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A pal of mine is looking for an MTB for her kid ( to replace a stolen one!)
She has asked me how she can check if bikes she is looking at are stolen. All I could suggest is ask the buyer what the frame number is ( dodgy sellers might not want to give this out) and if its too good a deal to be true then its probably stolen. She has no technical knowledge to ask technical questions.
Any other ideas? is there a register to check against anywhere? would checking with the police for reports of that type of bike being stolen work?
Thanks
Asking for the frame number is a good one. If they refuse then it's quite possibly nicked. Otherwise, you can check https://checkthatbike.co.uk/ to be sure that they're not just unknowingly handling stolen goods.
Ta chaps
The one she is looking at is in Kirkcaldy. I doubt there are many scousers there
How can you tell if a bike is stolen?
It's not where you left it
How can you tell if a bike is stolen?
It’s being ridden by a Fifer eh? 😉
If there was a league table for theft Kircawdy would be in the premier league, a few thievin gits about. Usually they don't know the difference from xt to ecstasy so if they canny answer any questions with a wee bit of knowledge it may have been nicked
just ask how long they have had it, where did they get it from, what does it ride like, has it had any services and what was done and gauge the seller from there.
Usually stolen bikes will have been resprayed badly or covered in stickers.
or have been neglected having worn down tires, squeekey chains, worn grips,disconnected brakes, removed original stickers etc.
I've been looking for a new townie/pub bike on gumtree. Oh my goodness there is some suspect stuff on there. If you look long enough you'll start seeing different bikes from different sellers photographed in the same place, weird adverts and wotnot just screaming 'nicked'. To be honest it has put me right off. My standard approach is to email and ask about 'the bike' rather than the model. Seems to filter out the anyone with a shedful of stuff that may not be legit.
As above lots of questions also seems to flag stuff up - they just won't reply IME.
Lastly apply spidey sense.
And on a little rantet, wtf is it about people trying to flog old spesh and other retro stuff for outrageous money these days? Are people really paying a monkey for an early 90's stumpjumper?? Cos i've got one, and frankly it's a bit crap!