V-Rock

touché

2manybikes

Somewhere in the forums there is a link posted to a guy who shows in a video how to open the exact kind of lock the OP described. It's easy. No need for tools or time spent working on it.

a b seize

the thing that strikes me most about this is:

a bike theif knows a good lock vs. a poor one. a bike theif, if planning to keep a stolen bike as his own, is going to lock it up well enough to prevent someone like himself from stealing it. i seriously doubt a bike theif would lock up a bike outside with one of those weak chains that you can bust with just about anything.

someone who knows about bikes, even just a little, is going to use a decent lock, or at least not one of those the OP described. so i'm guessing this guy doesn't know much about bikes...which makes it believable that he probably bought the bike for really cheap from some sketcy guy and thought nothing of it.

my vote is that the guy who has it now isn't the guy who stole it. take it from there

9Rings

Nope, bike theif could care less about how to lock up his bike. He got it for nothing, and can get another one for nothing.

akatsuki

Simple plan of attack:

1. Send the GF to the cops with the receipt and have her tell them that she found her stolen bike. Tears a bonus.

2. If they do nothing, go there at like 3AM with a couple of friends for backup with heavy U-locks and steal it back. Leave note cut out of magazines saying you took your stolen bike back.

3. Restore bike either way!

br995

Does it involve using a key?

Philatio

no, I can't really remember how it works though.

kemmer

Not only would he not have the upper hand, he would have no rights to the bike at all.

Some of you are really confused. It's not stealing, it's not vigilante justice. If there was any chance at all the police could do anything about the thief in this case, I'd be all for involving them. The aboslutly no chance they can since there's no proof that the person who has the bike now is the one that stole it. They *might* be able to help recover the bike but that's about it and even that could get messy.

kemmer

So you don't like guys on a power trip, but you do like cops. Got it.

bbattle

I think you guys are talking about the old Kryptonites that could be opened using the tube of a Bic pen jammed into the lock.


Where is the OP?

Straws

in jail

blickblocks

Obviously the theif doesn't have a proof of purchase...if the OP steals it back safely then he should legally be safe after.

V-Rock

Or worse.
The dumpster near where the bike was locked up. RIP.

And the funny thing is, it happened cause there was a group of cyclists who saw him trying to cut the lock and decided to dish out some vigilante justice by beating the life out of a bike thief caught in the act.

Stay tuned for the thread later today.

"Last night we caught a guy stealing a bike...
...so we beat the crap out of him and left him in a dumpster"

Straws

IF

I want so badly to say call the cops. But I've heard too many stories of people with legitimate proof call the cops and they dont do anything. At that point you've fingered yourself as a suspect when it is stolen.

ThrottleJock

I'm a 195lbs musclehead who enjoys muay thai, and I'll be holding a pair of bolt cutters. AND I'm pissed that the ******* took my girlfriend's beloved little bike. I will have the upper hand.

BTW, I got a copy of the original sales invoice/purchase receipt from my buddy who owns the shop, I'll be liberating the bike sometime this week. It's still there, btw, I did a drive-by to check on it yesterday. The chain is pitifully rusted, so sad.

"It's my bike. I got drunk, locked it up and lost the key to it. Now i'm just cutting the lock to my own bike to get it back, and here's a copy of the receipt with matching serial numbesr 'cause I knew it may look fishy if a copper drove by".

Wish me luck.

shants

i cannot believe that you haven't taken the bike back already. upon seeing it for the first time, i'd have had it back within the hour.

ThrottleJock

I tried. I was standing on the bottom bracket and pulling on the lock with all my might while yelling "mother ****er gonna steal my girlfriends ****ing bike garrrrrrrrghghhh" with people driving by in their cars, folks walking by on the sidewalk. I was a tad irrational for a moment there, hehe.

fischer, max

what the hell is your problem, other than reading comprehension? i don't like cops for the same reasons you don't, and i've said as much in this thread a couple of times now.

eMwolB

blah blah blah flipping blah!
Here's how this little ditty is going to unfold.
When he FINALLY decides to go and retrieve the bike...whether thru Police, himself, with GF, with the cast of friends from Karate Kid 2, whatever...
The bike will NOT be there. It will probably get stolen by someone else that figured out a rusty old chain is easy to bypass or the "big ape" will probably sell it or trade it for a bike that fits.
This thread will end up being another 14 pages of people ragging on the OP for waiting so long to get it back.
(I honestly hope it does not turn out this way but I won't be surprised.)

Now...can I get an Amen !?!

kemmer

Yeah, well, you called me an idiot for telling the OP not to bother with the cops. It would seem that you think calling the cops is a good idea. I guess I just don't get how someone who doesn't like cops would call someone else an idiot for not wanting to deal with them. Maybe it's reading comprehension on my part, maybe it's seemingly contradictory posts on your part.

kemmer

AMEN! Get the bike already! Call the cops, call a locksmith, call the brute squad, call dominoes, but do something for Gods sake! You're killin' us!

deathhare

+1
WTF is going on?...go get it!
I almost hope it wont be there when you do go get cause youve been stupid enough to wait

kemmer

-1, that's mean.

but yeah, me too.

sp00ki

pics.

fischer, max

um, i never called anyone an idiot. falkon did, here.

as far as cops are concerned, at first i thought it would be a good idea to have one around just in case the thief/new "owner" showed up, since a recent thread talked all about the many ways people would react violently if they caught someone stealing their bikes. but then someone's post made me realize that what the guy had in terms of proof of ownership wouldn't likely be enough for cops, which you ****ing agreed with. we're on the same page, if that's not clear enough to you yet. so you can stop being such a ****** now.