Where do stolen bikes go?

still the same dodgy types on brick lane
was there sunday morning
good news is that the quality of the stuff they are selling now is crap
they are obviously feeling the long arm of the law
just selling tat now
try west africa
lots of stolen stuff gets chucked in shipping containers and transported to west africa
mercs bmw's and bikes mobile phones etc

One solid point amongst several wild and ill-informed statements. Give me a break. Think before you post, and post what you actually know about. Where did you hear about stolen bicycles being sent to West Africa as a major destination? You're just talking prejudiced, generalising nonsense. There is no real cycling scene in any West African country, as due to road conditions, they are either toys for children to ride around the compound in, or heavy-duty Chinese roadsters, used for village tasks.

Nor is West Africa a major destination for stolen Mercs and BMWs. For one thing, the steering is on the wrong side, and it is generally illegal to drive cars that are not left-hand drive in most of these countries. Some older vehicles **are **stolen in the UK and sent to Lagos or Takoradi for parts, but they are mostly commercial and passenger vehicles.

Mobile phones? No, also usually bought singly, and you won't find many in shipping containers. You can travel by passenger plane to West Africa (as well as Eastern Europe etc) nowadays, and handsets aren't very heavy.

Back on topic, reasonable quality bikes stolen in London are often sold via eBay, Gumtree and Loot, and tat is sold via street markets/boot fairs, pubs and anywhere. I've done studies on this, and most bikes stolen in London stay in London.

Online is a low-risk way for thieves to convert the hot bikes, and also enables them to get better money for them. Not sure what can be done to stop this - certainly Gumtree etc haven't found a solution. Maybe they could make detailed photos (including frame number) compulsory?

Brick Lane is also quite a bit different now. This time last year you would see a row of teenagers lined up trying to flog their ill-gotten machines on a Sunday morning. Most of the decent bikes on the stalls were similarly suspect, the stallholders had usually just bought them earlier that morning, from earlier-rising kids. They are the 'dodgy types' from a cycling point of view. And of course, the massive numbers of people who want nice bikes, but don't care how they get them.

Over the last few months, the BL scene has changed. The availability of hot bikes there has fallen dramatically, because the police have been really giving the tiefs a hard time. Boris Johnson's Cycle Task Force and coppers from Bethnal Green Police station have been seriously patrolling the Sunday market, and they include some officers who know one end of a bike from another, and what one might be worth. They have even been stopping shoppers just walking through the market wheeling their bikes, if they don't like the fit between bike and rider. If you can't tell them anything about your bike, or you start talking crap when they relay the frame number on the radio, then they just take it off you. They know only a legit owner can fight them on this right down to the wire, or will turn up to reclaim it.

On the one hand, the police are definitely taking bike theft more seriously, but on the other, bicycles are very susceptible to theft, and cycling has been getting more popular in London over the last few years.