So I got the bike 11 years ago (this weekend) as birthday gift. It is a Raliegh MTN bike. It has been a faithful companion for a decade. Attempted a century (and got fairly close on it one time) it is not a fun long distance bike, but it is a great commuter and everything works great except the bottom 8 gears which have no desire to work most of the time.
Last year I was going to university in TN. The apartment I lived in had the sadistic policy of not allowing bikes inside I would be one to break that rule, but my wife and I really had no room (not even for a wall or ceiling mount). So I was storing outside, but I used it every day to commute to class. I had it locked up at a place with good visibility and several unlocked bikes.
Then one fateful day my wife and I went shopping for two hours and when we came back it was gone! This was frustrating as the unlocked bikes were untouched and they broke the lock on mine. Maybe I should have invested in a better one, but.... I think they would have got to it eventually. I was also frustrated as while there were maybe 50 bikes at the apartment complex I was the only one who rode mine! It meant an hour to an hour and half of walking everyday after is was stolen. Ironically I found my lock 4 blocks away on my walk to class about a month later.
I filed the police report, but I did not have a serial #. I know I was an idiot (x2 now). I had a long shot idea what if I emailed the shop I bought it from? Well after a decade they sent me the invoice and serial #! So now I had it in the system. It would flag if it hit any pawn shops (I checked about 10 in the area in the following weeks). I looked all around in the surrounding neighborhoods, and I checked Craigslist fervently. Peewee herman syndrome had officially set in. About 8 months later I moved across the country to MN (transferring schools and moving back by family). At that point I assumed the bike was a lost cause.
A few days ago my phone craigslist alert came up with my "Raleigh" search (this hadn't work for 6 months or so). Out of curiosity I looked and the first bike I saw I knew was mine! I had not seen the particular model on the local craigslist at all. It was the same color and had the same seat, shifters, brakes, kickstand, gears, and tires. Upon further inspection I spied the part of the speedomer ziptied to the right stokes (just how mine had been) with no speedometer on the handlebars. I also saw that there had been a waterbottle cage in the same position as mine which had been removed. So it was still possibly a coincidence, but then I saw the chip that my bike had. I also thought I saw a sticker which is the shop I bought it from (they only sell in MN and WI not TN).
So I contacted the police and they contacted the seller. Yesterday the police got back to me and said the guy got it from a pawnshop and that the serial number did not match.
The plot thickens.
I knew it had to be the bike. Model, paint, same area, and parts coincidence maybe... but speedometer part, chip, and bike store sticker probably not.
Then I remembered when I got the bike I vaguely remember going back to the store a few days later and possibly having swapped bikes for a larger one (same model mind you). What if I had the wrong serial? Or if they hadn't given me the correct one? However I had switched bikes and they had given the incorrect serial # last time how would they know? The salesman was probably long gone and even if not it was 11 years. So as another shot in the dark I called the bikestore. "11 years ago I bought a bike it may been exchanged." I gave them the serial # over the phone and I was told that was the serial number for the first bike and there had indeed been an exchange and I had a different bike with a different serial number. So today I talked to the police and when I gave the new serial # the officer told me that it was correct. So they will be recovering my bike in the next week
All of this being said I am really thankful for their work on this and for the seller being so cooperative. I really hope he can get his money back from the pawn shop and maybe I can send a small gift card his way.
I will have to get it shipped. Who ships bikes the cheapest? To note I am not worried about it getting dinged up as that seems to be helpful.... I just don't want it going missing again transit
MM