smd4

Alleged "cyclists" have no problem stealing from possibly their fellow cyclists. Makes me damn proud to be part of this hobby. NOT.

AdventureManCO 

If someone locked up that bike, it was theirs and they cared about it. Maybe something happened to them, but since they didn't park it there with the intention to give it away (hence the lock), I would have to honor that intention and respect it, knowing that I don't have all the details. I don't think I'd be able to ride it in good faith. and I'd always wonder...

Best case scenario is that like an abandoned car, it gets flagged, then removed, then if left unclaimed, opened up for auction. That's the only surefire way to know. If the city instead just dumps the bike, that is unfortunate but the way things are. Maybe ask them where their dumpster is I know that Denver has an abandoned property auction online, and lots of bikes come and go through that.

MooneyBloke

There's a lot of moralizing going on here. Personally, I believe that going through law enforcement is the only legitimate way of dealing with this. My only worry here it that the bike would get warehoused in an open area which is no better than the current state. The thing is that while I'm pretty certain that the municipality has some notion of public nuisance connected with abandoned property, it's up to law enforcement to handle this. A couple of years ago, there was a car sitting on the street towards the rear of my lot for weeks. My neighbor called the police, and they attached a warning sticker that the car was going to get towed, and the car was moved shortly. Abandonment is a thing, but it's up to the municipality not the individual.

I find little solace in the notion that if it gets vandalized, it's not vandalized by you. There should be a right thing to do which respects the quality of the item itself. I have turned a bike abandoned at my property to the police, and I have had help from the local police on a few occasions where my bike was stolen off private property.

I do suspect the most irate people here also do not leave their bicycles around like this. My Mooneys are either generally in the house or between my legs. The few times I've left them, it's been for minutes not weeks. Happily, they don't look like cool bikes to the masses, and I suspect they are likely less thief magnets than they would have been twenty years ago.

MooneyBloke

I do think the OP should be a bit proactive with the police rather than waiting for someone else or cops to simply notice. The alternative is bad weathering, vandalism, and parts theft. I've seen far too many warped bikes in campus racks when I was at college. I had lights and bells taken off my campus cruiser when I was in class. The bike should be made safe somehow in a timely fashion. At the same time, I understand that the police in Los Angeles have likely more pressing matters at hand.

Classtime 

OP here: I could have called the city already and they would have taken the bike to storage. If the owner returns to the rack for their bike and it is gone, there is a good chance they will write it off as stolen and a loss -- never checking with the city. I have chosen to hope the owner returns for the bike before it is even less valuable to them. A couple years ago, I watched an VGC 80s red Schwinn Super Sport waste away and it wasnt removed until it was missing most every component and was brown with rust.

tkamd73 

Maybe it was a nice Brooks, would certainly fit that bike, 4, 5 & 6mm hex keys easily fit in ones pocket, including possibly the owner’s.
Tim

Classtime 

Doesn’t that trek take a 7/32 hex? I recall needing a weird hex for my 710.

SoCaled 

Hmm . . . https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ws...663645669.html

madpogue 

Whoever posted that ^^^^^^ broke a cardinal rule of "Found" ads - provide as LITTLE identifying information as possible, or at least make it cryptic enough that only the rightful owner would be able to provide enough context to establish ownership.

Classtime 

I deleted my picture. We need SurferRosa to delete his quote of my pic.

jdawginsc 

Seal the seat tube with a ziplock or cover the entire thing and be the nice neighbor.

Unless I missed something on page two and it is no longer there?

Russ Roth

People on this forum over estimate the security of locks, that's just a thick cable lock. It'll cut through in three snips from a park cable cutter, I've done it plenty of times on bikes that the owners lost the key or combination for while doing a tune up. Even a kryptonite U-lock only needs a battery powered dremel with a metal cutting disc to cut through in a couple minutes, was well under three the last time I did it. Smaller, more portable, and safer for you and the bike.

Mr. 66

Lol, no "We" don't. I don't see why he should

The thread needs it. After all our motto 'pictures or it didn't happen'

Classtime 

If the ne'er-do-well who responded to my CL post had seen the picture, he could have described the bike well enough to inspire me to help him get it "back". Since he did not, he could not, and he gave up. The picture that I used in the CL add is generic from the web. Chances are slim that the owner sees the add or the pictures but I would appreciate a deletion of the pictures until this case is settled. Thanks.

tkamd73 

Good to know, Thanks! Didn’t realize a dremel could do that, much easier to carry around then a battery angle grinder.
Tim

Mr. 66

Interesting that it was found, and hoping to return to the owner, sure.

Or is this it

and you are getting what you always wanted, in a bad way.

malcala622 

Is this it?

madpogue 

^^^^^ The permit decal on the top tube looks..... familiar

panzerwagon 

They literally just put on a seatpost/saddle, replaced the pedals, removed bottle cage and listed for sale. Somehow, I doubt it's the original owner

Edit: On the other hand, the ad was "last edited 20 days ago", whatever that means. This thread was started on 8/29, and OP stated the bike was sitting like that for at least two weeks. Dunno what's going on here

Classtime 

That is the bike! I responded to the “seller” regarding availability. If he did sell it, with the add still up, he might be able to contact his buyer! This could be great help. Good one malcala622

AdventureManCO 

Hmmm…so the bike is for sale…but is it also still down by the beach as well? If so, that would probably prove that the ad is old. Maybe?

Interesting one this is

AdventureManCO 

I’m going to infer that Classtime didn’t take the bike but is merely trying to help find the owner through the ‘found’ ad which, if could be proven, he would then lead them to its current location.

Clarification would be good here.

jdawginsc 

It was Professor Plum in the conservatory with the pedal wrench...

madpogue 

Then whose fingerprints were those on the Campag peanut butter wrench?

jdawginsc 

AnJellyca Green’s