If I was not so close to what is bike theft central I would have slapped my lock on it and called the cops and dealt with whatever fallout there would have been... the guy on the bike looked pretty clean and not homeless so wonder if he is buying hot bikes to flip them... he seemed well aware of what it was worth.

A few years I go I helped recover a sweet fixed gear that I had built up for another guy... saw a couple of guys walking it because neither could ride the frame and with a few of Edmonton's finest, who are our local bike messengers, we recovered the bike.

When 5 guys tell you the bike you are holding is stolen (and you know it's stolen) you set it down and walk away... these guys were smart enough to walk away and avoid the beating of their lives.

Anyways... cops seemed to take me seriously when I told them that I got an admission that the bike was probably "warm" and the value of the bike makes it a more serious property crime.

yeah there's a guy in my area that most of us are pretty sure he's paying crackheads to steal for him, then flipping them for even more. He's got to have 25 bikes for sale, ranging from $300-$2000 and he stores them, based on the pictures, in what looks like a basement set up for kidnapping.

I'm still using my Dual core from 07 with on-board audio and video and I do my gaming on an Atari 2600, that's the secret to saving money for bike stuff :D

Time to form a posse...

I'm surprised the police seemed so interested in responding. Anytime I've talked to a cop about bike theft they don't seem to take it very seriously.

My cousin lives in Houston, and had the wheels stolen off his Jeep one night. Came out the next morning to find it sitting on blocks. The very next night the local police set up a sting and caught the guy. When I was talking to my cousin about it I mentioned that it's too bad cops didn't do the same thing for bike thefts. He got a confused look and said something like "man, the car rims cost me about $1000." Once I told him how much bikes cost his response was "well that's just stupid to leave something like that outside." I didn't bother pushing the point any further.

apparently they care in london
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AdugFzCi24

^that literally just happened to a friend of mine 2 weeks ago. all 4 wheels though and it was just the stock set from a fit. they damaged stuff enough from their ghetto rig too that it ended up being about 4500 in repairs/replacements
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...96878498_n.jpg

I think that because I witnessed the transaction, got an admission from the buyer, and knew what the bike was worth helped as ripping off a bike that lists for $3500.00 in Canada constitutes major theft.

It was not like they ripped off some old Huffy.

My friend got his $2k+ build stolen, found the guy that did it - with craigslist postings of very recognizable parts, a picture of the dude, and a suspected address where he lived or hung out (he was seen trying to saw off the u-lock at that location)... and Chicago cops did nothing.

Come on people, a bike is a toy....would you call the cops if your kid got his legos stolen?

If I ever caught someone trying to jack my ride they would end up shackled to a post after the obligatory **** kicking I would give them.

With many bikes costing as much as a decent used car the police need to start taking this kind of theft a little more seriously.

my mash is probably worth more than my truck :o (93 ford ranger, 165k miles)

I agree 100%

What is the total $$ lost in stolen bikes each year?

Das ghetto. And damn are the crooks desperate to steal stock wheels from an econobox.
I bet they're under a civic/ integra at this very moment.

Didn't that video you linked to said it was a 27 million pound operation in England. With the exchange rate that's somewhere around $45 million.

Yeah, CPD is a joke. I walked into the Addison station once a few years ago with a broken nose, two black eyes, and no phone or wallet. Told them I got jumped, they said that there is a large penalty for false reporting and sent me on my way.

Today, I have realized that I need a change in my life. I tried a few months ago but it didn't work. Maybe I just need a new career. A couple bike shops and a messenger service are hiring in town. Maybe I'll try that.

Right, in the UK. I was wondering about bike theft in north america. Different scales....

Yeah I guess my point was to put it in perspective--even in a much smaller country it was a very lucrative industry. England has roughly 1/6, or 17%, the population of the U.S., so that would bring it to almost $265 million here in the U.S., assuming that the bicycle black market is proportionate with population (probably not a completely sound assumption, but not terrible either).

Today was my last day of work til August, bike riding time. Anyone in seattle want to ride June 9th?

Watched this happen last night
http://distilleryimage0.instagram.co...382049c1_7.jpg

did it cleanly snap while he was on it, or start to snap and then he finished the job?

That's awesomely cool. Wouldn't want it to happen to myself or anybody else through. Story?

I always hope things like that are a result from collisions or people tricking. makes me never want to ride anything but steel

[strike]Today[/strike]Yesterday I took the FG (still at 65" from the Gravel Metric attempt) on a 25-mile ride with the group and really wished I'd geared it back up beforehand. The end.

and it is that mentality that makes people not give a **** about stolen bikes. I havent had a bike stolen yet and I can't imagine how I will feel when the day comes, I put too much effort into getting them tuned to my preferences so that some ass can rip me off.

on a positive note, I had pho for lunch and I think I got a lot more beef than usual. FTW

Exactly, my statement was a reflection of the general populace mentality, not my mentality.

Crash at the velodrome. Lead rider went down and the rider on the above bike ran straight into the downed rider doing about 25-30mph

Feel better?

Actually, that wouldn't make you feel better, but makes me feel better:)

Today I opened an account with Wound Up just so I could get a good deal for a fellow forum member on a fork. The things I do for you guys... :D

I also fell in love with Boar's Head chipotle Gouda cheese. Go to the deli right now.

damn, woooooooooosh