Dan The Man

Well, looks like my tour isn't going anywhere for a while. I just got into San Francisco yesterday, and this morning I had my bike stolen outside the library. It had a cable lock that was clipped. Luckily atleast, I didn't have any bags or much gear on it. Just water bottles, bike pump, repair kit, first aid kit, and a few knick knacks. I probably shouldn't have taken it around the town. Weeks of stopping in small towns has made me lazy about safety. So anyways, I filed a police report, and if anybody has any advice on getting back a stolen bike I'd like to hear it. If you live in San Francisco, keep an eye out for a red Devinici Chicane. There probably aren't many of them because they don't sell in the States.

Here is a picture of it:

Robert_in_ca

Sorry to hear about that. If you need to find a quick replacement, SF's Craigslist is pretty active. Maybe you can find a steel trek mtb for around 70 bucks to get you by.

Beelzebutt

do you have the serial number on record back home where some one can find it for you? believe it or not thats the best way to locate your bike. pawn shops have to report the numberes into a police database or some crap and the cops can track it down.. assuming it wasnt just sold on the street or traded for crack. sorry about your bad luck man.. i believe SF has a community bike shop or two. maybe you can put a bike together on the super cheap if you explain your position? i did a quick search and found this. https://bikekitchen.org/ seems like a good group. and these guys. https://www.thebikehut.com/

good luck!

nazdarovye

Very sorry to hear this. One suggestion is to watch Craigslist over the next several days:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/

rodar y rodar

Oh, no! No advice to offer, but I`m very sorry to hear that your tour came to a screeching halt that way. I guess it`s better than ending with an ambulance ride, but it really irks me when people purposely behave like such jerks. Hope it works out for you somehow.

lard

Go check out the Vans with piles of bikes on their roofs, under the 101 on Harrison(next to bestbuy). Crack heads sell bikes there. Bring a friend, its sketchy.

escii_35

Yuck,

I'll be extra careful when I hit sanfran in 4.5 weeks. If my 15 year old steed is pilfered the break apart travel bike is ready for shipping.

pasopia

Ask around where the crackheads sell stolen bikes. You may be able to find it. I've had some friends in SF recover bikes that way. Maybe you could post on the regional board for SF.

Bacciagalupe

Yeah, I'd be extremely careful in the SF / Bay Area. It's notorious for bike theft.

mwl6464

Can you tell us what cable lock brand and thickness of cable?

spinnaker

+1

As the years go by I grow more bitter and far less tolerant of such people. Thieves, murderers and even those graffiti vandals, the whole lot. I'm all for the 3 strikes rule. Commit your third offense and you are in it for life. Commit a violent crime and you get life or the death sentence. Chance's are the person that stole Dan the Man's bike has a criminal record. Had they stayed in jail where they belong than Dan would still have his bike.

If you tell me you are going to keep criminals off the street but you need to raise my taxes to do so then fine as long as they make good on their promise.

As far as some ideas.

Try CouchSurfing.com and warmshowers.org. Both groups have great people and if you tell them your problem I would not surprise me if they were not falling over one another to help you.

Once you get back on the road you might want to check into the Santa Cruz Hostel I noticed they offer groceries included with a nights stay, if I am reading it right. That is pretty cool. I am not sure how they do it,

lshobo

I live in San Francisco and I love this city, but I'm very sorry that your experience here has been sullied by such theft. It runs rampant here, and I never lock my bike anywhere where I can't keep an eye on it at all times. What will you do next?

It's a great looking bike and uncommon here for sure. I'll be sure to keep an eye out.

Neil_B

How horrible! I hope you get your bike back, or at least get another so you can continue your tour.

valygrl

Wow, sorry to hear that. If you decide to buy a new bike, The Bicycle Outfitter in Los Altos stocks tour bikes.

Highcyclist

Does the SF Bay Area have something like this: https://finetoothcog.com/ ?

Dan The Man

I picked up a Schwinn Le Tour for about $600 after tax then spent another 100 or so replacing rack, pedals, lock, pump, bottles, cages etc. It's not the greatest bike in the world, but it works fine.

simplygib

Well that just plain sucks. It was a great looking bike as well. Damned losers anyway. I lost my trusty mtb in the same manner 15 years ago and it still pisses me off when I think about it. Hope the new bike and rest of the tour go better for you.

ETA: If you have time, any current info you could provide regarding the west coast tour would be appreciated. Planning a Seattle or Portland to San Diego tour myself but was thinking this time of year might be 1) too crowded and 2) too foggy.

Dan The Man

So far I haven't had any problems with fog. It has been mostly overcast on the coast, which helps keep the sun off your back. As for crowded, do you mean bicycle wise or car wise? I have probably met about 20 or so odd cyclists along the way, so there are a lot of people doing the same trip. I left by myself and have only ridden about 7 days alone so far. The route is pretty straight forward, just follow the 101 or the 1. It gets a bit tricky around San Francisco and south of there. Santa Cruz to Monterey got me lost a few times.

zoltani

I will keep a lookout for your bike.
It is sad that bike theft is so rampant here, and i worry about it almost constantly. For future SF travelers you should know that the area around downtown and especially the library is crackhead central, and they will steal anything and everything from your bike that is not locked down, or, as in the OP's case the whole bike. Either use a heavy u-lock or park the bike inside somewhere safe (maybe the hostel can work something out) and leave it there while seeing the sites.

avatarworf

I'm sorry to hear that... it's our biggest fear! We always use a heavy U-lock in cities, even though it feels silly carrying it around the countryside.

Nigeyy

Dan, really sorry to hear about your bike, that really stinks. I just think that's such a low thing to do.

Nigeyy

Spinnaker I got a head start on you, I felt like that when I was in school way back and some one stole some of my stuff. I was out working menial jobs to get what I'd got stolen -felt like if I could go out and work instead of stealing other people's stuff they could do that too.

simplygib

Thanks for the info. I guess I meant everything-wise. Are you camping or doing a cc tour? Any trouble with full campgrounds?