Bizarre Bike Theft

I work in Ladbroke Grove. Walking back to the office after lunch I saw a police car pull up outside our offices. When I go in I’m told that my bike has been stolen and then returned. The CCTV footage shows the thief gaining entry to our supposedly secure car park. He targets my bike immediately and cycles off with it. 20 mins later he returns, has to break through a magnetically closed security door and returns my bike to a stand. He’s accosted by members of staff but manages to get away. Police have never heard of anything like it before.

It’s a bloody good bike – my pride and joy (http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-bike-seven-evergreen-sl) and I’m very pleased to get it back, however strange the circumstances!

I expect the bars put him off 😉

Glad you got it back!

Aaaah, Ladbrook Grove; stay weird.

Possible reasons;

1. The handlebars confused him.

2. He realised it was a very distinctive bike and might be hard to shift.

3. He sold the bike for drug money, bought some ecstasy, had a rush of empathy followed by an unsettling pang of guilt, and was compelled to return the bike.

Maybe he wanted one just like it but wanted a test ride to check sizing and was in a rush to get back to work so couldn’t ask before or apologize after?

Or maybe not.

you leave that bike in ladbrooke grove !! 😯

Perhaps he realised that the massive front hub didn’t make it an e-bike, so he decided to nick a Yamaha R1 instead.

Nice bike though, glad you got it back!

But why bring it back?? Even taking the handlebars into consideration!!

Maybe he had a similar one stolen off him and thought he was nicking his bike back, did a couple of miles, realised his error then took it back

His mum found out?

Does it count as theft if he brought it back? 🙂

Not enough gears

Maybe he’s one of those people that is sexually excited by bicycles? There’s a good chance he’s rubbed his willy all over the handlebars and saddle, you should probably replace everything that can’t be bleached clean…

Ever seen the film Fight Club ? 😉

X cyclist. Just needed to get his Kom back

steezysix – Member

Maybe he’s one of those people that is sexually excited by bicycles?

“Your Ladbroke Grove bike turns me on”

Realized he was spotted on CCTV and took it back hoping you wouldn’t realize anything had happened? Genuinely thought it was his own bike that had been stolen but realized that it wasn’t and took it back? His mom asked him where he’d got it and gave him a spanking and told him to take it back?

S/He mistook for stainless steel. Rode it…..realised it was Ti…..didn’t like the ride quality…..took it back

One of your “mates” playing a little joke?

No, not one of my mates. Thief recognised as local area. Has caused significant criminal damage to ‘security’ doors in order to return my bike

Maybe he’s stealing a bike to order. Initially got the wrong one, so his boss sends him back to correct his mistake?

I dunno, it’s bizarre. Glad you got to keep the bike though.

Your bike was mistaken for a Boris Bike, an easy mistake to make. 😉

Have the police questioned him? I’m going to lose sleep not knowing why this happened until you solve the mystery! 🙁

that is mint, ring the local rag they love that sorta of stuff, strange tale with a happy ending makes a nice change from all the assualts, get a pic of you in the paper looking quizzical next toy your bike, then the mail’ll pick it up then you’ll get discussed on 5live, then you’re famous!!

This happened to me a few years ago, bike stolen from work then dumped back in the bike shed an hour later. One of my friends that I rode with at the time is a police Sargent and while on duty spotted a known thief riding a rare bike that looked just like mine (Ridgeback Nice Guy Eddie – rare cos it was a bit naff!). Putting 2+2 together, he tried to speak to the thief who took off and escaped down an alleyway. My friend said the reason for returning the bike was that as the thief had been identified (and his home address was now about to be searched!), if he returned the bike he could claim he was just ‘borrowing it’ not ‘permemantly depriving’ me of it. Added up to a lot of police paperwork with little chance of prosecution success.

I reckon he was disappointed with the gear range offered by the 1x drivetrain.

Does it count as theft if he brought it back?

Actually this seems the most likely angle, but I also like Devash & Steezysix’s theories.

Crikey, that was lucky, very nice bike that.

3. He sold the bike for drug money, bought some ecstasy, had a rush of empathy followed by an unsettling pang of guilt, and was compelled to return the bike.

most plausible reason in this thread if you ask me. well done that man.

Word of warning, never heard of it in the UK, but in Switzerland ‘temporary’ thefts of bikes, skis and other expensive outdoors equipment isn’t that unheard of. What the thieves do is attach either a GPS dot or some other method of tracking it and then clear out the entire bike shed / ski store at a later date. Your theif doesn’t sound as sofisticated but worth checking the bike over.

What the thieves do is attach either a GPS dot or some other method of tracking it and then clear out the entire bike shed

That was my initial thought,but couldn’t the thief have done this without moving the bike? Either way I’d check down the seat post,under the seat etc for a small tracker

You always hear about all this GPS tracker stuff but aren’t they a bit pricey / obvious to be randomly attaching to stuff. I may be Googling wrong but sticking 100£ of gadget to something hoping it leads you to someone with more stuff is a proper big gamble.

What the thieves do is attach either a GPS dot or some other method of tracking it and then clear out the entire bike shed / ski store at a later date

It’s incredible isn’t it that thieves have access to this James bond style miniature tracking technology and yet the companies marketing such products for security purposes have failed to make anything that can be discretely hidden, work for any length of time and not cost a fortune for either hardware or services…

So incredible that I’d say claims of Gps dots tracking skis etc is frankly Internet myth.

My bike’s on a secure site, in an enclosed bike shed with a coded security door.. I still lock it up! Ain’t having no joy riders taking it for a spin 😕

maybe he heard that recycling was a waste of time

So incredible that I’d say claims of Gps dots tracking skis etc is frankly Internet myth.

Yeah, who knows, was warned by the owner of a Swiss campsite after someone borrowed (genuinely assuming the bike in the shed were free to borrow as they often are in Italian campsites) my bike when I was staying there last year.

It’s incredible isn’t it that thieves have access to this James bond style miniature tracking technology and yet the companies marketing such products for security purposes have failed to make anything that can be discretely hidden, work for any length of time and not cost a fortune for either hardware or services…

The thief’s tracker only has to last 24h until you go to bed. Your tracker would have to last weeks/months/years until the bike was stolen.

That is very very weird!

The fact they got into a secure car park is even more worrying!

Did it have a note on it?

I thought little dot trackers were commonly available. STW were giving some away not that long ago.

Looking online, there’s even instructables for mini radio transmitters and I’d imagine it would be pretty easy to track something like this, you also have to remember that if the bike has been ridden to a location then it’s likely only going to be 10-15 miles away max so only needs that kind of range.

Not saying it’s likely and there are easier ways of doing it – but it is technologically possible 😯

EDIT: There’s even a company that designs kit just for this – “easily hidden on the bike!”