To liberate or not to liberate?

Saw a couple of dudes walking along Roman Road earlier with what looked to be liberated bikes. They were pieces of shit, kicked in wheels and all that. I know there's a difference between theft and liberation, but I'm all for resurrecting unloved bikes.

i feel bad for this bike every time i see it... i want to build it in to something nice for my bikeless girlfriend

What do the councils do with the bikes that they cut off railings when they have been left there too long? My guess is they go straight to the dump . . .

its not moved in 3 years, not 3 days. I would not just take it if it aint moved in 3 days thats theft not liberation.

not you - the OP.

"has been there almost a week"

We remove bikes from the racks where I work. After a long period of sitting idle they get a 2 week removal notice attached. After we remove them they go into lost property for 3 months, then they are auctioned off. We never destroy a bike whilst removing it.

i was talking about this with a couple of people last night at wests. there should be a forum rescue team. someone tall with a fluoro jacket, to look official, someone armed with a grinder/saw/bolt cutters, someone looking out.

i was talking about this with a couple of people last night at wests. there should be a forum rescue team. someone tall with a fluoro hoody, to look hard, someone armed with a grinder/saw/bolt cutters, someone looking out.

Fixed.
You could recruit them all at Brick Lane on a Sunday.

iv had my eye on a bike for 2 years now (talked to some people and they think its been there longer)... its pretty rusty now few bits have been nicked..

I left a note on it about 6 months ago now, but I got nothing back.

I think I might take it next week. Does anybody have a good to go through 2cms of cable?
spoke cutters work really quickly. its what i use in shop when we lose a key/customer locks a bike to their rack and lost the key.

you'd be able to get some right treasure. you ever parked next to what would've been a really nice bike if someone hadn't nicked the wheels and then tied an innertube round the whole thing.. soul destroying!

There was a bike 'illegally' locked up to a fence in a car park near my work, the next day the car park firm came round with an angle grinder & cut the frame to get the lock off, rather than cutting the lock! Was only a crappy halfords bmx though, so not too devastating!

not you - the OP.

"has been there almost a week"

sorry villa. ;)

Dude you have to wait atleast another few weeks....people sometimes leave their bikes locked fuck knows where and only decide to fetch them in a few weeks or so. The wheel was probably kicked in by some drunkard. But just give it some more time and if no reply i would go rescue it before the council fuckers confiscate it.

What do the councils do with the bikes that they cut off railings when they have been left there too long? My guess is they go straight to the dump . . .

They sell them! cunt bastards.

We have a company here in Cambridge which has been running successfully for more than 15 years now from just bikes which they get for free from council. They just regrease, clean them up fix anything broken, replace with parts and sell them for like 100-150 quid. I mean seriously they actually have thousands of frames and millions of parts which they simply took off abandoned and incorrectly parked bikes. I would presume there is something like that in London too, just some shed with a guy called bob who sells 5 quid wheels and 20 pound frames

Update. Seeing as this thread got resurrected I did as advised and left the bike from the op. I put flyers through postboxes and knocked on neighbours doors. No-one knew anything about it. It disappeared about 2 days later (about 1 month from me spotting it originally). Make of that what you will.

There's an old Puch road frame that I've had my eye on locked up in Enfield town. It's a bit big for me, but it's kind of pretty and it's been there for about a year. My guess is it was owned by some elderly bloke (there's a few around the area riding ancient bikes at 5mph) who left it locked up and died - if that was the case it would be really sad to leave it to rust and fall apart. Does anyone know if there is a legal way of claiming it? Want to keep it on the good side of the law.

There's an old Puch road frame that I've had my eye on locked up in Enfield town. It's a bit big for me, but it's kind of pretty and it's been there for about a year. My guess is it was owned by some elderly bloke (there's a few around the area riding ancient bikes at 5mph) who left it locked up and died - if that was the case it would be really sad to leave it to rust and fall apart. Does anyone know if there is a legal way of claiming it? Want to keep it on the good side of the law.

yeah dude, just ask your neighbors whether they know anything about it....but if its been there for a year thats an abandoned bike, and you wanna rescue it.

There is a nice ladies raleigh outside Westbourne Park tube station and it has been there for 6 months or longer. Surprisingly it's still in a pretty good shape, there must constantly be workers there or something. Anyway during the Notting Hill carnival the council took the railing (about a good 5 meters of railings) away to free up room for pedestrians, I thought to my self arghh there goes my chance to "liberate" that particular bike. However when the railing were replaced the bike was still attached, i find it amazing that they went through such an effort to keep the bike attached to the railings. Its still there out side the station, slightly more damaged though.

Also there is a Charge Plug left outside the millenium dome for a few weeks not sure if it's still there but the chain was really rusty so it must have been out doors for a good long while.

The council has just put tags on some bikes outside my college saying that they'll get removed in 48 hrs.. Do you think its right to strip the bikes for the parts I want?
Its not bike liberation, maybe just recycling from wrecks..

does anyone know of a place where council might keep the stuff they remove, other than a bin...

does anyone know of a place where council might keep the stuff they remove, other than a bin...

Council depots--get very full of abandoned stuff which is regularly passed on (e.g., to recycling companies).

the one in holloway gives all it's saleable stuff to a charity shop in walthamstow, but you need to be on dhss to get anything unfortunately.

There's a nice old Raleigh town bike D locked to a lmp post near me for about 10 weeks now. It's slowly going rusty.

When would be a decent time to liberate.

I agree that by alerting the neighbours someone will just go out there and take it. Putting an official looking label on it giving 2 weeks notice to removal is another thought I had but that seems dishonest as well.

I would have thought that if it's stil lthere after 6 months then it's fair game. Any other offers? Also, what's the best / chepest way to get through a D Lock?

angle grinder. someone on here has one. borrow two fluoro jackets as well. and a clipboard.job done.

If you are concerned about it going rusty why not go and give it a clean & and oil? give it a wipe over with a oily rag should give it some protection, could do it weekly?

Then after a decent amount of time......6 months?...... since you have been caring and loving towards the frame, it will love you like a parent and then it will only be humane to bring it indoors.

I like that idea very much.

I might even do it.

If you are concerned about it going rusty why not go and give it a clean & and oil? give it a wipe over with a oily rag should give it some protection, could do it weekly?

Then after a decent amount of time......6 months?...... since you have been caring and loving towards the frame, it will love you like a parent and then it will only be humane to bring it indoors.

If you are concerned about it going rusty why not go and give it a clean & and oil? give it a wipe over with a oily rag should give it some protection, could do it weekly?

Then after a decent amount of time......6 months?...... since you have been caring and loving towards the frame, it will love you like a parent and then it will only be humane to bring it indoors.

Bike foreplay at its best.... make sure to run it a hot bath when you get indoors and use loads of lube