I had my 2008 Fuji Track (58cm, serial number ICF7LO1598) stolen yesterday from a bike rack at the north end of the Michigan Ave bridge over the Chicago River. I saw the guy getting away with it and chased him down Fairbanks/Columbus but he got away. He was a black guy with a silver helmet. Please don't buy this bike from him if you see it for sale.

Also, the guy had my Masterlock u-lock with him and it looked intact, so he must have been able to pick it open somehow. By the way, it was broad daylight and there were literally hundreds of people around.

On the off chance that you are the guy who stole my bike, I will buy it back from you. If you find this bike, please email me at ds32711@gmail.com.

Oh yeah, here's a picture:

This sucks. Some people are so ****ty. I hope you get your bike back, man. Good luck....

I have the same bike, and it would really suck if someone stole it. Sympathy.

I'll look out for it.

NEVER lock anything up w/ ANY cable device. Clearly you went the safer route w/ the u-lock. BUT u's get broke on a fairly regular basis. Cause the perps can see your brand label 20 feet away, next stop is YouTube on how to crack that specific u-lock, then time to go bike shopping. NEXT time you are out and about in chi downtown, look at what Bike Messengers use. 90% will be case-hardened chain, mostly w/ a monobloc style padlock.

All masterlock u-locks are trash. Sorry for your loss, next time invest in a beefier lock. Friend of mine had his bike stolen in Union Square, where there were also hundreds of people passing by.

messengers use chains because they increase the number of stationary objects that can be used to lock their bikes up, not because they're experts at theft prevention. quality chains have as many vulnerabilities as quality u-locks.

the problem with the OP was he used a crappy u-lock that probably was defeated with a pen cap.

Every lock can be picked, probably within less than a minute by someone who knows what he's doing.

The OP's only "mistake" probably was owning a nice bike.

Bummer -- just had my bike stolen about 2 weeks ago now. Good luck with yours :-/

Having your bike stolen is bad, watching the guy ride off with it is horrible! Hope you find your bike and the dude that stole it.

I'm nowhere near Chicago but I'll definitely keep an eye out on Craigslist for you. Sucks that you had to watch someone ride off with your bike, I would be beyond pissed. Hopefully you'll either find it or get enough money to replace it!

Not to dwell on the obvious BUT if the OP had been a little proactive and took a few minutes to use a free public BikeRegistry service off the net to register and TAG his bike BEFORE he got his bike stolen he would be in a much better position than he is presently finding himself in. As it is, with no proactive action taken beforehand, he is now a member of the 2% club. (as you probably know from your research, a transalt.org study showed a 2.2 recovery rate for stolen bikes).

Do you honestly believe the police actively discuss stolen bikes in their morning role call/briefing with the intent of “going out and apprehending the scoundrels???”

Believe it or not, most police (and the majority of the public) COULD NOT CARE LESS.

SO, to improve the situation, WHO needs to take action?

IMHO, therin lies the 2nd mistake.

I rest my case.

A nice bike has nothing do with it. I live in wicker park and have seen about 6 bikes totally stripped leaving just the frame + ulock in the last 2 weeks or so. These bikes have ranged from schwinn beaters to a couple nice bikes. Whenever I leave my apartment and I see a bike not locked up well I can pretty much guarantee if it sits there more than a few hours *something* will be missing from it. The whole bike is even worse of course, but what it boils down to is chicago is a raging stolen bike city, which is why I sadly stick with beater bikes because I *know* the bike is going to get stolen at some point or another.

At least you will get a brand new bike now. New bike new bike new bike

I never trust anyone with a silver helmet. They are always up to no good.

How does having a bike stolen equate to having a new bike? If my bike was stolen, I would be riding a mama chari for the next few months I think. I don't want to just drop the cash to buy a nice new bike at a moments notice. (I would be spending in the region of $2000 on a new bike though if mine got stolen though.)

So it's the OP's fault b/c he could have registered with one of these services and slapped a sticker on the bike? He still wouldn't have the bike back. So 98% of bikes never make it back, but that's a meaningless statistic for your argument -- what proportion of registered bikes are recovered? Is a bike thief going to care about removing the sticker, even if it means taking a brillo pad to the paint to get it off? And who's out looking for those tags anyway? Do you "honestly believe" the cops pay much attention to those tags considering how little attention they pay to bikes in the first place?

The tags can't hurt anything, but it's bs to imply the OP is somehow to blame for not registering the bike or that the odds of recovery still wouldn't be very long if he had done so. It's lame to play all high and mighty on someone who just got their ride jacked. If your bike disappears and you come asking if anyone has seen your sticker, I sure hope you'll also say you had 2 u-locks and a cable with multiple locking mechanisms so you don't have to deal with self-righteous comments about how you could have prevented the theft.

Besides watching craigslist and ebay, you could check out the following two places in Chicago to see if you can get the bike back:

Ashland Swap-o-Rama @ 4100 S Ashland Ave, which is open Saturday and Sunday; and the Maxwell Street Market, which runs near Des Plaines and Roosevelt on Sunday.

Both are pretty notorious for reselling stolen bikes in Chicago. Not sure when they open, but I have heard a few stories on the chicago fixed gear board and on the chainlink board of people finding and recovering their bikes at the markets. Swap-o-rama seems to be where a lot of stolen bikes end up. If you are going to head down, make sure to file a police report and have a copy with you (if possible) to prove the bike is yours and stolen. At the very least, try to have something that proves the bike is yours. Otherwise, you may be forced to actually buy it back if you find it.

he most likely headed straight for his home (projects).

Thanks for the sympathy and suggestions, everyone. I might try to look for my bike at those flea markets but unfortunately I'll be out of town this weekend. I'll probably end up buying a replacement from Bikesdirect as I think they are pretty similar to what I had. I bought my Fuji Track last year at an awesome LBS with my tax rebate check as my way to stimulate the local economy, but unfortunately I can't afford to do that this time around.

what exactly does that mean? do you really believe that all bike thieves live in public housing? I've known a few unscrupulous individuals of modest or decent income that do not give a *** or need quick money for their heroin habit.

And I highly recommend renter's insurance. besides locking your bicycle properly with a high-rated u-lock(s), that is the only preventive measure worth your time and money. Be sure to get a plan that covers your bicycle outside of the apartment. If you bike is stolen, you just pay the deductible and you'll be reimbursed the remainder.

and this would make you and the thief neighbors

more like your neighbor pukeface.

good one. you showed him.

is that really how renters insurance works? i cant see how that would be fly among greedy insurance companies.