Garda Bike Auction

Rew

Merlin are doing a Garda bike auction the weekend after this (14/15)

http://www.merlincarauctions.ie/bicycle

Seaneh

Thought I'd give anyone who might be interested a heads up.

It's no-reserve so bikes could be sold for peanuts, there will be tons of bikes, the shortlist on the website isn't very inspiring but it's worth a visit if you have the time and are looking for a bargain.
Details on the link below.

http://www.merlincarauctions.ie/bicycle


Like I said, the list on the website isn't great but that would probably be about 10% of what will be there, maybe even less, so don't be too turned off by it, don't go expecting to pick up anything too high end either, but it's worth a look.

Would go myself if I'd a lift!


Edit: If a mod could change the title from Navan to Naas that would be lovely? Also, maybe move it to the main forum?!

mozwerk

Anyone know when the next auction for bikes is on?

Cheers

unichall

You just missed one on Thursday night i wasn't at it but seen it advertised

TheBlaaMan

Has ANYONE, EVER picked up a nice road bike at these auctions? By nice, I dont mean a all new whizz bang carbon framed piece of exotica............a nice steel or ally framed road bike in good nick would suffice.... anyone?

Seaneh

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Has ANYONE, EVER picked up a nice road bike at these auctions? By nice, I dont mean a all new whizz bang carbon framed piece of exotica............a nice steel or ally framed road bike in good nick would suffice.... anyone?

I'd suspect that the "good" bikes tend to not make it to auction...

Bandito909

Anyone know how often it's on?

Rua_ri

Seaneh wrote: »

I'd suspect that the "good" bikes tend to not make it to auction...

I have been to 2 of these. What i saw was one repairable hybrid commuter and the rest was a rusted heap of crap. Not one road bike on either occasion. Waste of time and a 5 euro entry fee in Naas.

brayblue24

Seaneh wrote: »

I'd suspect that the "good" bikes tend to not make it to auction...

Why not?

Seaneh

brayblue24 wrote: »

Why not?

Call me a cynic.

TheBlaaMan

brayblue24 wrote: »

Why not?

2 + 2 = 5 .......... I guess :rolleyes:

Seaneh

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

2 + 2 = 5 .......... I guess :rolleyes:

Well, between myself and 4 other friends who have been to the auctions in the last 18 months, none of us saw any bike worth buying, the odd half decent hybrid but the rest are cheap BSO's and rusted old steel frames.

Now compare this to the scene we wittnessed when collecting a stolen bike that was found by the gardai.

We walked into storage unit where the recovered bikes are kept and there were dozzens of bikes that would entry-mid range and the odd high end road bike, lots mid range mountain bikes and a gaggle of hybrids like rcr100's, Sirus comps, 700fx's etc.


Now, unless all the good bikes are being reunited with their owners, which I doubt, then they are disappearing before they make it to naas.

longshanks

Seaneh wrote: »

Now, unless all the good bikes are being reunited with their owners, which I doubt, then they are disappearing before they make it to naas.

Wait....You think someone is stealing them form the Garda storage??

Seaneh

longshanks wrote: »

Wait....You think someone is stealing them form the Garda storage??

no, just disappearing them before they make it to Merlin.
Or trading them out for lesser bikes.

brayblue24

Seaneh wrote: »

no, just disappearing them before they make it to Merlin.
Or trading them out for lesser bikes.

They're very serious allegations you are making there. If you have evidence of the theft and corruption in your outrageous allegations you have a moral obligation to pursue same and if it's true then any individual involved in such activities should be made accountable for them.

On the other hand if you are blowing smoke out of your a**e (which I firmly believe you are) you really should think before accusing a body of people of such actions.

There is a simple reason why you don't see top end bikes at auctions, they are indeed reunited with their owners. Who, as the owner of such a machine, would not pursue any such theft to the nth degree?

All bikes seized are entered on the computer system so "losing" them is not an option-even if it was a desire it can not happen.

It's very easy to sit there at a PC anonymously posting such nonsense as you did but you should remember how offensive some people might find such accusations-and before you say it, yes I am aware of the bad apples etc.

Seaneh

I just find it odd that no half decent bikes ever make it to auction and that all of them manage to find their owner.


If they are finding their owners, great stuff, well done AGS, but like I said, call me a cynic.

OldIrishWulf

brayblue24 wrote: »

They're very serious allegations you are making there.

There is a simple reason why you don't see top end bikes at auctions, they are indeed reunited with their owners.

A bike of mine was stolen from outside my house years ago .I went and reported it to the local garda station .I heard nothing ,so after a few months I went to the cop shop again to see if I could see it it was found . A garda took me to the storage room out the back ,it was full of bikes and a few potted plants .

My bike was not there but the garda looked at his clip board and asked me to take a bike that he reckoned had been taken from a known bike thief and I would be doing him a favour . He didn't want to have to do the paperwork and have to hand the guy back the bike at the upcoming auction . He just wanted to scribble returned to owner .

Granolite

OldIrishWulf wrote: »

A bike of mine was stolen from outside my house years ago .I went and reported it to the local garda station .I heard nothing ,so after a few months I went to the cop shop again to see if I could see it it was found . A garda took me to the storage room out the back ,it was full of bikes and a few potted plants .

My bike was not there but the garda looked at his clip board and asked me to take a bike that he reckoned had been taken from a known bike thief and I would be doing him a favour . He didn't want to have to do the paperwork and have to hand the guy back the bike at the upcoming auction . He just wanted to scribble returned to owner .

Taking this to the n'th degree you're both as culpable as the original bike thief are you not? or are you just `blowing smoke' too?

turbodiesel

brayblue24 wrote: »

They're very serious allegations you are making there. If you have evidence of the theft and corruption in your outrageous allegations you have a moral obligation to pursue same and if it's true then any individual involved in such activities should be made accountable for them.

On the other hand if you are blowing smoke out of your a**e (which I firmly believe you are) you really should think before accusing a body of people of such actions.

There is a simple reason why you don't see top end bikes at auctions, they are indeed reunited with their owners. Who, as the owner of such a machine, would not pursue any such theft to the nth degree?

All bikes seized are entered on the computer system so "losing" them is not an option-even if it was a desire it can not happen.

It's very easy to sit there at a PC anonymously posting such nonsense as you did but you should remember how offensive some people might find such accusations-and before you say it, yes I am aware of the bad apples etc.

It's back a good few years but I found a bike stuffed in bushes in Sundrive Pk in Crumlin. Went to the cop shop, bike was all in one piece. Handed it in, Got a receipt, went back 12 months later as if you hand something in and it's uncollected you are entitled to it as long as it's not on a stolen list and reunited with it's owner. The wheels and saddle were gone......

They're not all bad ones but in every basket of apples you'll get a rotten one or two..........

RV

Hard to think that a garda - or more unlikely again - a few gardai would steal wheels and saddles, presumably to sell them on to criminals.
Not plausible at all if you ask me. I think you just made a mistake identifying the said bike.

Undercover Elephant

brayblue24 wrote: »

It's very easy to sit there at a PC anonymously posting such nonsense as you did but you should remember how offensive some people might find such accusations-and before you say it, yes I am aware of the bad apples etc.

Not to be smart, but if you're aware of the bad apples, then you have a responsibility to pursue it. Otherwise you'll end up with a reputation like the Met.

Seaneh

RV wrote: »

Hard to think that a garda - or more unlikely again - a few gardai would steal wheels and saddles, presumably to sell them on to criminals.
Not plausible at all if you ask me. I think you just made a mistake identifying the said bike.

Oooooooooooor, someone needed two new wheels and a saddle for their/their kids bike and though "sure fuk it, that yoke's been in the shed in the barracks for 9 months, it'll be fecked out anyway.

mp31

Seaneh wrote: »

Call me a cynic.

(Picks up phone and dials number...rring rrring...) Hello.. I'd like to order a cynic please... OK great. (puts down phone).
The cynic will be here in 10 mins

brayblue24

Undercover Elephant wrote: »

Not to be smart, but if you're aware of the bad apples, then you have a responsibility to pursue it. Otherwise you'll end up with a reputation like the Met.

I threw the whole "bad apples" line in as I expected somebody to throw it at me by way of retort . I can honestly say I'm not aware of any such a person so therefore I can not pursue anything-but I couldn't for a second doubt but that they are there.

Incidentally, I take your comment as I believe it was meant and understand fully why you posted it

Seaneh

brayblue24 wrote: »

I threw the whole "bad apples" line in as I expected somebody to throw it at me by way of retort . I can honestly say I'm not aware of any such a person so therefore I can not pursue anything-but I couldn't for a second doubt but that they are there.

Incidentally, I take your comment as I believe it was meant and understand fully why you posted it

I don't know any such person either, and like yourself, I don't doubt they exist, I was just musing out loud that it seems there seems to be a very higb rate of the better bikes finding their owners considering no bikes worth buying ever make it to the auctions in Naas.

Like I said, if AGS really are getting the bikes back to their owners, fair play to them, good job, keep it up. I have my doubts though.

dubmess

In about 20 years of serious cycling I have never known or even heard of anyone that has had their bike recovered by the gardai, nobody on this thread has come to the defense of them saying they have their bike recovered either, and I wonder has anyone on the 50 pages of the stolen bikes thread had their bikes recovered?

It makes you wonder if mid and high end bikes are being moved somewhere else, possibly abroad, and it's just the dross that ends up in the hands of the gardai, low end bike theft being more opportunism and the mid to high end being organised.

I was a courier for 14 years and we had an unbelievably high success rate of returning stolen bikes to people as they would be spotted being cycled around the city one or two weeks later. About 6/7 years ago that stopped and once a bike was gone it was never seen again.

I know a lot of people don't report bike theft, but it would be interesting to know if the gardai have records of how many bikes have been recovered in relation to the reported thefts.

brayblue24

dubmess wrote: »

It makes you wonder if mid and high end bikes are being moved somewhere else, possibly abroad, and it's just the dross that ends up in the hands of the gardai, low end bike theft being more opportunism and the mid to high end being organised.

In truth, that makes a lot of sense

charlemont

Seaneh wrote: »

I'd suspect that the "good" bikes tend to not make it to auction...

Ha I'd believe it..

Seaneh

dubmess wrote: »

It makes you wonder if mid and high end bikes are being moved somewhere else, possibly abroad, and it's just the dross that ends up in the hands of the gardai, low end bike theft being more opportunism and the mid to high end being organised.

All very valid points and entirely probably.

unichall

There is another one on 6th December at Wilsons Auction, Naas Road at 6.30pm if anyone is interested

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/bicycles/4247685

cormac_byrne

turbodiesel wrote: »

It's back a good few years but I found a bike stuffed in bushes in Sundrive Pk in Crumlin. Went to the cop shop, bike was all in one piece. Handed it in, Got a receipt, went back 12 months later as if you hand something in and it's uncollected you are entitled to it as long as it's not on a stolen list and reunited with it's owner. The wheels and saddle were gone......

They're not all bad ones but in every basket of apples you'll get a rotten one or two..........

You didn't have to hand the bike in to the Gardai, you could have just give them your details and the bikes frame number and description.

If it turns out the bike is on their system or someone reports it stolen within a year, then The Gardai will ask for the bike back. If a year passes then legally the bike is yours.

Also they'll warn you not to sell the bike within the year.

Skrynesaver

List of bikes up for auction is on Wilson's site for those interested

panama

Skrynesaver wrote: »

List of bikes up for auction is on Wilson's site for those interested

I can't see a list or gallery anywhere for the upcoming auction.

Dermot Illogical

panama wrote: »

I can't see a list or gallery anywhere.

Because it was last year?

panama

There's one on August 6th.

brianomc

panama wrote: »

There's one on August 6th.

Listing here for august 1st

http://www.wilsonsauctions.com/specialist-search-results/405

easygoing39

brianomc wrote: »

Listing here for august 1st

http://www.wilsonsauctions.com/specialist-search-results/405

And all of them cheap horrible bikes.What do the guards do with the decent nice expensive bikes they recover?

Squidgy Black

easygoing39 wrote: »

And all of them cheap horrible bikes.What do the guards do with the decent nice expensive bikes they recover?

I would imagine that the owners would have contacted the Gardai if it was a decent bike, like most do if there bike is stolen. Main reason most of the bikes in the auction are BSO is because more than likely they were just dumped or left somewhere because they're worthless.

unichall

easygoing39 wrote: »

And all of them cheap horrible bikes.What do the guards do with the decent nice expensive bikes they recover?

Any decent bike recovered is more often than not returned to owner. The reason being those people who own expensive bikes would report them stolen and would be aware of serial numbers etc. making it a simple task to reunite owner and bike if found, much like if a stolen car was found amd you use a reg number to track its owner. The bikes that aren't returned are usually not reported because people feel they aren't worth it or they report a 'red mountain bike type bike' or some other such description with no serial number etc making it very very difficult to reunite owner and bike if ever found, compare it to someone telling the gardai they had a silver peugot 206 stolen but they dont know the reg, its unlikely they would get the car back in that instance either

hfallada

I wanted a bike but wasnt arsed spending a fortune for something Ill use a few times a year.

But got one in the bike auction for €60. It has a few minor chips on the paintwork but my brother has the better version of the bike and it cost him €300. The auction is grand if you want to have a bike, but know you wont use it every week

BTW when I brought my bike in Merlin. The bid price was what I paid at the counter for collection( no commission or VAT). Wilson is slapping on VAT at 23% and commission on sale price. So you seriously need to get a low price

cypressg

Not really buying this theory that "all the nice bikes are returned to their owners".:mad:
I wonder is this the reason why **** all is being done about bike theft around the city?Is it more profitable to let them be robbed on the street so that they can be re-robbed at the station?

joxerjohn

I have been to two of these auctions and the closest thing to a road bike I saw was a beat up old red basso frame with a campy rear deraileur attached. Two guys bid against each other and it went for €150 in the end. No great bargain and other than that mostly junk I'm afraid.

unichall

cypressg wrote: »

Not really buying this theory that "all the nice bikes are returned to their owners".:mad:
I wonder is this the reason why **** all is being done about bike theft around the city?Is it more profitable to let them be robbed on the street so that they can be re-robbed at the station?

Dont buy it so, believe whatever makes you happy but thinking logically which of our two scenarios is more likely? Remember I said think logically not make believe

Grandpa Hassan

cypressg wrote: »

Not really buying this theory that "all the nice bikes are returned to their owners".:mad:
QUOTE]

Seriously, do you think anyone who has a decent bike doesn't use the bike registration scheme? So if it ends up in the Garda station, and they run the frame number through the system, you get a phone call

cypressg

unichall wrote: »

Dont buy it so, believe whatever makes you happy but thinking logically which of our two scenarios is more likely? Remember I said think logically not make believe

Oh well if you said logically then this changes everything.:D

Do I think 100% of the decent bikes that were robbed were registered?Not at all,there would be plenty that weren't and they don't seem to be showing up in the auctions.
It's make believe to think that 100% of decent bikes are registered,it's also logical that not all decent bikes are registered,the garda will tell you that themselves.

cypressg

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

cypressg wrote: »

Not really buying this theory that "all the nice bikes are returned to their owners".:mad:
QUOTE]

Seriously, do you think anyone who has a decent bike doesn't use the bike registration scheme? So if it ends up in the Garda station, and they run the frame number through the system, you get a phone call

Yeah I do,the garda will tell you the same if you ask,plenty of people with decent bikes don't use the registration scheme.

unichall

cypressg wrote: »

Oh well if you said logically then this changes everything.:D

Do I think 100% of the decent bikes that were robbed were registered?Not at all,there would be plenty that weren't and they don't seem to be showing up in the auctions.
It's make believe to think that 100% of decent bikes are registered,it's also logical that not all decent bikes are registered,the garda will tell you that themselves.

So with that logic its also reasonable to say that some nice bikes do make it to auction, just because no one on here has seen one at an auction they have attended doesn't mean it doesn't happen but again ill reiterate that most high end bikes that are recovered are returned to their owners because they are easily traced, sure even the garda will tell you that

cypressg

unichall wrote: »

ill reiterate that most high end bikes that are recovered are returned to their owners because they are easily traced, sure even the garda will tell you that

lol sure.
Posters on this thread have been going to the auctions since 2012 and none have seen any decent bikes,but thats coz all the decent bikes are returned to the their owners right?Sure that's only logical,just like you reiterated

unichall

cypressg wrote: »

lol sure.
Posters on this thread have been going to the auctions since 2012 and none have seen any decent bikes,but thats coz all the decent bikes are returned to the their owners right?Sure that's only logical,just like you reiterated

Its not that hard to understand. Are most if not all stolen cars that are recovered reunited with their owners? Yes. Why? Because we have a national database of all cars. We dont with bikes but when a 2k/3k bike is stolen it is highly unlikely it is not reported and serial numbers etc be known so if it is located again it is easily returned. When a 100e/200e bike is stolen sometimes people dont bother, a lot of times they dont know serial numbers etc so if these bikes are located it is near impossible to trace an owner. It really is what happens and it really is that simple

ford2600

Is it possible truth is something else.
Perhaps any unclaimed decent bikes don't make auction as individual Gardai buy them beforehand....
Not black or white just a shade of grey. ..

unichall

ford2600 wrote: »

Is it possible truth is something else.
Perhaps any unclaimed decent bikes don't make auction as individual Gardai buy them beforehand....
Not black or white just a shade of grey. ..

In years gone by this was very possible because the auctions were run by the gardai in kevin street but since Wilsons and Merlin took over it isn't as all bikes are sent to a central storage location (santry I think) before auction. Might still be possible but would be very difficult.