There is a 1986 Peugeot Iseran locked up a few blocks from my house- I believe it has not moved in over a year and is locked via a ulock to a street sign. It was at some time converted to fg/ss and the seat and post have long been stolen or removed. Both tires are flat and should probably be replaced.

The question is, if you can't guess.........should I "remove" it and bring it in from the cold to rehab it for the summer months as if it were my own? Honestly it is a size too small for me but it is painful to see it day after day being mistreated.

I would leave a note on it and have the owner call you. Make sure he has the key to the U-lock to make sure some one else does not cut it off and try to sell it to you.

You could try notifying the police about an abandoned bike that's an eyesore, then try to buy it at the next police auction.

I'd "liberate" it.

We just had one last weekend- over 400 people showed up to bid on a total of 135 bikes- only three were fg/ss- next auction won't take place until April

Ethically you have two options:

1. Notify the local Police about it and express your interest in owning it if the owner can't be found.

2. Start knocking on nearbyu doors and at nearby businesses to see if anyone knows who the owner is. If #2 leads to nobody then go to option one.

Ethically it isn't a puppy or kitten or pony so you can't play the "saving it" option.

If you have to ask if it is ethical, then it probably is not.

Is it yours? No? Then it's not yours.

If it is locked on a street sign, call the police to remove it. It is illegal. The police will probably auction it out and then you would have your opportunity to legally (and ethically) get it.

Leave it. I believe it could be "bait" to catch goofballs. Regardless, it's not yours so it would be bad Karma to take it.

+1 to this.

What EjustE and bikerosity just said. Play fair so you don't get caught.

While true...the disappointing thing is that so many people wouldn't bother to ask/wonder/think about it...and just do it. While the OP shouldn't do it, at least to some extent the angel on his/her shoulder seems to be winning against the devil on the other shoulder

just out riding went by the bike and it has now fallen victim to vandals-

rear wheel is missing, front wheel was bashed in and the frame is bent from what appears to be kicking to the seat/chain stays.

real shame

Vent on.

SEARCH THE FORUM ARCHIVES FOR THE ANSWER. THIS HAS BEEN DRAWN OUT TO DEATH. IT IS NOT C&V SPECIFIC EITHER.

/Vent off.

-Kurt

Not a big deal - it was a Peugeot.

wrong size? let it go

if it were the right size and was abandoned then take it (if you know how)

whoops, never mind

This. Also if I was ever caught 'liberating' a bike, I don't think the police would believe that I aquired the other bike + parts I have at my home legally.

Good point.

Also, were I to go through the mental gymnastics required to see a clear path to stealing a bike, it wouldn't be a beater Frenchie that was halfway to re-absorption.

I'd set my sights higher, personally.

IMHO, we're in an area of legal vs. moral here. One would presume that the street maintenance if not law enforcement authorities should/could have done something to (a) remove an apparently abandoned bike from a public area before it became essentially trash and and an eyesore, and (b) attempt to identify its owner and take the appropriate subsequent steps.
Yes, I'm with the cya peeps here, though I can't see how the owner has any residual rights at this point to the piece of junk that is now cluttering public property, by removing it of your own accord you still run a personal risk that is not commenssurate with the value of salvaging the bike from its likely fate. But that is my practical view, not my moral view. Morally, what you're contemplating is not that different from collecting aluminum soda cans from the roadside to recycle them (albeit for compensation), rather than leaving them to continue to spoil the view.

It is different, though, since the owner locked it up to ensure it would be there when he returned. When you chuck a Bud tallboy out the window, it's fair game and many would argue unethical to *not* pick it up.

This really isn't a matter of ethics. It's a matter of resolving the ethics with your "I wanna!" urge. Personally, I have a pretty firm policy about not taking things that belong to others to quickly resolve these sorts of situations.

Besides, a lot of people will not ride through the winter. I wouldn't be surprised if the owner reclaimed it in the coming months, except that it has been so badly damaged.

Well first off, I'm cracking up hysterically that BBM said leave it because it's a Peugeot. Does not surprise me! Cheers buddy.

Anyway, this actually makes me a bit sad. I'm sitting here reading through this thread, hoping that you found a (maybe ethical) way to obtain this bike. Instead, I read that some losers have thrashed it and deprived it of its (limited) glory! Darn. I think this is a good indication that I have the sickness; I feel sympathy for inanimate objects. I wish we could have saved it.

-Collin-

"...it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known".

The Peugeot has left the building.


There you go - Dickens and Elvis in one post.

I disagree.

There are many areas we can get into that resist black/white assessment. These are known by various names. Moral quandary, conundrum, dilemma are three. Although I hear many people say they face a moral dilemma when they really don't, there are situations that create true dilemma. Voting, for instance. But I digress.

The OP asked a valid question. Many people wouldn't ask, but the OP understood he was entering a gray area, and judging by the mixed responsed, he was right.

I suppose this is a good example in support of a requirement to register bikes.

Ethics question?

No comment.

Seriously, I just stay away from that kind of potential trouble.

I once bought a Schwinn Varsity for $10. It looked like it'd been locked to pole or rail or something for a long time, too. I rode it for 4 years, so if it had that kind of value to me, it may well have been liberated just for the sale. At the time, I didn't worry about it, being 21.

Now, I would.