Missing Bike Flier
Nov 21st, 2009 | By Fredcaster | Category: Photos & Videos
Missing Bike - Click to View Full Size
I enjoyed the humor and anger in the flier and certainly can relate to it. I asked if I could post it here on The FredCast site and he agreed.
So . . . have you ever had a bike stolen? What did you do to try to get it back? Was it ever returned? If so, is there a good story to go along with it?
If so, let me know here in the comments, via email or via voice mail and I’ll put your interesting stories on the show.
UPDATE: Turns out that this flier was part of a campaign for a new t-shirt design from Threadless Tees’. When I learned this (thanks to @mdbrown on Twitter), I felt so used. Then I found out that this design resulted from a true story of a missing (towed?) bike. So, I guess I’ll leave it up here because it’s still pretty humorous.
My first real roadbike, The frame was an orange caad3 with cxp30’s and ultegra with speedplay x2’s. The shop had put it together for me. I had been packing the car for a canoe trip and forgot to close the garage door. the bike was taken over night. MY only hope was the idiot would not put the front wheel in right, and would not know how to shift it, and would end up as a hood ornament on a bus. I spent the next week hitting pawn shops and walking the neighborhood. The funniest thing was calling my insurance agent and telling him. He asked how much it cost. I gave him the price and he said are you sure? Well his office was right across the parking lot from my shop. I said walk across and talk to Brett he will show you the original work order. Soon the shop had a check for a replacement less the deductible. My insurance agent still remembers it.
I now never leave my bikes in the garage, they are usually in main part of the house.
My wife has had this shirt for about 6 months now. We both love watching people read it and seeing their expressions change as they do. My wife lived in The Netherlands for 10 years and had more then one incident of her bikes being stolen. In one case she managed to steal one back.
I have had several bikes stolen. My very first Diamond Back Tiger mountain bike with a Marzochi suspension for was stolen right out of my garage. Back in San Jose, my wife and I lived near a multi-use cycling path…which made for an easy getaway.
Also, when I was in college, someone stole the wheels of of my first every road bike. a Raleigh that I very much loved.
Finally, someone stole a wheel off of our roof rack while having lunch on the way home from a cycling trip.
Bike related, I actually caught someone trying to steal my trunk mountain bike rack in an apartment complex I lived in. It was a kid who had no use for it whatsoever.
Bike related theft is almost a given. Very sad.
– Jeff
VeloReviews.com
I hoping you keep updating.
I, too, had a bike stolen out of the garage. CLOSE THE DOOR! Don’t ever leave it open if you are not there. So sad…
Nikki:
I had a bike stolen from our apartment garage (our landlord would not let me store my bike on the balcony of our apartment, and our Oakland/Lake Merritt home is too small for storage inside). It was a Raleigh Retro cruiser, 8 speeds, fenders, racy black/grey/red paint sceam. I loved this bike; probably more than was healthy. I love it still. I used to get at least two compliments on my roundtrip commute from our apartment to my church for mass. This bike was my first access to transportation and freedom after my Driver’s license was suspended following spinal cord injury and corrective lamenectomy surgery. Cycling, and my bikes, were and remains the essential part of my rehabilitation.
The criminal(s) hotwired the heavy gate key lock to gain access to the bike, and hotwired the inside key lock to retreat with my bike. Don’t judge any victim of bike theft, we are not the perpetrator in these crimes even if some are negligent. My Raleigh was not locked (my Ross “Goodbye Mr. Chips” and Bianchi road bikes are always locked now), but neither were the other bikes in the garage at the time of the theft.
Back in 1996 or so I bought a new Scott MTB and I was forced to store it in the shed by my father vs keeping it in the house or even in the garage. The first day I had it I put it in the shed and the next day it was gone!
My bikes are only kept in my apartment now. One of the worst things you can do to a bike is not keep it indoors! It will rust and get stolen otherwise.
I had a bicycle stolen from my back porch when I was in high school in Bellevue, WA. It was a Schwinn Varsity I think. It was in such bad shape that they brought it back.
Paul
Japan
Even though I live in California, I’m extremely fortunate to live in such a small town that I’ve never had a bike stolen. However, last winter there was a rash of bike thefts within our little town (Mount Shasta). As is so common these days, it was associated with getting money for drugs.
The amount of valuable items (like bikes) that get injected into veins or sucked up noses infuriates me.
I wrote a spoof blog about the state of bike security in our community at http://cycling-review.com/2010/03/09/bicycle-locks/ …although theft is nothing to laugh at.
Ron
I had a bicycle stolen from my back porch when I was in high school in Bellevue, WA. It was a Schwinn Varsity I think. It was in such bad shape that they brought it back.