ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 10/01/2014 05:24 PM |
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Just curious. I was just reading an article which stated there is a market for stolen bike parts stripped from stolen bikes. Is this stuff on ebay or is it going overseas, like in a shipping container like with stolen cars?
http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2014/10/01/jaywork-ever-had-a-bike-stolen-youre-not-alone-heres-what-probably-happened-to-it/ |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 10/01/2014 10:11 PM |
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Thanks, Chinook, for a very sobering read.
I had everything not actually attached taken from my good fixie in broad daylight a month ago. I'd been locking my bikes at a rack next to the building for years, but this day, two bikes were locked parallel to the rack so I had to look elsewhere. The rack on the corner was where I went. That day, a mistake. Good thing was that everything was replaceable. Zephal HPX, toolbag with Pedro's fix gear tool, a 13 tooth cog and rear taillight. Thankfully the 12tooth wasn't in the tool bag, the light and cog wrench were at home. ($80, $150 and many hours of work.) The Kryptonite did its work on the big stuff.
I was sure from the beginning that haul probably added up to one high for some addict.
Ben |
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Oldfart
Posts:511
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| 10/01/2014 10:50 PM |
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| The local police found a guy that had lots of parts in his house. Apparently he had addicts stealing bikes which he paid them for, stripped the frames which he disposed of, and sold the parts on eBay or other ways. |
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 10/02/2014 10:50 AM |
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This post reminded me of the bike I walked by while in Sweden.
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Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 10/02/2014 12:17 PM |
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I work on an urban University campus. Bike and bike part theft are common. "Back in the day" i had a friend who had the rear derailleur from his Dawes stolen...........and he later 'found' it in a local (obviously shifty) bike shop when he was in search of a replacement. IIRC, he walked out of the shop with his stolen part w/o paying.
Then there was the guy in our lab who locked his new bike by the front wheel...and that's all that was there when he was leaving for the day.
A month ago, I was talking with a friend near some bike racks, and a kid on a bike made off with someone's rear wheel, on his own bicycle, and I then remembered that I probably saw his 'lookout' about a half block away.
Bikes like the one Spud pictured are so pathetic. A thief takes a wheel, and the bike is 'stranded' then the same or different thieves just pick it apart.... |
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 10/02/2014 12:25 PM |
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| back in high school my friend had a really nice schwinn cruiser that got nicked from the bike rack. a week or so later some one said that so-and-so had it and it was lying in their front yard. so i borrowed my mom's station wagon and we cruised over under the cover of darkness and got it back. problem was only the frame was his, everything else was just crap. |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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jacques_anquetil
Posts:245
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| 10/02/2014 09:07 PM |
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| just this week, a buddy got his months-ago stolen bike back when the buyer brought it into the LBS for servicing. The mechanic ID'd the bike and called up Rich. Long story short, the buyer is out $700, dude got his top of the line Scott back free and clear (albeit with a rattle-can black paint job) and the bike thief gets collared and has a court date in November. Weird thing is, the attending cop suggested Rich give the buyer of the stolen bike some cash to make up for his loss. Buddy said get stuffed. |
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Keith Richards
Posts:781
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| 10/02/2014 10:25 PM |
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| I have lived in DC for almost 20 years. The buying and selling of "used" bike parts of questionable origin happens in any urban area. I know guys who have found someone riding a bike of theirs that was stolen 2-3 years prior. |
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| -----
It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 10/02/2014 10:53 PM |
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| @ Keith. I'd have a hard time not going ballistic if I saw someone on my bike even though intellectually I'd know he probably wasn't the thief. |
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 10/03/2014 11:24 AM |
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| Well, it seems to me that even if cyclists are not the ones stealing the parts, by buying stuff on ebay, craigslist, or from a chop shop, there is a subset of cyclists who are taking advantage of this stolen stuff. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 10/03/2014 12:34 PM |
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I have never used Craig's List or Ebay. I hear of the deals folks have scored and wondered if I am just being a fool, paying a lot more at bike shops and reputable on-line outfits. The used stuff I buy comes, for the most part, from several Portland shops that specialize in used bikes. Some buy, one accepts donations. I'm sure the occasional stolen bike and part comes their way, but all are reputable shops and I suspect that the pros steer clear of them.
I think I will not change my buying habits after reading that.
Ben |
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zootracer
Posts:835
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| 10/03/2014 01:01 PM |
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| Craigslist is the first place cops start to check after a high end bike gets stolen. Chances are if the price is too good to be true, good chance that it is stolen. |
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 10/03/2014 01:09 PM |
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I agree Ben. Knowing where the stuff comes from and having confidence that it is what the seller says it is. Unless you have a relationship with the seller, I don't think you can know. And lots of folks get used stuff online. They should really think twice cuz if there weren't a market for stolen stuff, the crime would not pay.
It's gotta feel weird knowing that there is a market for your stolen frame pump and fixed gear tool. That's messed up.
I've bought 3 bikes from CL. Two were from local sponsored racers, not stolen. The other... well, I'm going to check the serial number tonight. If stolen, it would be good to get that one back to the owner, though it's been very well used in the 5 years since I bought it. |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 10/04/2014 09:52 AM |
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| A friend and I discussed this after one of the big team trucks got hit in the spring. I agree that buying on ebay might be supporting a black market but I sell quite a bit of stuff on there. I get rid of something that will just collect dust in my shop and someone else gets a good deal on a part they need (I've got two items listed now). I buy 99% of my bike stuff at my LBS but just this summer I bought a pair of gloves on ebay because my LBS can no longer get this discontinued model. |
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roadbuzz
Posts:24
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| 10/07/2014 05:40 PM |
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| @spud: That's messed up on _many_ levels |
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