To liberate or not to liberate?

sorry my bad bottom of ludgate hill not the cut was thinking of another evans

sorry if you all went whizzing down to the cut

i straightened out that Fuji and built it up in to a beater.

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Hi everyone

I need help liberating a painfully rusting frame i saw in the street the other day. The back wheel is been taken as the handlebar and stem. Seat has been destroyed by weather and chain and bolts are just rusted to an extreme.

However the frame seems in good condition (quite an old one though, maybe colnago or something, no brand on it, but shamrock is present on the frame)

thing is in kings cross, really close to the station and on the main street. I tried doing it the legal way but just got negatives both from the police and the council. The police said that they won't help me cut the lock...they asked me to wait 4 weeks but they didn't let me put a claim or give my details so to acquaint i'm waiting for a response from their part.

The council just said no, don't even remember why, but there was no way they were going to help me.

So i went down the street with a brand new bolt cutter (25 quid...) tried cutting the f-ing kryptonite D lock...but didn't even scratch it, went back to pick up a hacksaw and tried cutting it...no luck either, so for the third time under broad daylight and regular traffic in the streets i got my drill and tried drilling into the keyhole but just completely destroyed my only drill bit... no one seemed bothered and one guy even asked me if i had any luck (someone living in the block of flats where the bike is locked)

I'd like to go back with an angle grinder but haven't got one and I'm not even sure it could cut the super reinforced metal.

What should i do? Can anyone help me with this? i'd love to work on that frame as a summer project...frame is a beatiful aged wine red colour with chromed forks...just amazing.

Pol

Perhaps it's best to leave it, especially when the police says no, Colnago or not...

Do you think i could get in trouble?

they just said they can't help, they never said that there was something wrong with taking abandoned property. its obviously abandoned (frame has been there for a while and i checked street view on google maps and i think i can tell it's the same frame as in the pictures which are reaaally old).
they said clearly that "is not lost or stolen property until someone claims it lost or stolen" so i think that what they meant is that: if no one will complain then i'm not liable.

I think i will be persistent and will obtain the frame nonethless but thanks for your advice.

Mmm, breakfast popcorn... munch, munch

What bothers me most is that you can take a drill and a hack saw to a bike in plain view of everyone in the world and not a single person asked you what you were doing or called the fuzz. London really gets on my tits sometimes!

As long as it's locked it's neither lost, stolen nor abandoned.

Do you think i could get in trouble?

yes, how are you going to explain it to the police officer who caught you cutting a bicycle lock?

Pol paz - Thanks for the head up man, I'll head over tonight with my cordless angle grinder. Should make a good fixie once I've taken it to Armourtex for a spot of baby blue powder.

:)

Slightly OT but sorta related: There is this lovely purple Moser standing in one of the bike stands outside my apartment, something along the lines of this:

Im sure it is being used and it is locked up, but its outside and rusting from all the snow and salt, shame because its so nice. I have no intentions of stealing it but maybe should try to get a hold of the owner and ask him to sell it? Feel like it would be sneaky as he probably wouldnt know what it was worth... :P

Pol Paz. Is it possible that owner had components nicked and has left frame there while waiting for space / reddies to fix it up? I mean at the least those locks must be worth money right? Well they were before drilling / hacking and general tampering.

Well if the locks got bits of drill bit in it its probably bust anyway. nice job.

Hi everyone

I need help liberating a painfully rusting frame i saw in the street the other day.

.... The police said that they won't help me cut the lock...they asked me to wait 4 weeks but they didn't let me put a claim or give my details so to acquaint i'm waiting for a response from their part...

Just to be clear, how long has it been sitting there? From your post it doesn't sound like you know for a fact. If that is the case fucking up the lock is a bit out of order imo.

Reasonably alright bike at a major London train station. As far as I can tell it hasn't moved in 6 months, now tagged for removal at the end of the month. Got a nice set of wheels on it... thoughts?

Look for ways to ID owner

Check out the frame number on any of the registration databases.

Failing that, check with the station as to what they do with them afterwards. Technically, as the station is private property, you could be accused of stealing from them. I think now most cleared bikes end up donated to some variation of a bikes for Africa scheme. Such a scheme might welcome a modest donation in exchange for a bike.