Err, as above.
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/30393216796/what-happens-to-stolen-bicycles

Interesting – odd that no-one mentioned high-end bikes being stripped and the components sold. I’ve heard of it happening with cars, would be even easier to do with bikes.

I’ve heard of it happening with cars, would be even easier to do with bikes.

Forks, brakes and more are being unbolted in That London these days. Obviously to be put on Thiefbay for a quick profit. Far, far harder to trace individual items than a full bike.

Be careful, folks.

Sadly, this is another case in point.

Interesting analysis, and obvious after you read it that this is the case

Interesting, one of the articles that piece links is about a well-known bike fence, who, it turns out, used to live opposite me…

Captainflashheart – Thanks. Its the second time my bike has been stripped and subsequently the parts have been sold on (I assume). Be wary people.

The story of the Hampshire PC who uncovered a gang stripping bikes has been posted here many times, he found a house full of frames for £90k worth of bikes-they sold the stripped parts on eBay. £250k had gone thru their eBay account (didn’t the ST mag run an article on the story?).

Lots of organisation in bike theft, people being followed home, power tools and vans being used etc

Think that article downplays the problem quite significantly, especially the development of online fencing. Craigslist (I guess the Uk equivalent would be Trade-It) may be synonymous with dodgy bikes, but that still leaves Ebay. The feedback system is an excellent means of giving anonymous second-hand sales a veneer of respectability:

http://www.stolenbristolbikes.com/2012/08/bike-theft-other-half-of-problem.html

A couple of years ago my neighbour caught a bike thief red-handed in the street. The police arrived, and took the 15 year old back to his parents/legal guardian for a scolding. Case closed. Pathetic.

If a society is not willing to police the ‘little’ laws then it should not be surprised when criminals move onto bigger things.

Thanks for the link, good to encourage discussion.

But I don’t think it tells us anything new. The deterrent for cycle theft is not strong enough, and hasn’t been for a while.
At the same time, the rewards for cycle theft are growing.
For me, the question is why isn’t there the political will to fight cycle crime?

Anyone with a motorbike will attest to the fact that motorcycle theft is given a low priority. Most police authorities have abandoned specialist units to fight this type of crime. Which given that bikes range from £5000 to £30,000 for a new one, does not bode well for anyone who thinks that their bicycle theft will get any sort of attention whatsoever!!!

If this part is correct then we don’t need to increase the risk to the criminal much to make bike theft less appealing than other crime. It’s doubly frustrating the penalties are so light if they’d actually have an impact rather than just make us feel better

Its the second time my bike has been stripped and subsequently the parts have been sold on (I assume).

Worth post-coding forks, cranks, brake calipers etc?

Forks have serial numbers – check under the crown, for example.

For me, the question is why isn’t there the political will to fight cycle crime?

Historically, bike theft has ususally been a low-value crime. If you’re ever wondering why it isn’t prioritised, rephrase the question as “Why isn’t there the political will to fight theft of property with a value of around £100?”.

I think that in recent years Cyclescheme massively increased the number of nice (and poorly-secured) bikes in circulation, Ebay and the internet have given thieves an easy direct fencing option, and investigation and reporting procedures have been left behind. Apparently the internal crime recording system for bikes still asks whether the stolen bike has 1,3 or 7 gears, and whether it has a basket or not.

Don’t forget the fact other traditional ‘easy pickings’ for scums are getting riskier. Phones are easier to trace and block remotely, cars are much easier to trace and retrieve, drivers know not to leave sat-navs on display, awareness of household security etc is improving.

So that leaves £3k bikes that can be nabbed without any risk of the police following it up, and sold on for £3-500. Not bad for an hours work. Conviction rate for burglary in West Yorkshire was 6% last time I looked!

Interestingly, according to a friend of mine in the Met, the going rate for a stolen car is ~£300 for the thief. Why wouldn’t they nick bikes?

Unless of course the bike belongs to someone famous, in which case the police will take an interest:

http://news.sky.com/story/978356/olympic-gold-medallist-has-bicycle-stolen

Ric:

Police said thieves smashed through patio doors and ransacked the house, which was unoccupied, during the burglary.

Theft from the home usually gets higher priority than from car/garage/shed.

The local coppers to me said that the local skally who has a habbit of nicking bikes does it because its easier/less hard work than going out and getting a job on the minimum wage.

Can’t fault the logic on that I guess.

the piece fails to recognise that bike theft IS part of organised crime, it just happens to be at the bottom of the pile. even if it is just addicts nicking bikes – they are part of organised crime as they fund it.
also kids who are part of gangs steal bikes either for themselves to give them cred in their gang for having a nice bike to do wheelies on, or to give to older members of the gang to ride or for them to fence. gangs pedal and run drugs – what is their form of transport to deliver their wares? Bicycles.
this isn’t supposition, I’ve seen it in action.

Theft from the home usually gets higher priority than from car/garage/shed.

Can’t argue with the principle of this, knowing several people who’ve been burgled whilst upstairs in bed. But I can’t help wonder if the people nicking stuff from cars/sheds/garages were stopped earlier, they might not progress to throwing a brick through a patio window?

Can’t argue with the principle of this, knowing several people who’ve been burgled whilst upstairs in bed. But I can’t help wonder if the people nicking stuff from cars/sheds/garages were stopped earlier, they might not progress to throwing a brick through a patio window?

It comes down to what ‘the people’ want prioritised (given we won’t pay for the resources for everything to be dealt with) – and crime against the person, and burglary from inside the home, come out top.

There was a discussion on this a while ago, one of the contributors was a police officer.

that curve really doesnt reflect the risk in the UK to the criminal. Autocrime, burglary and robbery are all home office priorities (which is why a bike taken from inside a dwelling gets a bigger response) but assuming Iphone = street robbery, TV = burglary then both carry higher sentences than auto crime, with robbery the highest depending on the circs.

There is a 3-strike rule for burglars which means on their 3rd consecutive conviction they should get a minimum 3year sentence. Suddenly burglary becomes a lot less appealing. The same offender would be unlikely to get any custodial for taking your £3K bike from your shed…I’ve dealt with a guy who has “traded down” from armed robbery to shopliftings as the risks are so much lower.

Ive written before that police forces are driven by targets set by the home office in key areas. Have your 80 quid sat nav taken from your car and a dedicated team of detectives will investigate it, arrest the usual suspects etc. Have your £3K bike taken from a rack/garden/shed and it will be left to a response or neighbourhoood uniform PC to investigate, in the scarce “free” time where they aren’t running from immediate to immediate, and where it will share a bulging in-tray with far-easier-to-clear-up shopliftings with lovely cut and dried CCTV etc

The problem with this article, and most others, looking at the “economics of bike theft” is that it only focuses on the “black” half of the market.
The fact that the biggest “industry” in this country is financial services, and of that sector insurance is a massive part, is usually ignored.
It’s not just about bikes, they’re just an extreme example of high worth-low interest property crime. A more serious crackdown on property crime would not just affect the profits of the criminals. Without such high risk, would you really have so many people willing to pay property insurance premiums at rates that sustain the vast profits?
I’d be interested to see any data that indicates that it’s “the people” that don’t want this prioritised.

so are you saying that insurable property isn’t on the priority agenda for the police because people can recover their losses? or because insurance companies have some sort of say in what the police focus on based on their most profitable areas of business?

I’m saying that the biggest profits made due to property crime (including bike theft) are not by the criminals but by those who trade on the fear of it.
I’m also saying that this part of the “economics” of property crime is often overlooked.
And also, that it stands to reason, that if property crime was to be tackled effectively then the criminals would not be the only ones to lose out.

The Old “Risk/Reward Ratio” argument eh?

Sounds about right, thinking about it a bit more the “Best” way for an enterprising tea leaf to reduce their risk even further would be to simply not sell frames/complete bikes on;

Consider the average posh FS bike, it’s typically worth a hell of a lot as part alone, so strip it right back; Drive, wheels, brakes, forks, controls, Shock bearing and linkage plates even, then just bin the one item with any real tracable reference number on it, the actual frame and you’ve basically negated the risk of getting collared for a crime the rozzers barely care about to begin with…

And yep shock horror we now have far more effective means for thieves to shift goods on to a wider market, unencumbered by geography…

I know of one mate who was targeted as part of a “One night special” where several properties in a small area with high value bikes had obviously been identified and all robbed in quick succession in a single night. He had several grands worth of bikes taken the night before he was due at a race, Insurance company and Rozzers told him he was not the first in the area to ring up… the obvious assumption being that by the time the owners woke up their bikes were in the back of a van halfway across the country, on their way to being stripped and Fleabay/Gumtreed off…
There is a profit to be made for organised criminals in this field…

a mate had his garage broken into and £20K 😯 worth of bikes taken. They used power tools to cut a section out of the door, having identified that with all locks etc the door skin was the weakest link.

The above mentioned and many people I know who have been victims are now pretty much uninsurable.

Links previously mentioned article

http://bikedibley.com/60-stolen-frames-uncovered-by-hampshire-polic

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10040&t=12789758

All this is valid and true, but does miss the obvious though….

If your a drug additct who needs £20 in the next couple of hours your not going to care much about the economics of bike theft.

Your going to nick whats simply out on the street, where you live.

Bikes are left lying about in town, you can sell them for £20 in a pub in town and buy your drug hit in town. No need to bother thinking or robbing a house.

I’m not sure that it is drug addicts that steal bikes in the UK.

I agree with Brakes’ comment; many people automatically assume that such crime is being done by those at the ‘bottom’ end of society, when I believe that high-end bike theft is very probably being co-ordinated by those with intelligence, knowledge and resources. Certainly the drug addicts I encounter aren’t very likely to possess the wherewithal and resources necessary to steal bikes, other than possibly easy opportunistic pickings.

As cycling has become more popular, so has the proliferation of objects of value being placed in public places, where stealing them is relatively easy. But the theft would not be happening if there wasn’t a healthy market in stolen bikes and parts. Most folk here would never dream of buying stolen property, maybe, or at least claim they wouldn’t, but the truth is, someone, many people, are buying stolen stuff, in increasing amounts. I’d imagine it’s very likely many on here have unwittingly bought stolen parts; how much stuff is going through Ebay, classied ads etc?

We live in a materialistic society. Nice things are desirable. Not everyone has the means to obtain nice things by fully legitimate means, so will seek other ways of getting stuff they want. Morality is an increasingly rare commodity these days.

I agree with Brakes’ comment; many people automatically assume that such crime is being done by those at the ‘bottom’ end of society, when I believe that high-end bike theft is very probably being co-ordinated by those with intelligence, knowledge and resources.

I think you’re barking up the right tree here. Generically when we hear ‘bike theft’ we think of street bikes getting nicked in the High Street, and this is what the original linked article addresses.

But what’s really concerning us here is expensive specialist bikes with high value components being stolen, or stripped, from the home or garage. They’re targeted thefts by people who know what they want and how to deal with it, not opportunists seeing an easy job on the street.

I bet there is an organised network for processing the frames and parts, my thinking is the parts especially. I’d love to know more about it.

They’re targeted thefts by people who know what they want and how to deal with it, not opportunists seeing an easy job on the street.

To have knowledge of the potential value of componets requires a certain amount of immersion in cycling as an enthusiast. People are being targetted because they have very expensive bikes. This suggests ‘insider dealing’ to some degree at least. It’s too easy to blame the street junkies for everything, and far more difficult to face the uncomfortable truth that some of it alt least is being done by ‘our own kind’.

Nah, it just takes a motivated mind and a couple of hours of online research. No biggie. Anyway the thief is probably just tasked with stealing bling bikes, someone else will do the fencing.

It’s those doing the fencing who are taking the least risks, for the most profit. I imagine it would be really quite easy for me to equip some local bored kids with bolt cutters and tools, tell them what brands to go for etc, and just sit back and await the fruits of their labour. Then, it would be all too easy to set up an account on various forums, or sell the stuff through Ebay. Obvious knowledge of what I was selling, and an understanding of the market, would mean I could make some fairly decent money doing this. It’s really not that difficult for someone like us to work out.

And if someone you knew to be a fellow mtber was selling something at a good price, and it all looked legit, would you think to question the provenance of the goods?

Have you just ‘outed’ yourself there mikeconnor ?

Ha ha! Doesn;’t take a genius to work out though, does it?

There’s obviously a healthy and growing market. The goods aren’t being sold just within the ‘criminal classes’. The crime thrives on a ready market of people with sufficient disposable income to buy luxury products. This points towards those immersed in cycling themselves being involved int he organisation of the crime.

This points towards those immersed in cycling themselves being involved int he organisation of the crime.

No I don’t buy it. They’re just crims who know how to monetise different types of stolen goods – where to get them, and how to sell them.

Once you’ve done it for, say, antiques or phones or whatever, you just adapt to a different ‘commodity’.

when my house was burgled four years ago they took three bikes, work laptop and my car keys – the gits did it undercover of the fireworks on the 5th december

my experience of the local police was very poor, they did attend but when one £3k bike appeared on ebay they were useless in helping getting it returned – the work laptop did turn up in a house raid several months later and a local gang arrested – they all lived on the same council estate – and had been burgling in the local area (residential and commercial – even did a local hotel)

the bike had been sold on to a fence (who lived 20 miles from me) for £300 by three teenagers – he was aware it was stolen and managed to get raise £1500 on ebay before auction winner realised it was stolen and contacted his local police – and they cautioned him and took the bike from him

the lad who had my work laptop and a bedroom full of various stolen gear went to court and got a 12 week suspended sentence and walked free – he lived with his parents and they never wondered/asked how their unemployed teenage son obtained all these various items – it was one of his neighbours that told the police about all sorts of bikes and kit coming and going from their council house, which led them to raid it

at least my local police have the scrotes on their radar now, but for what was a £3k bike to me, was £100 each to those three lads in drugs money

No I don’t buy it. They’re just crims who know how to monetise different types of stolen goods – where to get them, and how to sell them.

And maybe some of them are crimes who go mountain biking, who know how much they can get for selling stolen parts. It may be an unpalatable truth, but to think that no-one who is seriously into mountain biking is involved in this sort of crime is rather naive, I think.

If you can pay a teenager £100, 200 or so for a £2k+ bike, which you can make probably at least £600 or more on from just the parts, then it’s economically quite lucrative and for the fence, relatively ‘safe’. The low level of sentencing for such crimes does nothing to discouraging them.

It is foolish and unwise to discount the possiblity that someone like yourself is involved in crime. It is far more prudent to assume that criminals come in all types. a junky may concievably use a pair of pliers to cut a cheap cable lock of a chape bike locked up; tailing people to their houses, or having knowledge of where they live and what bikes they have, then having the know-how and equipment to gain entry and steal their relatively very well secured bikes, not to mention the means to transport them to other places, takes considerably more resources than the average teenager or junky possesses.