a friend is looking at getting a used Lapierre so i had a scout on pinkbike to see what was available and i came across this…
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1475613/

looks a bit of a dodgy to me for a number of reasons:
– the seller created his profile on the same day the ad was listed and there has been no further activity on the account
– he’s taken the pictures of the bike late at night i.e. after midnight
– the phone he used has no sim

or am i being paranoid?

and they can’t spell Lapierre either

Uses an old smartphone as a camera? Hence no SIM, and doesn’t bother to set the time manually…?

Dodgy things:

– can’t spell Lapierre
– shit photos
– it’s in Manchester
– it’s on Pinkbike

Caveat emptor.

It has several exclamation marks. It’s definitely dodgy.

Maybe the rider tried it, didn’t like it and a relative bargain to be had. And could just not like french words.

More details than a lot of hot bike descriptions so worth making contact, if still for sale ask about frame and fork serial numbers. Depending on response, continue or consider contacting Old Bill.

I wouldn’t dismiss it totally.

Pickup only, so you’d meet him.
Understands 2×9 rather than writing 18 gears.
The (upgraded) bits, etc.

Pickup only, so you’d meet him.

in a darkened alley most likely…lol

Understands 2×9 rather than writing 18 gears.

he could be an experienced bike thief who knows his stuff about bikes?

The (upgraded) bits, etc.[/quote]
he could have used parts off another stolen bike that’s been stripped?

its just that you would have thought that if he wanted to sell it fast then he would’ve took some good quality pics in the daytime rather than some dodgy nighttime pics.

i dont want to label the guy as a thief (although i probably have) its just that the advert looks suspicious….
if i can convince my friend that its a good deal and worth looking at then we’ll try and get some more info on the guy and try and arrange to have a closer look at the bike

its just that you would have thought that if he wanted to sell it fast then he would’ve took some good quality pics in the daytime rather than some dodgy nighttime pics.

Then again, crappy photos have absolutely nothing to do with the bike possibly being stolen or not, have they?

crappy photos have absolutely nothing to do with the bike possibly being stolen or not, have they

you’re right it probably doesnt but then it could in this scenario….he doesnt want to bring to attention that he has a £2k bike in his possession and thinks if the bike is pictured in the daytime it might get spotted. especially if its some youth who lives on a run down estate.

its just overall the ad looks dodgy to me for the reasons i mentioned previously…i didnt mention the obvious mis-spelling of lapierre as that could have been a typo

It does seem like you want the scenario to be bad rather than good.

The only way to find out is to open a discussion with the person in current possession of the bike.

How do photos taken on an iphone become screenshots? When I take photos on mine, they are like photos, not an image of the whole screen.

Press both buttons together and it takes a screen shot. No idea why you’d do it though – taking a ‘proper’ photo will yield far better results. It’s more faff and the result is worse taking a screenshot!

Could these be photos recovered off of an old phone?

Maybe the phone is stolen too?

Press both buttons together and it takes a screen shot. No idea why you’d do it though – taking a ‘proper’ photo will yield far better results. It’s more faff and the result is worse taking a screenshot!

This is probably the biggest mystery here.

<conspiracy mode>
Maybe it’s the only way to get rid of revealing EXIF on an iPhone
</conspiracy mode>

Press both buttons together and it takes a screen shot. No idea why you’d do it though – taking a ‘proper’ photo will yield far better results. It’s more faff and the result is worse taking a screenshot!

This is probably the biggest mystery here.[/quote]

If we’re trying to be suspicious it could be to get rid of the geo-tagging of the photos.

At least he just misspelt Lapierre rather than writing “LaPierre” which seems inexplicably common amongst cretins.

OP this all smacks of middle-class paranoia TBH…

Generally if I photograph anything going up for sale, it has to wait until the dead of night, once the kids are down, We’ve had some food, I’ve tidied the garden a bit, and I’ve tactfully excused myself from watching whatever reality tat the missus has stuck on the TV…

There are 24 hours in the day, some people actually make use of the darker ones when you’re tucked up in bed…

Seems like you’ve decided the seller is up to no good without much actual evidence…

Like most PB buy/sell posts its clearly just a bike assembled from used parks/spares, with an advert that falls well below STW standards of spelling, literacy, photography and Mobile phone Skillz, but that’s par for the course on Pinkbike… Sorry.

Anyway standard practice on PB or RideIO is to ask if He’ll consider splitting, because you’re only interested in the rear skewer and maybe the washers from under the bottle bosses… nobody ever buys a whole bike on there.

I wouldn’t dismiss it totally.

Pickup only, so you’d meet him.

As I did once. The geezer was not the sort I’d drop £2k on a bike so I walked away.

A couple of weeks later plod turned up chasing a stolen bike. He’d clearly got rid of it, but had my contact details etc. on Pinkbike. So I was questioned about buying and disposing of stolen goods since ‘I didn’t still have it’

If it looks suspicious walk away; it’s easier in the long run.

Hmm. So googling

“Lapariee White FORK – Rock Shox Domain R Coil 160mm (upgraded to Domain RC) Tapered steerer”

as the “(upgraded to Domain RC)” but was quite specific, throws up this ad from last year on here:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/lapierre-spicy-216-med-2011

Looks like the spec is a direct copy and paste from the old STW ad. Dodgy as hell

Well spotted Bob, has anyone on here made contact?

First posted in December, probably does not still have a hot bike by now.

Dodgy listing on Pink Bike shocker…..