What to do if your bike is stolen

A really gutting loss, Digger and Miss T. So sorry to hear about it.

You probably already know this, but detective work on burglary tends to be a bigger preoccupation of police forces than bike theft. I've heard of quite a few burglaries in which bikes were stolen being solved, in one case because the bike was quite distinctive, unlike the other things that had been stolen (computers etc. as in your case). The police got at the burglars because they caught them trying to sell the bike. It's obviously wishful thinking that this might happen in your case, too, but best of luck, anyway!

My first road bike - a Flying Scot was stolen about 25 years ago in Scotland (had a replacement chrome fork just in case anyone here ended up with it). It obviously never showed up again. I only used cheap bikes to commute after that - athough another 3 have been stolen since, I don't lose any sleep over bike theives

i stopped a few weeks back as i saw the yellowjackets doing free bike marking on my commute.
Let someone go first whilst i removed gloves and found a tissue..
Officer flipped the bike over onto pavement on bars and saddle.
Blew my nose, replaced gloves, glanced long at my watch (no deadline), chevronnd out of there.

Fyi the police do do this for free in london [http://http://content.met.police.uk/Article/Cycle-marking-events/1400005859885/1400005859885]

Ive had my road bike marked. Dont know whether it actually helps get your stolen bike back though...

My friend had her bike stolen yesterday around Hackney. It's registered and has been reported to the police. Afraid I don't have the frame number yet.
We're keeping an eye on gumtree and http://www.bikeshd.co.uk/
We'll also be going down to brick lane on Saturday morning in case it shows up there.
Please do keep an eye, would love to get her back.

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Just had my commuter bike nicked from hotel garage in Linkoping, Sweden. Garage has keypad access and doors don't stay open long enough for someone to tailgate without being noticed. Bike was Specialised Rockhopper pro. It was locked with decent but not fantastic Abus D lock through back wheel and frame - bike rack was piece of crap so wasn't locked to that. Inside job I reckon.
Am gutted!

Posted elsewhere, but here too for good measure, my neighbour found an abandoned red/orange claude butler road bike:

"As per the title, my neighbour found an old claude butler road bike abandoned in the street. It's an orangey/red colour, not in the best nick, but fitted with new tyres, so obviously used by someone. Has reynolds 501 tubing, mudguards and a rack.

If it's yours, or belongs to someone you know, contact me on here or on adamltyson AT gmail.com , and we can sort it out.

Hopefully it can be returned to its rightful owner.

Adam"

I haven't trawled the whole conversation to see if other people have suggested this, but would it be worth updating the OP with the following bike-recovery strategy?

I had a bike stolen in February, and I set up a bunch of saved searches on ebay and gumtree, using a variety of search terms ranging from the exact make and model, to much more generic terms, and every morning I'd get an email with pictures of all the new listings.

A stolen bike can take months to reappear on places like Gumtree and eBay, and it's unlikely you'll still be checking every day by that point. About three or so months later when my bike reappeared on Gumtree, the fury had long since dissipated and there was no way I would have been checking those sites daily, but my saved searches caught it and I was able to rock up with the five-oh.

tl;dr: make a bunch of saved-searches on eBay and Gumtree

I have no idea how to do this, but if you can give more detailed instructions, sure.

Maybe a better way to do it would be to have Google find it for you. Sort of. Using Google alerts you can get emails when things are posted. Full instructions are available here https://support.google.com/alerts/answer/4815696?hl=en.

I don't think you need a Google account as I have many work related alerts I setup years ago sent to my work email. They still work and find loads of information for me. You just need to either by good with your search terms or setup lots of alerts for a wide range of search terms.

Here's how to save a search on gumtree.

And here's how to save searches on eBay

Just remember to enable emails.

My friend had her bike (read that as colleagues bike which she was borrowing) stolen from Sussex University campus the other day. I wouldnt be surprised if it was stolen and taken up to London, i have heard a few times this is what happens around here.

its a boardman comp CX bike, similar to the one in the pic. the only identifying thing that i recall is that the lock was wrapped around the seatpost/top tube/seat stays, so there are some wear marks around there.

if it crops up please could you drop me a pm, would really appreciate it.

Saw a geared Look yesterday being ridden by Hackney Downs by a bloke that definitely didn't look like he should be.

53/54cm, Fizik saddle, branded rims, cleats, about 54cm I would guess.

Would hedge my bets it's been pinched, let me know if it's yours!

I was speaking to the local plod recently and they revealed that found bikes are taken in by the council. There is no coordinated approach used by either the council or the police to see if any of them match descriptions of stolen bikes. Quite remarkable then that I had two previous conversations with the police on the subject of stolen bikes as a result of my business (I'm a bike mechanic) and they didn't mention the part the council play at all. I was not impressed but it turns out that not everyone who handles stolen bike enquiries in the constabulary knows that the council do this either!

Sorry to post this again in a different thread but 2 of my bikes have been knicked from outside my flat (in a gated block) just before I got in from work.

They were/ hopefully still are in Camberwell.

If anyone spots them could they give me a shout.

I've registered them stolen with the police.

Cheers guys. I'm gutted!!!
The fort is the best bike I've ever owned.

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And this is the the other one.
The second best bike I've ever owned.

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little update. the police have just emailed me saying that there isn't enough evidence so they've closed the investigation.

there is CCTV pointed at the entrance to our block that would almost certainly have caught them in the act.

does anyone have and advice on what i can do next

cheers

Set up a load of saved searches on eBay and Gumtree. Make sure they are set to email you the results daily.

Check out the local markets, pawn shops, and brick lane could be worth a visit if you're feeling particularly proactive.

Have you or the police tried to get the CCTV recording?

Your bikes are very distinctive, but your road bike doesn't have a name on it, so probably hard to search for on-line. On the upside, many on here will have seen them, and if they're still around Camberwell, they will get spotted.

Ask the police if they think the profile of the burglary suggests the bikes might turn up at markets.

Good luck!

Why can't putting in a claim be done online these days.

Hey everyone,
Just had my Canyon bike stolen this morning from Fitzrozia (Soho). I am trying to contact the met police and get access to cameras in the area, in the meantime I`d appreciate if you guys could keep an eye out.

My number is 0 7480 955 304, email is mattisgl@gmail.com

These are fairly recent pictures of the bike. When it was stolen it did not have the saddle bag attached and I recently swapped the stem out for a matte black one, 90mm.

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mattis, make sure you post it in the 'Stolen bikes' thread, too:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/127215/

This thread is for talking about what to do when a bike gets stolen, and is probably followed by far fewer people than the other thread.

Good luck.

Great, thanks for the tip Oliver.

if your bike costs between £1000-£2000 and if you can afford it, buy this £155 gps tracker and place it in the seattube.

if your bike is stolen, you can locate it by sending the gps tracker a text message from your phone. It will reply with a Google Maps link, showing the exact location of your bike. There are no ongoing costs, other than that of a PAYG text each time you need to locate.

1 issue is that battery life is 3 days. you will have to recharge it every 3 days if you use the bike continuously.

place it in the seattube.

It may not get a signal inside the seattube, which renders it useless.