Most recent activity
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Jeezus, you're not joking. Had a click through, that's a lot of expensive carbon to have in one house.
02096 strange tel no. too.
If anyone lost a TT bike, one dodgy guy is selling many high end (all the same number, email and location). Probably 20k TT bike for 1 guy in whitechapel....doesn't sound right especially when all the ads have been removed very quickly less than 24h later (so google cache link):
And I know that i missed few, can be a simple scam but few bike have the same background. They all appear on BikeHD.
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Out of curiosity, if I find it at a market, do I ring the police and try to get them to come down?
There are usually police patrolling nearby, also Market Inspectors carrying radios and in marked tabards or similar.
If you see your bike, say nothing, but quickly locate a MI or cop. A fruit seller or someone like that should have the number of the market inspectors, and the MIs have the numbers of the nearest cops. Bethnal Green cop-shop is open on Sundays, and is active on bikes.
All this assumes you can prove the bike is yours. If you can't (no folded piece of paper down the seat-tube), then you'll have to bluff. No sellers in street markets like to see cops on their stall, and it makes little difference if the police take the bike until ownership is proved, or the seller gives it back to you, EXCEPT, if the same vendor is having the same problem on his stall every couple of weeks, the police will have a serious word with him about 'receiving stolen goods'.
Without proof you can ask quietly for your bike back, or loudly cuss and do your nut, depending on what you think will work. If the vendor is trying to sell your bike, be loud. The buyer will do one. If you think the vendor will do a runner, try and lock up the bike. Under some circumstances that should be the first thing you should do - sometimes at BL sellers stand some distance away from a hot bike, so they can't be implicated in case of trouble.
At Brick Lane you have to reach early - you see the dirtbags in the cage there stripping down frames and playing 'mix and match' from 8am.
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Hey, do you know where your Brompton is?
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I guess I'm typical, not checking the stolen bikes thread until something happens that impacts me. I'm doing the rounds of the law etc, trying to see if someone is looking for this Aeron - good luck for them, bad luck for me.
Seems that just as the number of regular cyclists on the road inhaling the lovely motor fumes has shot up, so has the number (or work rate) of the thieves. The cops are overwhelmed, and still have Jimmy Savile's activities and blood and guts stuff to contend with.
The Victoria Park/canal scenario has been going on for decades. A small mob of kids, often gypsies (and all under the age of criminal responsibility, natch), will just rush you. Society in London is such that you have little hope of help from fellow cyclists.
You have to be very alert, very strong and very ruthless to hold onto your bike. When it happened to my mate (female) years ago, we worked out that you have to really see them coming, sprint to string them out, and really launch the first one to reach you. Then if you are still encircled, see if you can drop the biggest one of them. That makes the little rats hesitate.
Don't forget your lock and bike can be weapons in themselves, and cycle shoes are stiff and tough.
If they have screwdrivers, blades or whatever, I'd let it go. These kids know no anatomy and might stab you somewhere vital.
The area is not recommended for female cyclists once dusk has fallen.
Are there any app developers on the board who are interested in devising a stolen bike app? I'd love to be able to see a long parade of bike pics scrolling across an Xphone screen when I'm at a car boot or similar. Sure cops would too.
P.S.: The picture of the Kona Smoke is heart-breaking for some reason. I'd *never *leave it at a train station.
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A fortnight ago I bought an Aeron in Deptford (London SE8) in good faith, and but I'm not happy about its provenance any more (coppithat gave me a heads-up). I don't need the bad karma.
I've googled it, no dice. Nothing directly in this thread either. Will check with Mr Plod, registers, cycle Task Force. If you know anyone that has lost an Aeron bike recently, tell them to email alldatstrakATgooglemail.com with a proper description. It hasn't been disguised.
Profit on stolen bikes isn't all that, so what's going on? Good explanation here:
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/30393216796/what-happens-to-stolen-bicycles
Digest: Stealing bikes is pretty risk-free, and a risk-free profit... is pure profit. -
So the drivers are forced to lie that they have already dropped off their last passenger so they can get another job and make some money.
This is incorrect, as AL use reasonably sophisticated auto-allocate software. It is possible to cheat the system, but not in the way that you describe, as the software relies on GPS location to allocate work, ie you might clear the job before you're actually clear, but you still won't be close enough to the next job to be allocated to it.
Bill, I know well that this is all stuff you know about, but I did hear that AL jobs are often taken by the 'first responder' who is on the patch. Perhaps that is out-of-date, or just crap, I can't say I heard it direct from a driver. Is it possible there is still a scramble even with the GPS system if several cars are within radius?
Sad to hear that AL are just the best-known PHC exploiters rather than the worst.
Directors sitting at boardroom tables shiny with the sweat and blood of others. Still AL do deserve to be picked with Griffin coming out with the old 'we pay road tax, so cyclists should shut it'.
John Griffin's response to criticism included this R4 news feature.
Drag to 0:16:22
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01gd4ly
With added Pussy Riot and Russian cussing! -
AL most definitely mug off their employees (who are not in fact regarded as employees). Victims?
Here's some background:
Addison Lee is a proper unprincipled scam operation. They don't make their money from fares, they make it from all the rentals they force on their cabbies. Skint Naija boys, Polish guys, Bangladeshi boys who don't have a decent motor of their own reckon that they can make some money working for them as they seem to be a class outfit. They don't find out the bad news until they have coughed up and are in a hole. Seriously, you need to work 60 hrs a week. If you work 50 hrs you won't break even as fuel and AL fees will top £350 a week.
Fair enough AL set the fares, but how come the drivers are then 'self-employed'? And you get a ban if you turn down a job, but your're lucky to get any jobs, as they overload the circuit with drivers so there are always lots free. Good for picking up passengers fast, but very bad for the drivers who might get two jobs in a shift. So the drivers are forced to lie that they have already dropped off their last passenger so they can get another job and make some money. So they are late to pick you up, and nobody's happy.
Well nobody apart from Addison Lee who make money from the drivers even while they are parked up, and also take percentages of their fares, charge booking fees etc. I've heard from drivers that the longer you work for AL, the more you are trapped, as you can't make enough money to get a car of your own.
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/09/how-self-employed-are-addison.html
Bitter comments.http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110328034455AAVeNro
Yep, something that sounds reasoned on yahoo answers.AL head honch Griffin is a major shark, and makes big donations to the Tories. He's hooked up with Boris Johnson too. It's tough to boycott AL cabs, because AL still get their money, but you're making it even tougher for the drivers.
Oh yeah, from a cycling safety point of view, AL don't monitor the working hours of their drivers, as the whole sweatshop system would collapse if they didn't allow their drivers to cover insane hours. So in addition to talking crap, Griffin is an icon for exploitative employers everywhere.
The fact that AL drivers may not drive a car regularly, and do not own the vehicle they use for cabbing may also have an effect on their driving style, but not as much of an effect as their desperation.
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^Good call, Marmoset. I'm on Crossfields also, and will second your suggestion to the Tenants Association.
Driver was arrested, then bailed after handing himself in to the cops, but not before taking all the options a scumbag can think of:
- Leaving the scene
- Driving back to the scene to check how badly he'd f*ked up
- Leaving the scene again
- Abandoning his motor in a side-street and legging it
TJ was a teenager, of Nigerian background, and always on his bike. For cultural reasons, this is pretty unusual. He was truly well-thought of and respected.
To make it clear to those who haven't clicked the links, TJ was crossing Deptford Church Street on the toucan crossing when the car struck him.
I don't know the state of the lights and other details when he was crossing, but it's a dodgy crossing simply because it is in the middle of a straight on a fast dual-carriageway. Drivers don't keep to the limit, and don't look for the lights. Even when they are on red, drivers are reluctant to stop.
It's best to cross there as if you are not actually at an official crossing, and it's dangerous even then.
- Leaving the scene
Black Brompton thieved from Deptford Market SE8, this morning (Wednesday 28 May).
3-speed
Chrome bell
Folding pedals on both sides
pm CoppiThat if spotted.