Bike stolen from Swinley: GT Force Carbon, Cane Creek DB, Hope Tech X2, Mavic

Hi,

My GT was stolen on Sunday 6-October in Swinley forest, Bracknell. I had left it locked on my Thule 891 roof rack in the main car park while I popped into the cafe to get a snack after riding, I didn’t take more than 10-12 minutes and it was gone when I got back. I admit the lock was not the strongest, but this was a planned theft, not an opportunist.

If you have any information about its whereabouts, or see any of the above parts going for sale anywhere please contact me at lorenzo_valderrama@hotmail.com – you will be generously rewarded if it leads me to the scumbag that stole it.

Other than that, thanks for reading… just please take care looking after your pride and joy!

Thanks,

L.

Spec highlights:

GT Force Carbon Frame
Cane Creek DB Air shock
RS Revelation XX 150 with remote lockout and adjustable travel
Race Face atlas crankset
Full XTR gears
Hope Tech X2 brakes
Hope Pro II/Mavic 819 wheels

Gutted for you 🙁

Is the thieving scumbag season upon us now?

Gutted also this is now a recurring thread seems to be on the increase
so whos buying this stuff and for how much .

Sorry to hear this 🙁 . Given the increase of bikes at Swinley I guess was only a matter of time before they started to be targeted.

If you haven’t done already then post something up on the Swinley Forest Mountain Bikers Facebook page as there are a lot of local riders on there. I will post it for you on the Tunnel Hill Trolls forum, which also has a lot of local riders.

I know it is too late now, but the locks on all the roof rack bike carriers really are rubbish. I went to race once and left the keys at home, worrying easy to force the lock without much effort.

unlucky 🙁

Any chance there’s cctv around the place ?

I have put a link to this on the swinley forest mountain bike facebook site. As well as the southern group.

Swinley has always been targeted by Scum bags…. Go and report to the lookout reception – they supposedly have cameras out into the play area now as it used to be a common thing for Scum bags to lift bikes right under your nose whilst you were grabbing a cuppa.

Sorry to hear this.

How did they break the lock on the Thule? I’ve got 591 racks and tbh, don’t use a separate lock (well, I didn’t until now.)

Well that’s got to be unique, so hopefully the scumbags will keep it in current spec.

Unfortunately as soon as bikes get stripped there’s no telling where the majority of the parts came from.

Register the details, inc frame number if you have it, on http://www.immobilise.com – they are then available to police around the country.

Though sadly it’s likely to be stripped down or even heading out of the country now.

Still, check around for the bike or the components on places like gumtree, and of course ebay.

Gutted for you mate. That is a lovely bike. Hopefully your insurance will sort it and I will keep an eye out for it. Have you set up Gumtree, eBay alerts and the like?

Sorry to hear it OP. I’ve also been wondering how long it would be til the shysters started grabbing stuff from the car park. Pretty bold to take it off the roof in broad daylight.

Will keep an eye out.

Pretty bold to take it off the roof in broad daylight.

Is it? On any given weekend there are hundreds of people taking bikes off roofracks in the Lookout carpark. Particularly if the Thule was easy to force, ie: not obviously struggling to get it off, it would look perfectly normal. Brazen, but almost ‘hiding in plain sight’.

As the OP said, I’m not sure this sounds opportunistic at all, sounds like the thieves had been watching to see it left unattended, maybe already knowing which rack locks are easy pickings. Walk over, dressed as a MTBer, take it off the rack, climb on and ride it off into the back of a waiting van. I don’t think many of us would register it as being abnormal.

Let’s all make an effort to watch out for those around us. I know there are some charlies about, but personally if someone was suspicious and came over and challenged me about whether the bike I was offloading was mine* I’d be happy someone was watching out for me rather than angry at being challenged

* maybe describe the spec a bit, or get them to open the car to prove it’s theirs, etc.

[edit – and sorry to hear of the loss, wuill keep an eye out and post it on the BOB forum too]

Jason – Member

I know it is too late now, but the locks on all the roof rack bike carriers really are rubbish.
Agreed! We have a Thule tow bar rack and I would never trust the lock on it, they are crap! We use a 1.5m 14mm to secure the bikes, with an alarmed padlock, wrapped around the tow bar mount itself.

commiseration’s OP

I would like the police to setup a sting operation and nip this in the bud!

With crown estate now charging for parking we should expect that CCTV and adequate security measures are taken to protect our property.

What time was this, I was there on Sunday and had arranged to meet friends there at 1:30 pm.

But arrived early so was stood at the entrance to the main carpark after the horse box park hoping to spot my mates drive in. And as they were late I was stood there from between 1:15 and 1:45.

During which time a newish white crew cab transit tipper drove in with really high sides on the flat bed.
I was very suspicious at first but I saw at least one child in the back seat so thought there was no reason why they could not be there legitimately as there are plenty of panel vans there normally.

I did watch them drive all around the parts of the carpark I could see but then again it was packed so pretty much every who came in did this looking for a space.

I thought it look out of place but put this down to subconcios prejudice on my part as I associate such vehicles with travellers.
And there is no reason why someone could not of unhooked your bike and just rode out.

Excuse my pedantry but:

Pretty bold to take it off the roof in broad daylight.

Is it? <snip> Brazen, but almost ‘hiding in plain sight’.

brazen (?bre?z ? n)
— adj
1. shameless and bold

We appear to be in agreement!

And there is no reason why someone could not of unhooked your bike and just rode out.

This is quite possible, Bracknell is just down the road after all!

Semantics. I take bold to mean brave, brazen to mean shameless.

With crown estate now charging for parking we should expect that CCTV and adequate security measures are taken to protect our property.

and you are happy for the parking charges to increase to cover the costs…..

reading these posts makes me sad and also angry, but are there hundreds of opportunist bike thieves out there or is it mainly small groups of dedicated bike thieves who deliberately look for targets?

If the latter then if the police could catch these groups then it would cut bike thefts in half, as suggested by mega, maybe the police need to carry out more bike sting operations?

Sorry to hear your loss OP – Swinley is also my local riding area

I’ll keep my eyes and ears open

I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again,

The Thule carriers need a big red sticker reading “WARNING: These are not secure locks. They are designed to keep the bike on the roof, not out of others hands.”

Sorry for your loss 🙁

Sorry to hear some scummer has diddled you.

However…

I had left it locked on my Thule 891 roof rack in the main car park while I popped into the cafe to get a snack after riding, I didn’t take more than 10-12 minutes and it was gone when I got back. I admit the lock was not the strongest, but this was a planned theft, not an opportunist.

I fear this was the problem (for you, not a problem at all for the thief).

If the insurance won’t pay out it’s an expensive lesson to learn unfortunately.

With crown estate now charging for parking

I think the parking charges have been introduced by Bracknell Forest Council to try and plug the black hole in their balance sheets, rather than the Crown Estate.

Edit: +1 for a sting operation, nip it in the bud.

With crown estate now charging for parking we should expect that CCTV and adequate security measures are taken to protect our property.

and you are happy for the parking charges to increase to cover the costs…..

I’d happily pay more for what’s already there. I mean it’s what…. £2 for 4 hours parking? Plus they throw in 15 miles of well planned and maintained singletrack. Bargain already.

(OP sorry for going off topic!)

I’d happily pay more for what’s already there. I mean it’s what…. £2 for 4 hours parking? Plus they throw in 15 miles of well planned and maintained singletrack. Bargain already.

(OP sorry for going off topic!)

I think the irk is that CE pay for the trails and BFC opperate the car park (no idea if they pay into the CE with the procedes).

I think the irk is that CE pay for the trails and BFC opperate the car park (no idea if they pay into the CE with the procedes).

OK, I assumed (wrongly) it was all run by CE.
Either way I’d pay a bit more for some better security whilst enjoying my post-ride cake.

I also didn’t realise bike theft was particualrly an issue at Swinley – in light of the OPs experience I’ll certainly be a bit more vigilant in the future.

Sorry to hear about this. I regularly ride Swindley with some other guys so we will also keep an eye out.

Thats a nice bike OP, sorry for your loss. I feel your pain as I’ve 2 nice bikes nicked in the last few years. There’s only one way to keep your bike secure and that’s to keep it firmly attached to your wrist.
I hope you get it back OP!

I was there Sunday morning, but didn’t see anything unusual, sorry.

Andy G was there from Purple Bike Shed http://www.purplebikeshed.com/ he might have seen something but I doubt it.

It’s Bracknell Council that run the car park, leased off Crown Estate. Their only interest is what they stated originally for parking charges, to fund deficits in the council budget.

Though they said recently they’ve brought in a lot more than expected through charges and fines, but it’s very unlikely they’ll pay up for CCTV, but worth lobbying someone over it.

As for trails, so far I don’t think they’ve paid anything to CE. They said they might contribute. That would go to the estate however and then it’s up to them what if anything goes for trails. Noting the estate has to upkeep the place for primarily as a working forest providing income to the treasury and secondarily as a leisure facility for the public of which only a portion is to do with mountain biking.

Anyway, as for bike security in such places… bike is expensive, it remains with you at all times, even popping to the cafe. If you’re with others you can have one guard it as others go to get snacks, or otherwise use the outside hatch while holding onto the bike and grab a drink and cake or whatever there.

Not that the cafe stuff there is amazing. Between bike security or a snack, I’d go without the snack.

Hi,

Many thanks for the messages of support and for posting on other sites. I do not hope to recover it, but if at least it sends a warning to others to be more vigilant/cautious. I knew the Thule locks were not the most secure thing, so never left the bike unattended, but on Sunday I was riding alone and thought that 10 minutes would be OK…

A bit more info:

– The theft took place approximately between 14:30 and 14:45 and there were plenty of people around.
– I reported it to the Lookout Centre, and they were helpful, but my car was just out of the area covered by the CCTV, even though it was right in the middle section of the car park and 10 metres from the pay machine… I guess it was not my lucky day.
– They have told me that this is the first theft were a bike has been stolen from a locked roof rack, they have had others were people just left them unattended when getting lunch (something me and my mates used to do).
– The police will not be able to do anything without CCTV footage.
– I did not have insurance for the bike…

A sting operation would definitely succeed sooner or later, but I can’t see the police bothering.

Anyway, thanks again and see you all on the trails.

Lorenzo.

On insurance – do you have house contents insurance? Have you checked if it has any away from home cover? They usually do, though likely it won’t cover the total cost, but they might at least give you something.

That said many also exclude when the bike is in or on your car. In which case car insurance if you have fully comp, but they probably won’t pay up for a bike on the roof.

I did not have insurance for the bike…

Ouch, sorry to hear that one as well OP

Mate had his van broken into and wallet nicked at Swinley last weekend so there are clearly people targeting it.

Sorry to hear no insurance OP.

How do you go about applying pressure to get plod to set up a sting operation? This is just the kind of thing that needs to be stopped in it’s tracks, in my opinion of course.

Personally I’ll be keeping a much closer eye out as well as keeping a weighty pump in my jersey pocket and perhaps a pedal spanner in the boot.