Should I recover my stolen wheel?
 

I was just riding into work right now (graveyard), on my way to work I ride under a bridge a block away from work. Under the bridge live a couple of homeless folk, some of which have bikes (mountain bikes/cruiser/bmx/childrensbikes). While I was passing by I happened to glance over and what did I see? My front wheel which had been stolen a month earlier! Mother F*ckers! It looked like they had gotten a flat since.
This was just 10 minutes ago, my wheel was stolen from my bike about a month ago (I didn't lock up the front wheel, I do now of course). It's a dura ace hub laced with aero spokes to an araya aero rim. I got it sooo cheap off ebay. I don't know what to do, I want my wheel back. But there's like 20 of these guys and one of me. Plus I think there's a couple families living under there. Most of us have had something stolen from us. The anger! F*ckers deserve to die! I don't know what kind of people they are, I know they're poor, but I've seen them watching tv under that bridge. So what the f*ck!? I understand they need to get around, but that's no excuse to steel people's wheels!
I don't even know if I could recover this wheel without someone getting harmed.

I mean, they stole it from you, be like "fair is fair."

I kid. I don't know. This is a complicated situation for sure.

They definately don't deserve to die just because they stole a wheel from you. They don't deserve your wheel either though. If there's a way to safely get it back I'd go for it. If not, don't. Have the police escort you down there to go get it?

I thought about that, but the police probably wouldn't do that, and if they did they would probably kick them out of there. Plus these guys probably know where I work and where I lock up(which sucks!).

This sounds like a job for T.I.P.

She had both her wheels stolen and went back the next day with u-lock in hand and the homeless people gave them back.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ghlight=stolen

Get your ass down there and get it And if its on a bike take that to. If I had of seen my wheel there... They would be calling the cops.

just get a crappy wheel as a replacement so they won't have to steal another wheel. bring them the replacement wheel and some food as a jesture of kindness so they don't attack you. obviously you're not the winner in this situation. but you have to remember these people are stealing stuff from individuals anyways, so morals aren't exactly at the top of thier list. its probably more important that you get wheel back then making a point.

Too late I just went down there and bought it for 5 bucks!

Dont involve the police. Truth is you probably cannot prove that it is yours. ULOCK idea would work better for a woman. You could have a friend with a cell phone lurking in case you get some crazy homeless guy that was released during the regan era. Just go down and ask, (with your friend lurking). Try to be more of a person than someone to beg from. You'd probably steel the wheel if you where in that guy's place.

Or you could just do the christian thing and bring a whole bike. Get it from a local free ride. Go down and ask for the owner of the wheel. If no one steps up then say well it must b mine. Then leave the bike.

What the hell are you doing not locking such a good wheel? Next time a college student will get it.

Get some backup and go and bust some heads

don't be an ass about it...
like someone said...they def don't deserve to die (or anything near it) for stealing your wheel...in fact...'s your bad that you got your wheel stolen in the first place...sounds like you left it unlocked

I would go down there and not be a prick (NO COPS; no condesention) and ask for the wheel back....****...you might even be able to buy it back for REAL cheap...

but...when push comes to shove...is it even worth busting someone's head to get your cheap wheel back (or any wheel at that)...or is it worth getting YOUr head busted to get the wheel? NO

just go down there and ask them for it back nicely

Offer them $10 and get it back. No reason to get shivved!

dress up homeless, sneak in at night, grab it and run.

If you got a pic of the wheel on your bike. Print it out and take it down there to show them it was yours and you would want them to just give it back rather then call the cops on them. Ohh and go with a few big friends just incase.

More then likely they will not want any trouble and just say for you to take it. A lot of homeless people mean no harm, they are just trying to find anyway to make a $ so they can eat.. Hell.. Take them a few cans of food for it.. They might just take it.

don't give anyone anything to get something back that was stolen from you.

put in a call and rally the troops, go in and get your sht back bro, or let it go.

now not that i advocate violence, but in this case it really just comes down to how bad you want your wheel back, due to the close proximity to your work? that really becomes the larger issue, since you are in this area daily and late night since retaliation would probably happen while you're alone...

crossroads kid, most of these people are punks, and you could simply stroll in with mr louisville and would probably not have to beat down more than 2, its not like they have much heart afterall, or they would be taking their place in normal society, mentally ill or not.

again giving someone anything to get back something they stole from you makes you their btich, and anytime they feel the need to do so, they'll take something else off your bike, or maybe one day figure thats not enough and then try to rob you, it will not gain you one bit of respect even if it gets you item back-

i totaly don't think there is any way to settle this peacefully, most of these people are drunks/crack heads. there are at least 20 of them sleeping in tents (or diy tents) on each side of the street. i can't call the cops cause i can't prove that it's mine and the cops here hate dealing with the homeless (other cops from diffrent cities have actualy been dumping their homeless in LA's downtown . im getting some friends together to help me get the wheel back. those guys sleep during the day, i passed by several times last night and they were still awake. so i have to get it in the day time and just make a run for it

if i don't succed in retriving the wheel, ill post the location so any other la residents and have a go at it. if i can't have it, they can't either!

shoot first ask questions later

*Tangent*

Ok so I'm newer here in LA and I was out on a Midnite Ridazzz and we rode past all these tents on the sidewalk. So I asked another rider if that was normal. He said I must not be from there, but that's where and how some of the homeless sleep. HOLY ****. Talk about high class living. Jesus Christ. I just bought my first tent last year! These people definitely picked a good area of the country to be homeless in. It's never really cold, hardly ever rains, and snow....never. **** they should try that **** back in Chicago or Mpls come Janurary. Hell the cops find dead homeless people all the time back there because they froze to death. Totally mind boggling.

I confronfonted a guy who stole my seat and post, and didn't get it back, and I didn't get killed. I tried the nice guy rutine "Hey nice bike, look at that fancy shock absorbing seat post, where do you get those, one of those would be great to put on my MTB" he imediatly launches into the defensive, and takes off, but at least I havn't seen him around the neighborhood lately. He was only stupid enough to come back around the once.

Most homeless people here are crazy. I don't know if being crazy made them homeless, or being homeless made them crazy. Just be carefull.

sounds like the nice guy routine was a little to passive agressive

Let's review here.
* There are 20 of them.
* If 20% of the homeless are mentally unstable and 10% are high at a given time, that means -- approximately -- that you have 4 mentally unstable people and 2 people under the influence on the other side. This sort of rules out calm negotiation.
* If you get the wheel back, and lock the bike in the same place again, I'd say there are pretty good odds the entire bike will be vandalized, just for the heck of it.
* The aim, I would think, is not to make an already sad situation worse.

So, unless you can get a bit of sympathetic police help, I'd say you are out a wheel. It could be worse. You could be out a broken jaw and a wheel.

Trading for the wheel might work, but I wouldn't identify yourself as the owner, just as somebody who'd like to buy the wheel. As another poster said, you might offer another wheel and a few bucks. I would imagine this idea will stick in your craw, and it should -- it's like making crime pay. On the other hand, that sounds like a good wheel and sometimes pragmatism is advisable.

so is the wheel on a bike, or just chillin. i'd do a ride bike and grab it and split.

i defenatly don't want to make my self know as the owner and i don't want them to know i have the wheel there after.
as for locking up my bike, my building actualy has a bicycle cage inside the parking garage where i have a lock there and i carry another lock so it's extremely well protected. the reason my wheel got stolen was because sometimes when i was late for work i would stop infront of the building, lock up my bike, and run inside, i would then come back later and put it in the cage when i had time. eventualy one day my wheel was gone. i won't make that mistake ever again! id rather be late than lose another wheel. or ill just come earlier

the couple of times i passed by the wheel was leaning against a wall not being used. they mostly use mountain bikes so im guessing it didn't fit in their bike. and it look like it might have had a flat. im actualy thinking of doing an old school "drive-by". drive by real slow run out, grab the wheel, and run back in. i just don't know how slick or quick i am