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@Muppetteer
Just wanted to write about my experience of having my bike stolen, and how I got it back. It won't work for everybody but I'm sure there's some things people might be able to take away.
My bike was stolen from outside my place of work, in early November last year. It was quite a unique bike (a very expensive folding bike) with SPD pedals, Brooks bar tape and Saddle, and I had recently put on new tires (which ended up helping a lot in its recovery).
The theft was on CCTV and about took place about 15mins before I was going home, so I was quite gutted when it wasn't there to go into the security office and watch the thieves take my bike on the footage. However the footage was rubbish. They wore hoods, and it seems had already prepped the bike earlier in the day. The overall theft only took less than a minute.
I reported the bike as stolen (using the Met Police online thingy) and chalked it up to experience. It was the first bike I've ever had stolen.
I set up automated eBay searches, GumTree, and general google searches, just a precaution. Many similar bikes were listed but not mine. Then about 3 weeks later, it turned up on GumTree, with a different saddle. It was listed for £650 and I went into action. I called the police and they told me that they would look into the matter, but couldn't give me a timescale as to when they would do anything. I found through a little bit of a google search, the Met Police have a Cycle Task force, and got the main email address and started from there.
After a bit of digging (about an hour of searching) I managed to get the name and contact details of most of the Cycle Task force. I found out that they were all unavailable that day, as they were doing a major bust that night, and were prepping for that. I was told not to make contact with the seller, but if I did, I should under no circumstances go and try to get the bike back. Instead I should let the police go. I immediately made contact, and arranged a time and place to meet. I went back to the police and told that either I would be appropriating my bike with a baseball bat, or they could go and get it for me. They offered to go.
I met up at a Police station, and handed my phone over. They had a van ready with about 8 officers inside. We checked out the listing and I was able to confirm the bike was mine, due to the collection of modifications and photos of my 72yr old dad riding it. Unfortunately they went to get the bike, but the seller didn't show. They think he got spooked, but we didn't give up.
We tried a variety of different phone numbers and arranged a few different meets. In the meantime, I was following the guy's various listings on Gumtree and the mobile phone numbers he was using. The police had contacted the mobile providers and were arranging the location/address details.
In the meantime the guy listed a few more bikes, which I guessed were stolen too and the price for mine was dropping. It was then that the mobile operators returned with the location/address details, and the police found that with a bit of surveillance there was a lockup, full of bikes, of which mine was one.
They then told me they were going to bust/raid a number of properties associated with the lockup and my bike. That was about a three weeks after I'd first made contact with the police, and the next day I got an email to say they have my bike.
We arranged a collection, it was covered in fingerprint dust, and I had to bring proof that it was mine, photos, receipts for bits etc. They also had a room of other bikes that were confiscated in the raid, which they were trying to return to their owners. I was shown photos, and asked if I knew four men, who were found with my bike, and arrested in connection with the theft. Currently, they're awaiting trial.
The Police were great, however it was really frustrating at first to get them to do anything. It also helps if you tell them that your bike is worth a lot of money (mine would have been £1799 new) and that you have lots of evidence to prove its yours. Also, keep searching for it. Mine took 3 weeks to turn up on GumTree, with a different saddle, but the rest was the same.