How do thieves sell or dispose of a bicycle??
 

Last saturday, thief stolen my SURLY LHT with Brooks Saddle!

The thief used chain saw to cut Kryptonite U-lock and then took it.

I reported to SPD and keep my eyes on Craiglist and Ebay every hour.

Btw, How thief sells or dispose a bicycle? sell to used bike shop? or riding stolen bike?


I'm soooooooooo mad right now...

That's awful. I'm no expert but here's what happened with my bike. After it was stolen the police made a report which included serial number I had on a build slip. Later I stumbled on my bike in a bike shop. The police report with the frame s/n helped me get my bike back. The shop owner claimed to have purchased it from a pawn shop, which may or may not be true. So my advice is document your loss and keep your eyes open. BTW I was mad also, even after recovering my bike. I hope you get the Surly back, but either way don't let it get you down.

In the modern age? [in addition to Ebay Craig's list], there are innumeral online opportunities that bypass regulated Pawn shops and Black Market 'fences' .

such as stripping the bike down and selling it a Piece at a Time. in cars that's a Chop Shop.

This was a topic on Seattle bike blog a couple of weeks ago:

Jaywork: Ever had a bike stolen? You?re not alone. Here?s what probably happened to it | Seattle Bike Blog

If you look at the bike section of Craigslist, you'll see a lot of people selling "slightly used" parts way under market value. Some of these people seem to have a never-ending supply of high end stuff.

A bike of mine was stolen years ago. I saw the exact bike in the neighborhood and it was infuriating to think it could be mine, but of course it could just be another one of the same model...

Big time drag; I've had one bike ripped off and it still makes me mad. One thing I do is that I rely on older (and less expensive) bikes for local transportation. They are less likely to attract thieves and the financial hit is not so big if they do get ripped off.

Sorry to hear you had your LHT stolen. I would be highly upset.

We had a shop here that had a bunch of cheap steel road bikes with nice components (Ultegra mostly), the components were slightly used looking at a close look. Thieves steal good bikes, take the bikes apart and sell this a$$hole the parts to go on his "new" bikes. The stolen frames were thrown away, impossible to track the components. This guy left town after people were on to him, I hope that he's not operating in your town now.

Keep your eyes not just on Seattle's but Portland's and Spokane too. I saw a video not long ago about I guy that had his bike stole here and went to seattle where it was being offered for sale. I hope that you get it back. Bike thieves are scum.
V