I had my lovely Colnago stolen on Tuesday night. The little sh1ts cut the cable and then when they couldn't get through the d lock they simply sawed through the frame. So even if it's retrieved she's dead to me 🙁
But I just had a nice chat to the police about trying to track down stolen bikes via ebay, gumtree etc as I had another bike stolen earlier this year.
First off make sure you have your frame number written down somewhere. I didn't do this but now have for every bike. It's obvious but I bet loads of us don't do it.
Then, if you do find your bike on ebay, gumtree etc - arrange a meet. Then tell the police and they should be able to send someone in your place to do the deed.
The reason this is unofficial is that officially you should pass on the info from ebay etc to the police so they can investigate. But in reality they won't have time to crack on and sort it. Officially you should not attempt to meet. But...if you have and they then know, it's much easier for them to intervene.
Like I said, not official but it might just work. And if I see anyone advertising a Colnago with the frame sawn through that's what I'll be doing!
that sucks (the bike stolen and frame destroyed). It would take a really special kind of f***tard to buy a frame in that condition.
cheers for advice.
all my bikes have their full cvs on immobilise with up to date build pics. sorry for your loss. at least it was only a colnago 😉
all my bikes have their full cvs on immobilise with up to date build pics
+1 for this. You can buy their individually numbered stickers as an additional visible warning/deterrant but you can add the frame number, forks serial number, descriptions and allsorts on there for free.
Not just bikes either, any high value posessions can be recorded.
They'll make enough flogging the parts without trying to get rid of the only part, the frame, that is traceable 💡
As a minimum, just take a load of photos of the frame number and any distinguishing features of your bike / components. This is quicker than writing the number down and you wont lose it.