Machak came back!!

3 years and 4 months ago, on the Easter weekend, my Marinoni Ciclo bicycle was stolen. I was heartbroken because he was custom-made for me and customised by Rowan and me. He and I had ridden something like 50,000 km together on three continents. And not only that, but Rowan built the front wheel for me ... as my "engagement ring".

Last week, Rowan was searching ebay for a wheel for one of my other bicycles when he found my wheel ... my "engagement ring" wheel. He quickly did a search on ebay for Machak, and found him. And today ... we picked him up.

He's home where he belongs again and it's so good to see him here. I can hardly believe it!



Taken a few weeks before Machak was stolen ...

We'll let this go given the sentimental ubermush that seems evident here.

Please understand that under ordinary circumstances anthropomorphism applied to bicycle gear is a total facepalm.

Carry on.

Did you catch a thief or was it someone who had bought it down the line?

String em up!

Congratulations on getting it back!

Great news, being reunited with an old friend!

The person that the police recovered the bike from wasn't the thief. Machak was stolen from three foot outside our tent in a campground in Northern Victoria. I was awoken by the voice of a young adult male saying: Just stuff it in the backpack.

By the time we were out of the tent, the pair had done a runner, with the Marinoni, leaving my CF Merlin behind.

The guy who listed the bike on eBay was in his 40s or 50s, and had an accent. And the police were confident that he was truthful about buying the bike from a salvage sale.

The saddle was sold by the seller and we are trying to get the buyer to understand that it still belongs to Machka. I've offered him the sale price of the saddle, but he is resisting. We'll keep working on that one, but in the meantime we will substitute another Brooks saddle we have.

I said to Machka quite some time ago that Machak would come back to her. These things do happen.

I don't know what led me to the wheel in the first place -- I was looking for a 36H rim for a single-speed I am building up for Machka, and they are quite rare these days. The wheel listing was distinctive in its own way, with the words Ambrosio and Nabedynamo standing out (it has a dynohub). The logical conclusion from that was to search for Marinoni, and sure enough, the Ciclo turned up.

From there it was a matter of reporting it to the police who did a great job of following up the information I gathered. We worked together on a "sting" and basically in a week we had Machak returned.

People are hugely critical of eBay and the police. But if it hadn't been for eBay in this case, we might not have seen the bike again. And the police were proactive because of the overwhelming amount of evidence we supplied identifying the bike. Being in a country town with a relatively low crime rate may have helped.

Anyway, this is a truly good news story. Machka is so happy she can't stop crying with joy.

Just wow.

And maybe, nice.


Karma.

Great to hear.

That is wonderful. Now I gotta get something out of my eye

I presume you have explained that he is in receipt of stolen goods and that the police could charge him with that?

Your offer to pay the sale price would be the easy way out.

Yes and no. Getting the police involved with the saddle is a no-go, according to the detective. The value is not high enough for a search warrant to be issued, and the buyer is not regarded as having participated in a criminal activity. It becomes a civil issue. We have a tribunal system (VCAT) for small claims like this, and it may end up there.

Anyway, that's a sideshow to the main event.

Makes my day. Now you've got two sweet bikes (at least).

What kind of shape is "it" in? You know, pics or it didn't happen.

Bluff, man, bluff!!!

Hopefully he won't know that!

nice!

very good news indeed. get a new saddle and get reacquainted with your old friend.




carry on.

He's not in bad shape. He was a bit scratched before he was stolen, and we had pictures of those scratches to help prove he was mine. But he has a few more scratches now, and a small dent in the top tube.

He'll need --
-- new cables
-- covers on the shifters (they're missing for some reason)
-- bottle cages (they're missing)
-- rack (it's missing)
-- bar tape (it was removed)
-- computer (removed)
-- mirror (removed)

And, of course, a saddle.

I've been taking pictures tonight, and I'll try to get a few good ones to post tomorrow.

I call it kismet.

We've been struggling with a decision about when to leave the area where we currently live, and move back Tasmania, my home state and a place that has everything we want.

Jobs have been an issue. Machka has been extended several times with her contract work with the local council here, and we've put off the decision three times and by around two months.

Had we moved when we first intended, we might have had somewhat more difficulty in getting Machak back. Being on the spot certainly has been an advantage.

Maybe the thief was living by this chart:


From this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ad-cycling-fun and realized road cycling isn't so fun. Cool story!

It is a cool story! Glad you recovered your bike.

Let's celebrate with a really bad song!

This just made my day, glad that it worked out for the best Machka. You and Rowan deserved the break with Machak, good things come to good folks. Hope that you can now enjoy having the bike back where it belongs, that rim is priceless since Rowan built it up for you. We miss talking with you guys, come back if you ever get the chance.

Bill

So the top tube ding isn't a structural problem?

No, the ding is quite small, and even sitting here, I can't really see it from 8' away.

The frame is Columbus Zona tubing. Its's incredibly light for steel, but also incredibly durable. This bike has done a lot of loaded touring as well as randonnees, and the frame is as sound as the day it was made by Marinoni. It originally was equipped with a CF fork, but has a unicrown steel one because Machka doesn't quite trust CF, and the steel one can take a front rack.

Machak opened my eyes to how light steel can be when I first lifted it up.