The fabled words that every bike owner longs to hear after opening their garage door to let a tradesman check out a job at the house as he stands transfixed staring at the fleet.

I’m totally about to get done over in the night aren’t I…?

Maybe I’m just overly cautious but I don’t think my ‘nah mate, I wish – most of them aren’t even mine’ reply washed.

Time to invest in beefed up garage door security, CCTV and a Doberman?

Why the heck didn’t you cover them up?

20:20 hindsight 😉

After doing the WHW with the kid we’d just got off the train at Drumchapel and I was trying to decide whether to leave him(11yo) with the bags and bike whilst I went off and got the car.

Then some random bloke expressed a huge amount of interest in the bikes and their cost.

Mind made up, off we both went, together, with both bikes and all bags.

I know, I know… Got caught totally off-guard.

They were only here to check the roof (garage is attached to the house).

Time to put some of the beloveds into a temporary home at the in-laws for a few weeks, just in case.

More than likely a completley innocent comment/question.

Makes me laugh if someone asks if a bike is ‘expensive’… if you have to ask… then it probably is.

It depends what he thinks expensive is.

£100+ to a lot of people is costly, to some of us under £1k is cheap.

I’d at the least invest in some garage door bolts like these:

You’d have to basically fold the door in half to open it if both are locked.

Wait ‘till you see his quote, you could probably buy a bike for that!

My mate in Inners had logs delivered onto his drive, his father in law* was there when the guys arrived, popped the garage roller door up to load bags in out the rain, both SC Hightowers stolen a few nights later. They jacked the roller garage door with a bottle jack.

*Said father in law had ELEVEN bikes stolen from his own garage last month.

£100+ to a lot of people is costly, to some of us under £1k is cheap.

This. My stock response to randoms asking ‘how much mister’ is ‘about £500’. Reactions vary from ‘Aye, right 😉’ to ‘Corr that’s a lot!’

I’d say it’s a completely innocent question – if you walk into a house/garage and see lots of something shiny you’d have to wonder. Probability is higher that he is trying to figure out how much to charge you for the roof – if you’ve got £30k worth of bikes then he’ll probably slap some more on the quote.

Assuming for a moment that he is going to come back and rob you:

1. It wouldn’t be hard to track him down if he’s been round giving you quotes.
2. If he’s a respectable builder he risks a lot by nicking some expensive bikes
3. If he doesn’t know they’re expensive he’s unlikely to know how to move them on

If you’re that worried put some ground anchors in and put some big locks on there, it’ll at the very least make a tea-leaf think twice and slow them down.

tbh, If I was going to nick something, I wouldn’t really be enquiring with the owner about price. I’d probably keep quiet and I’d just google it before I put the effort it. 😆

I thought all trades people earnt £100k a year tax free.

Why would they risk that to steal a few bikes?

I had a brand new Bronson V3C in the kitchen when a tradesman was round, kinda made myself cringe when I realised. It’s not even so much about the main guy, but obviously they have various casual labourers in and about helping out, you’ve no real idea who they are. That and just explaining an expensive hobby to somebody who knows nothing about it can be socially awkward. He said “I bet that’s expensive! What is it worth like, £500?”. I sorta mumbled agreement, it was nearly as bad as when the wife asks.

Anyway we then got onto a conversation about how annoying bike thieves are, some had pinched his kids bikes recently and he knew exactly who but it being a local hardcase he wasn’t inclined to follow up.

Several months later my car got nicked off the drive but I think it unlikely to be related 🙂

I thought all trades people earnt £100k a year tax free.

Why would they risk that to steal a few bikes?

All tradesmen are thieves didn’t you know? Did he drive a white transit too?

Time to invest in beefed up garage door security, CCTV and a Doberman?

Maybe just change your stereotypical views?

Could just be making conversation (or as said above, working how much you can afford to pay and adjusting his quote accordingly.)
Years ago my father had his boat on a trailer in the garden, doing some work on it. Reasonable size (Flying Fifteen for those who know) 20ft keel boat, main, jib and spinnaker sails, probably looks pricey. He had bought a scruffy one and done it up.
Builder, who was a cyclist (well, time trialler…) commented ‘that must have set you back a few quid’ Father replied, honestly, ‘about fifteen hundred’ builder says ‘blimey that’s cheap! I’ve got wheels that cost more than that’ He had always perceived sailing as a rich man’s sport for some reason and was shocked how little you can get a decent size boat for.
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Anyway, my stock answer to the question the OP was asked it ‘it was when it was new, but it’s old now and not worth much’, whichever bike I’m asked about.

That didn’t take long for the terminally offended to come out of the woodwork…

I’d be suspicious too. Best thing is to keep them out of sight. If it were me I’d prob beef up the security a bit, which is never wasted money anyway. If they want them they may well get them, but equally every bit of extra deterrent helps – you just need to make it too much trouble…

I let our flooring contractor have a look in the garage but only after I found out he’d competed in the world single speed champs so wouldn’t be interested I’m my geared bikes 😀

Roofers tend to be good with ladders. They’ll be climbing in the upstairs windows to take your bikes if you move them inside. Lucky they weren’t scaffolders, they are a different breed.

Is the ‘Are they expensive’ question a common one or only when bikes are involved?

I mean, it doesn’t seem like a thing you would normally ask about people’s possessions. If someone saw a bunch of guitars hanging off the wall would it be normal to say ‘Are they expensive?’ or is this something that only applies to bikes?

Strip them down and distribute the parts throughout the house, in various drawers, cupboards and cubbyholes.

Make them work for it.

Is the ‘Are they expensive’ question a common one or only when bikes are involved?

I’ve had a few comments about my computer setup from tradespeople.

It’s not all that special, but I guess that they don’t often see dual monitors and stuff.

Are they likely to need access through the garage to do the job? Possibly concerned about damage to your pride and joy as they carry tools, materials, ladders, scaffold, etc. through the garage? Possibly also thinking about security if they may be needing to go into or through the garage a few times over the course of the working day?

Lol he is weighing up where to pitch his quote.

When I had a 911 quotes always seemed steep and needed some negotiation until I started parking up the road when expecting them.

Is the ‘Are they expensive’ question a common one or only when bikes are involved?

I mean, it doesn’t seem like a thing you would normally ask about people’s possessions. If someone saw a bunch of guitars hanging off the wall would it be normal to say ‘Are they expensive?’ or is this something that only applies to bikes?

It’s an interesting question, possibly more with bikes maybe as the bikes most people see are cheap commuters or ‘pub bikes’ in varying conditions of disrepair, so to see a bike with an unfamlair name aas opposed to apollo or carrara in good condition with a clean chain…

Although I may have made a slight social faux-pas once, a family friend whos known for taking picures of wildlife and such, was sporting a new camera. I picked it up and knowing pretty much nothing about cameras, said ‘bet this wasn’t cheap?’.

He didn’t really respond but the look in his eyes basicaly told me that no, it was indeed not cheap and to please put it down!

If someone saw a bunch of guitars hanging off the wall would it be normal to say ‘Are they expensive?’ or is this something that only applies to bikes?

Maybe not to a random person, but I might enquire about a fancy looking guitar. Idle wondering how much more and how much better an enthusiast’s kit is, compared to my old £100 (including amp) yamaha that I never learnt to play.

Someone who has no interest in cycling probably knows 2 things about “proper bikes”, they cost orders of magnitude more than the halfords bike their kid has, and they (more for road bikes) are really lightweight.

Now I know why the FOD and Cannock car parks are full of vans – they are all builders riding stolen bikes.

I advertised a Sky dish on Freecycle, couple turned up, proper Wayne and Waynetta types… salt of the Earth an all that. Opened my garage to get the dish and I was hmmm… maybe shoulda got it out before they turned up. They thanked me kindly, doffed their baseball caps and departed in a cloud of red diesel smoke.
That was 6 years ago, no sign of any trouble guvner.

I had my basement woodworm treated.

LEt the guys in and said “look i’ve tidied up as best i can but i can’t leave these all outside, will that be a problem”

“nah, we’ll do that room then move them all into it”

“great, can you put the keys throught he door when you are done?”

“aye”

Two months later? I’ve still got a basement full of old, warn out and outofdate shitty bikes.

Non theiving arseholes.

Anyway, my stock answer to the question the OP was asked it ‘it was when it was new, but it’s old now and not worth much’, whichever bike I’m asked about.

Good answer. Unfortunately also a true one for me since other than tyres and brake pads, the youngest part on any of my bikes is 10 years old!

It must be exhausting being that paranoid all the time about folk.

I wouldn’t be paranoid if you weren’t all out to get me.

It must be exhausting being that paranoid all the time about folk.

Must be exhausting being so superior all the time.

Most tradesmen who visit mine say, wow you have a lot of cctv and alarms.
And they’re right, I do have a lot of cctv and alarms 😂

hide mine all over the house, one day they will need to go into a room i didnt expect which might be embarrassing as its obvious they have been moved out of the way

How ‘tradist’ we all are!

Had a builder do some work for me, spent lots of time gassing about bikes in general, grand tours, favourite alpine climbs and his S-works tarmac, my humble offerings were beneath him…

When I turn up at a customers house I look a bit like the Makita roadshow with my Makita trolley and systainer boxes(I hide my Makita tattoos though)

‘Blimey guv, I bet they cost a bit’, they often say.. 😊

It’s that bikes are supposed to be for poor people who can’t afford a car. So a bike that looks like it might be expensive causes a bit of cognitive dissonance and generates a reaction. Like a posh burger. Why would anyone eat a tasty burger with a range of interesting additions when you can get a puck of mechanically recovered meat slapped in a soggy bun for 99p?

I hide my Makita tattoos though

Permanently, I would hope. 😛

It’s that bikes are supposed to be for poor people who can’t afford a car. So a bike that looks like it might be expensive causes a bit of cognitive dissonance and generates a reaction. Like a posh burger. Why would anyone eat a tasty burger with a range of interesting additions when you can get a puck of mechanically recovered meat slapped in a soggy bun for 99p?

That’s actually a good point. Thinking back to a pre covid situation….

Locked my bike up outside the local pub for a few refreshments, I was sat outside and a guy having a drink was asking me about bikes and stuff (mines nothing special in the grand scheme of things, but it’s decent, and looks decent). We were both semi-regulars so I’ve spoken to him before.

Fast forward a few months and I re-visit the same pub, and theres a very nice looking HT locked to the fence.. turns out it was the same guy. I like to think I inspired him, hahaha