Heartbroken
 

Four of my bikes--including my three nicest--stolen from my apt. bldg last night.

I'm not a wealthy person. I buy everything used, and scrabble for good deals. I tend to keep what I buy, as I go after bikes that catch my eye or have certain materials, etc.

Here's what they took:

-A Trek 7.3fx (black, 20", from a couple years ago w/some really nice mods by the previous owner)
-A 2004 Fuji Roubaix Pro (reynolds 853, 58cm) -- well used by its previous owner, but also well looked after. On paper, was probably my nicest bike.
-A 1998 (?) Cannondale R600, converted to SS
-an early 80s Motobecane Jubilee that was too small for me and was morphing into a donor bike (not such a big deal.)

I depend on the Trek for daily use. I'm a student and part time consultant and bought these bikes mostly last year when I was getting more work. I have almost nothing going on right now.

Someone once told me there's a saying: "there's a special hell reserved for bicycle thieves." Now I know what they mean.

I suppose now I'll have to edit my sig.

*******s.

dude,
bummer!

I've had two cars stolen, so i kind of know what you're feeling.

hope they get caught and you get your bikes back.

Insured ?

No. Just found out my family let the policy on the apt. I'm using lapse a couple years ago. Used to be my grandparents, and was vacant for a long while. They don't think the policy would have covered it anyway.

I might go after the HOA--which I conveniently help run--to see if I can recover against the building's policy. I doubt it, though, considering I know how much that policy costs. I doubt it covers more than minimum premises liability, workmans comp, etc.

Sorry man...post on Craigslist and make up some flyers for local LBSs...if you have a local message board / bike advocacy org, I'd post there, too. Fellow cyclists will be more likely to notice if one of your rigs passes by.

Yeah. I did post to the local co-ops board, and I'm going to ride my Twenty to the local substation to file a police report as soon as I get enough coffee in me to stop hating the world. Maybe one or two will turn up at a pawn shop.

I figure the SS is a goner, it'll get kept or parted out, but it doesn't really make sense to part out the Trek or the Fuji so maybe putting them on the hot sheet will help.

Make sure you lock it up well.

[QUOTE=Unknown Cyclist;8634903]No kidding. Although one would hope that the police are a little more attentive than my useless neighbors.

I hate that!

The worst thing that they steal from you is your peace of mind. Money can replace the bicycles but you'll never be the same again. Now you're doomed to becoming increasingly cautious and suspicious and to carrying around a progressively heavier ring of keys.

I'm sorry.

Sorry to hear this. Bike thieves are scum. I had the front end of my motocross Rampar stolen at a local YMCA a few decades ago. I went out to check it after my workout and it was all there. Then 5 minutes later the whole front end (Front Wheel, Tuff Neck, Forks, Handlebar) were gone. I think the thief loosened the bolts and when I saw the bike there and went back in to each a sandwich, unscrewed it in 5 minutes and took off with it.

Last Summer someone broke into our Church and stole one of my Seagull guitars.

Watch the pawn shops, chances are they will not go far to sell them.

Thanks guys, I do appreciate it.

I think you're right about that, unfortunately. I wrapped a tow chain around my PX-10 this morning w/o flinching and was looking for something to lock it to, then decided that wasn't good enough and put it in the back of my car instead.

If they didn't quickly trade 'em to a drug-pusher for a fix, they may show-up on Craigslist and/or eBay. Even in your local newspaper. Report them to the police - not that they'll lift a finger - and start cruising the ads.

Good Luck!!

Then what? Try and get the police to investigate the ad? Actually go see the bike?

The people who took them may know what I look like, if they cased the place during the day, or pass by frequently. I'm in the garage working on them or doing other stuff regularly. I've been wondering if that might have been how I called attention to their presence.

And yes, it's pretty obvious the cops will do nothing. The form they fill out to take your report begins with these "case screening factors, " all checked on mine:

[x] Suspect/Vehicle Not Seen
[x] Prints/Evidence not present
[x] MO not distinct [Modus Operandi]
[x] Property loss less then $5,000
[x] No serious injury to victim
[x] Only one victim involved

My "case" is going nowhere, clearly. I'm one person and I wasn't assaulted or deprived of more than $5K worth of stuff (what? $1K is a lot of money to me.) I can't tell them how the criminals did it, and there's no physical evidence--because they haven't bothered to try and collect any.

It's not like the cops do much when you're actually assaulted, either. That happened to me a few years ago, in another state. It's the same all over.

Maybe I should have told the cop each bike was worth $1500. Or maybe that I am in fact two people.

I ebay'd a remarkably inexepensive Univega so at least I'll have something sensible to ride until I can try and sort out what I'm going to do.

We installed ADT at the Church, $35 a month, we feel better I guess that is worth $35 a month.
It is rural location, it would take the cops 30 minutes or more to even respond.

In truth I think the signs they gave us to put out front and on the door do the most good, maybe someone should just sell the signs, how good are you at print shop? :lol:

But did you lock it inside your car? Thieves brake into cars to steal bikes, to. :-(

Renter's insurance is relatively cheap & a good investment if you have stuff you can't afford to lose.

Yeah, I locked it to the cargo tie downs and then covered it up with the stuff that usually lives in the back of the car.

Looks like I'm going to be able to get a decent deal on a new one [2008 7.3 fx with the 2009s due soon--strike that], so I'm going to grit my teeth and shell out for that with some assistance from my family. I found some used barely ridden, but their owners had all paid near $700 for them and so don't want to let them go for for much less than $500 and that's about what the clearance prices are now. I tried gently nudging some of them, but they weren't into it so I'll just go for the new bike with the warranty, tune ups, etc.

I'll just have to watch the 'bay and CL to replace the others like I did to find them first time around. It'll take a while, which will give me some time to try and set aside some savings.

Also got the serial number for the 7.3 fx from the original owner (he had to go to his LBS, bless his heart) and am working on getting the one for the Fuji from its original owner.I found the picture I thought I had of it's serial, but it is totally illegible. Gaah!

The Cannondale is a sad loss, but I had barely had it a week and have just started experimenting with riding a SS so I hadn't really grown attached to it yet. I'll snag a similar frame from the early 90s when I can and do the setup myself this time.

The Moto was nifty but undersized, so it's the least of my concerns. I was going to flip it at some point down the road.

I'm not sure what to do about my newfound mistrust and suspicion of my neighbors, as everyone from the police to the people at the LBS think that some kind of inside job is most likely. That's a pretty uncomfortable feeling.

I'm not entirely sure I can get renter's insurance. This place is owned by my grandparent's estate (it pretty much is the estate, which is why I can't believe it's not insured) and held in trust for now. I just live here. My official residence is still my parents household--I moved in here when I moved back home from school. The upside of the whole convoluted situation is that it's possible that we may be able to get some coverage under my parent's floater on their policy.

Nothing hurts like a broken heart.

Aw, dude, I'm so sorry.

A somewhat unusual situation, but the trustee(s) should be able to insure it. Try the claim under your parents policy; it may work.

Interesting, Chinarider, thanks.

Other trivial updates:

--Ordered then suspended an order for an '09 7.3 fx (which I had thought was an '08) because--
--Cops left a message saying they had recovered a black Trek bike--
--Turns out it's not mine, but in the mean time--
--made contact with a seller in Sacramento with a lightly used '08 to unload. If he'll knock down his price by how much his LBS wants to pack, and they don't try to make me pay tax, we're good to go.
--realized the Fuji was an '03 not an '04. I didn't notice the stock photo I grabbed was off. I had originally dated it by its paint scheme and had flip flopped the years in my head. I had spent so little time on it during the winter, and was so mixed up by the whole event, I didn't notice the picture was wrong. So I need to revise that flyer and make the rounds again.

I also live in the Los Angeles area. I live right down the street from a known thief that even steals bikes from time to time. So I have a really good idea of who my "wonderful" neighbors are. I don't want to tell others on how to live. But it seems that since you are the owner or rather a part of an estate's trust, you should be able to dictate what you can do in your living space. Where I live at present, I have remodeled my home into a rather secure "fortress" for the lack of a better word. Without lapsing into paranoia, perhaps you should look into hardening your place. I have not depended on the police for protection in many years and have not been disappointed yet.

I am glad that you are not giving up on bikes. Just remember before you bring home another one, do harden up your target residence, or you will face the same problem again later. The bike shop & police might be right that it could well be an "inside job." I am glad that you are beginning to take even a little step in the right direction. As for your newly discovered "mistrust and suspicion of your neighbors, that is a sad development in this new world. Where I live, I only speak to one neighbor now. The rest can go back to wherever they came from since most are not native to the Los Angeles of about 25 or more years ago-the previous neighbors ran for the hills and suburbs as the new arrivals stream in-& are the direct cause of the crime and gang activity here. These people are nothing but trouble and do drive down the property's value-not to mention a constant headache.

Insurance is a nice middle class gesture, but in my experience it can be limiting assuming if it does pay off. I rather keep a special bank account fund in the event of one of the bikes is lost or stolen. Then I don't have to file any claim or beg someone to get another bike.

Thanks for the thoughts, FF. Unfortunately, it's not a detached home or I would've freely modified the garage. The place is a condo and the garage is secured but shared. Making modifications to shared areas (even the parts of them that 'belong' to a specific unit and listed on the deed) is convoluted. Although after this episode, I don't think I'll get much resistance to putting in some heavy duty chain anchors/motorcycle tie downs (either into the concrete floor or walls.) That will do to secure the two or three bikes I use regularly. I might even get a little tuffshed for the front of my space, cut out holes for the anchors and sit the shed over the anchors. Lock both the shed and the bikes inside it.

The rest are going to go into my owners closet, which I can modify and reenforce. Probably with galvanized pipe and metal sheeting or chain link, since while the storage area is secured separately from the garage, the walls between the units closets are plywood. I'll have to cart my grandparents stuff we've been storing in there over to my folk's place which will annoy them but so it goes.

Having a door on the closet (and the shed too, I suppose) is nice as it affords an opportunity to have an alarm.

I think that's about the best I can do here, and it's not going to be too cheap.

What our complex really needs is a cheap DVR based security system, other sketchy stuff has been happening here lately, and we need to be able to bust people who damage common areas (we do have a few rented units and some of the tenants can be rather disrespectful of the shared property) but our owners routinely vote down the most necessary improvements. It's not an ideal situation. There's been a lot of begnign neglect over the last ten years or so when the building had really bad management. We're trying to correct it now, but a lot of the residents that were much more supportive of the place in the past are now way into their retirement, have dwindling savings, have been rocked by the financial crisis, etc. Others are just starting out and this is the first property they've owned. They don't have much to spare either. Others have multiple kids and won't have much to spare until at least one or two are out of the household.