Stolen parts / please discuss

So, I'm afraid a rather sour end to another lovely Rollapaluza: came out to find my saddle and seatpost had been stolen, as had Phil's (somebody). Mine - seatpost: stock Bianchi Pista, saddle: 90's Brooks, ladies model, black leather/copper hammered rivets like this:

Our bikes were 2 of the 3 end bikes locked to the railings, though they were by no means isolated.

My train of thoughts has lead to this: The Horseshoe is pretty much in a dead end. It is on the way to nowhere. No opportunistic thief would just happen to be walking by with a 5mm allen key in their pocket - would they?...so, 2 leather saddles stolen. No wheels/anything else obvious stolen from other bikes, but I'm coming to think that whoever did it was likely to know that there would be be a number of bikes at that place and time, and that they would have known about that from the forum.

It's been mooted before that bike thieves probably lurk here: now I definitely feel targeted. I've always felt that there would be safety in numbers at such events but I'm no longer sure. Stolen to order? Probably - if the thief knew about the forum (which from my previous point I'm presuming they do) then they wouldn't bother posting it for sale here, ergo they probably already have a buyer.

Well, buyer and stealer of Brooks saddle, whoever you are: that saddle was bought by my Dad, in the 90s, and I've been riding that saddle since he died a year ago. It's been a wonderful way of remembering him and how he introduced me to cycling. Thanks a bunch for ripping the memories out of my own bike, you tosser.

Oh and if anyone has a 27.2 seatpost I can buy/pick up tomorrow please do let me know, would be much appreciated.

That sucks stelly...great way to start your birthday...:(
There really are some proper scumbags out there!

yeah stelle, 27.2 with you tomorrow when you want.

it'd be nice to think the little twats chanced upon a massive payday but I'd be inclined to agree it's not the most obvious place to happen upon.

that's it: anywhere else I'd say, just opportunistic sods with an eye for what will sell, but there? No one just happens to get lucky in a cul-de-sac unless they follow someone else in!

you can get cheap locks for them...
sorry to hear about that though...
my saddle is pretty cheap (just $100 dollar thing) on a carbon wrapped post and i always take it with me. mostly becasue i had to ride 4 miles home with no saddle once. fool me once…

I dunno, I've got prejudiced in the last year - two sixteen-year-old boys on mountain bikes, with grey trackie bottomns tucked into their socks etc hanging around thirty fixed bikes... I think they were scoping......

Terrible terrible news,
and that it was something so close to you as well.

I still have the saddle my Dad used to rise on since the 80's.

You could use an old chain (like drive chain) and loop it around the rails and the rear triangle to combat thieves.

feel for you!

Something I reccommend for any parts/frame that you have no intention of selling is imprinting your name into it. Emboss/cut into saddle, scratch into rims, stamp into frame - that sort of thing.

Sorry to hear about your saddle. I had a bike nicked outside of this pub couple of years ago. Apparently there is some gang around stealing bikes according to the pub landlord. They let you bring the bike inside when its not busy though. I know this info doesn't help much, Stelle. My bike wasn't a track frame or anything too fancy at the time. So they seem to steal anything they can get hold off. I would check ebay and gumtree.

It really sucks, Stelle, as I've written elsewhere. Thieves on here? Interesting, yes, definitely possible. However, despite the dead end--I used to work in the EC1 area until recently, and there has definitely been a high level of bike theft around for a number of years. There were two local boys in particular, riding around on mostly stolen mountain bikes (when I first saw them, my first thought was 'those bikes are stolen', and that impression recurred every time I saw them on new ones), and the security guys at City University also had a lot of stories to tell. Given that there are bikes in that area in large numbers pretty much all of the time, there are rich pickings for thieves, and I would definitely take some more convincing that this theft is out of the usual, even at this time of night.

Not much consolation, I know, and doesn't lessen the need to perhaps think about the potential presence of thieves on the forum, which is not a pleasant thing to be dealing with.

Sorry to hear about your saddle. I had a bike nicked outside of this pub couple of years ago. Apparently there is some gang around stealing bikes according to the pub landlord.

Definitely fits the pattern that I know of this area.

Hm, perhaps I should have warned people on the Rollapaluza thread. Hindsight.

Thanks for your sympathy guys, it's sucky but nowt can do about it now. From what people have said it sounds like there might just be general thievery in the area - possibly bike specific - and that makes me feel better than thinking that people are lurking here and then taking the opportunity of rich pickings at events. I do still find it strange that a thief would happen to carry an allen key but then I guess it's a different mindset to me!

Maybe I should have chained it but the damned thing weighed so much already that it seemed a little excessive. Hindsight - yes, carving my name into the underside would have been worth it. You live and you learn.

ah, bad luck stelle, bad way to start your birthday (get a new one off illy :)
if you are happy with saddle and height, glue a ball bearing in both seatpost binder bolt and rails bolt.

Sorry to hear that Stelle. That really sucks. Let me know if I can help.

I use secure fasteners for all my allen key applications, once you have fitted out your bike you only need one tool. I accept that a smart thief might have the means to undo a security bolt but it adds one more obstacle to the thieving cnuts.

try here: http://www.securityfasteners.net/index.html

Toodle pip

stelle, that's totally shit, gutted, phil too.

anyway, the barman at the Horseshoe always said to me that there's loads of thieving little cunts around there, so keep an eye on the bikes. But I reckon they could have easily known just by coming on this forum or from blogs that there's gonna be a mass of bikes to choose from. Lets set up a fake 'event', then catch them all and beat them up with D-locks.

Sorry to hear that Stelle, is nothiong worse than having bits of your bike nicked. Someone stole my Dirty Harry brake lever outside the Lonsborough a couple of weeks ago, didn't notice until i realised i was riding home brakeless and someone also stole my rear cateye light fitting, which was annoying.

Neither of those quite get near you losing your saddle, you going to try Brick Lane or Gumtree for it?

not trying to be harsh, but "this is london". anywhere you leave your bike it's a gamble for stuff to be stolen. £50-100 brooks saddles are an easy target for thieves.

Sorry to hear about your saddle and post Stelle.

If you still need a 27.2 seatpost I've definitely got one you can have. PM me if you want it.

i know this is a bit callous but do you think there are any members of this fine forum who are on here just to find out about parties / nights outs etc who know where bikes will be at certain times
lurkers checking to find out where bikes will be parked that evening ?

Sad to hear this Stelle, but I would say that there are groups of kids in that area, from the spa green estate on st John st and others, whose main mission most nights seems to be targeting bikes . I live really close by (rosebery avenue) and am not comfortable leaving anything unsecured round there.

vigilante justice
tar and feather them or the slightly less inflammatory treacle and cornflake them

Oh goodness me. Bad luck Stelle and Phil. Grrrr.

I think there's a little paranoia going on here, though. The pub faces a mahoosive local authority housing mansion block, our bikes were actually chained to the railings of said block. Perhaps we were 'asking for it' seeing as no one was checking on the bikes, apart from me. And I left at nine.

Phil (pajamas) and I saw a couple of lads (rocking MTBs, Grey Marl & Nike, natch) 'scoping' the bikes. I doubt they were tipped off and came from miles away, as you may know that Finsbury and St Lukes are pretty disadvantaged wards with lots of low quality housing home to some pretty fearsome gangs and their runners. Phil and I were discussing the gamble of leaving bikes out there whilst no one was really keeping an eye on them.

It was bound to happen. i would recommend we encourage
A) Rollapalooza to use pubs with better facilities (overlooked rails or a back yard?) and not so 'under the noses' of obvious hotspots like that.
B) More people smoke more fags more of the time, or just hang about outside for a while every few minutes, to chat to the smokers, kind of like a watch.

Smokers ftw!

PS Stelle if you bother with a Brooks again, which I imagine you won't, you really ought to carve (or stamp) your name in the TOP of the saddle where it might be seen by a would-be thief. I have some excellent new lettering that's really big and a nice style of font, watch this space as I havn't used it yet to show a sample. The whole idea of mine of stamping names or initals into the top of the saddle is to make it very obviously personalised and therefore harder to sell on. Brooks are getting pinched a lot as they have very high value second hand, almost as much as retail.

sorry to hear about the saddle as it was such an special memory :(
i live in de beauvoir and the same thing happens. they even took the forks from a girl from the forum once. they all carry tools now.
near the george pub in dalston happens the same and it is in a quiet road as well.