good things of not having just a regular black or white bike and not in complete mint condition...

dminor 

WOW. Just wow. That is bike-recovery story of the year right there. Congrats, BFG.

I'm reading it and thinking "shaving?" "commuting?" "on a train no less?" Sounds like an old person

junkyard

I know. I was going to say, who is that scruffy kid hanging onto your bike in the photo? All in good jest, of course.

Congrats on getting the ride back. And, by the way, there is nothing weenie about XC.

Edit: One more thing, karma will take care of the thief. If I'm ever in Australia, you can just refer to me as "karma".

markhr

Sweet BFG. Now post some action shots please.

Luke52

BFG

Thanks D.
Highlight of my year so far I think.

sk0tt

Congrats on getting your bike back, my bike was stolen March last year, I hope the police check that shops records.

BBnet3000

wow, thats a nice thing to have happened

its always nice to have lost something and then gotten it back

JonnyV

That's awesome. Glad you got your pride back (no pun intended). I'd go nuts if someone took one of my bikes. They keep me sane, whether riding them, fixing them or just working on them. There is something relaxing about being around a bicycle. I too hope the thief gets what's coming to him. Good luck.

Luke52

Yeah, I agree.

I consider myself lucky if I can fit in a decent 2 hour ride once a fortnight, due to school and work, but even just seeing my bikes when I go outside, or tinkering with them makes me feel calm and relaxed. Even though fixing bikes can sometimes cause swearing and violence

BearSquirrel

In the old West they hung horse thieves. I don't see any reason why we should treat bike thieves any different ;-)

BFG

Funny you should mention so, considering I'm from the West.......Western Australia anyway.

markhr

Western suburb of Tasmania you mean