Stolen Bike Delima

So I picked up a nice bike recently, its just a beater, didnt pay much for it. It didnt look like it was worth more than I paid for it either.

I got it off gumtree, went and met the guy at his garage, he had a huge back story about how his grandad used to work with the guy who ownes Daycocks Cycles. So, he had a garage full of bikes in East London, all his grandads from when he was a trader but its time to get rid of em. His story seemed legit and he knew his shit about bikes.

Last night, someone outside a pub approached me telling me how my bike was theirs and it was stolen from infront of their house a couple of months ago. I took their number, they took mine and I promised to help come to a solution. Bearing in mind, it was only the frame that was theirs, all the parts must have come from elsewhere.

Ive got the mobile number for this guy I bought it off and I know exactly where his garage is too and it was FULL of bikes.

I'm in a bit of a moral dilema. Is it worth getting the police involved? I want this girl to have her bike back, but I dont want to be out of pocket either.

What am I to do?

If it this person's, you're handling stolen goods, better to tell the police where you got it from in case this seller is selling stolen bikes, return the frame and rack it up to life experience.

I'm going to have to return the frame to the person. Their story seemed pretty legit, but if its an old frame and its been passed around a bit then where does the cycle end?

But what about the police? If all I have is a phone number a first name and I know where the garage is, will they even do anything about it?

^^this, for peace of mind and for doing the right thing. And hey, what goes around comes around. You'll feel better for it.

But what about the police? If all I have is a phone number a first name and I know where the garage is, will they even do anything about it?

They will if you contact the Cycle Theft Task Force (or whatever they're called).

But what about the police? If all I have is a phone number a first name and I know where the garage is, will they even do anything about it?

They definitely wont if they don't know this information, if it was one of your frames in there, wouldn't you want it to be returned to you.

Which reminds me, I should make a note of the new bike's frame number and register it with one of them thingies.

How could the girl who says it's her frame prove it was theirs? I had my mountain bike stolen when I was a student, a shitty supermarket one, and at some point the forks had to be replaced for standard chrome ones. Because of that "specificity", during the following year it was stolen, I would constantly be almost sure I had seen it here and there, but a close look would show it wasn't... (I had some bottle cages inserts installed in the downtube by my LBS, another specificity). Same thing when my ex girlfriend's old Raleigh got stolen, I would swear I'd seen it many times until I realise it was a frequent model...
I'm not saying she is not honnest, but just wondering how could she be 100/100 sure it was her frame. If your gut feeling was that the seller was legit in the first place...?

Good luck anyway in sorting this out...

L

I was going to ask the same thing as ^
Did she produce a matching frame number or something ?

no proof was offered, just a backstory on the bike. She listed some pretty amazing parts that used to be on there but now its just shitty beater parts. She has yet to contact me.

ridgeback?

/\ /\ /\ /

These nice parts could have been installed on any frame! What makes you think she is legit, and what significant thing she said about the frame that would show that it could have been hers? Unless it's a one off frame with very specific details, she has to show some kind of indication. Once again, she is probably honest and probably had her bike stolen, but with the info available on this thread nothing suggests the seller is not as honest. I suppose that's why you called this a dilemma I suppose...

Good luck again with this...

It aint a ridgeback. I guess I'll have to wait for her to get in contact.

Ok, no distinctive sign on the frame proving it's hers then (since you have not clarified my previous question). Keep riding your bike and forget about it all then...?

ahh right, no, she didnt mention any particular scratches or anything.

I guess I was wondering if anyone here had been in a similar situation; bought a bike in good faith and been approached by the previous owner.

How sure are you that the frame belongs to this Girl?

There are thousands of every bike frame out there, how can she be sure? How much does she know about bikes? Whos story is most convincing?

Does she have photo's or a frame number? Sounds dodgy to me.

I find it pretty impossible to believe the frame isn't hers. the likelihood of your buying a frame from dodgy person with a garage full of bikes, then a random girl walking up and claiming falsely that the same frame is hers seems pretty ridiculous. Call the police and let them know, give the frame too. Think how you'd feel if the roles were reversed.

^this

out of interest what frame is it?

Right, here's the update guys.

We got the police involved. I gave the girl her bike back, I told the police about the guy and his lock-up, but before they did anything, I rang the guy, told him I ran into the owner and she proved it was hers and I had to give it back before they got the police involved. I explained how he should, therefore, refund me in full as he wouldnt want the police sniffing round his garage. He agreed, but only after some high class bullshittery about the bikes origin.

I then went and met him on sunday morning in some dodgy car park in East London with my biggest adjustable wrench stuffed in my pocket, got my cash back and left him there in the rain.

Right about now, the police should be swooping in on his ass and hopefully solving many bike theft cases.

So alls worked out well, she got her bike, i got my cash and i just learnt the scary lesson on who not to buy bikes off.

Thanks for the advice guys. I feel so much better now everything is above board.

Just to let you know, the guy calls himself Keith and operates on Gumtree using the Bethnal Green and Mile end areas. Fuck him.

^ maybe apart from giving the dodgy seller a head start before the police

From the sound of it, he (falsely) offer the seller a way out not hinting that the police will come afterward.

got it in one. The art of deception.

Did Scoble take photos?