Stolen Bikes

griffin100

Have this up on cycling forum but hoping this will help also.

Stolen from a locked garage in Carlow (just outside Tullow) earlier today:
Trek 1.2 - white, 2009 model. Clip on aerobars with red bar tape on front of clipons. Size 54.
Giant Trinity TT bike 2010 model, size medium, blue and white, with mavic carbones, blue mitchellin tyres

I have the serial numbers.

B@stards forced roller door in garage to get to bikes. Took these two bikes plus a Taxc turbo trainer. According to Guards they are targeting 'expensive' bike owners in the South East. They didn't take the kids bikes thankfully. Be grateful if people could keep an eye out, the Giant is not that common a bike and is distinctive with the Mavic Carbones and blue tyres.

Kurt_Godel

Sorry to hear that Griff.

Is your home visible to public on Garmin/Strava? The scummers have been known to target based on GPS maps.

griffin100

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

Sorry to hear that Griff.

Is your home visible to public on Garmin/Strava? The scummers have been known to target based on GPS maps.

No, I barely cycle as it is, I'll be cycling even less now!

RacoonQueen

Have to wonder how they knew they were there if you're barely out on them! Turbo trainer also gone is crazy.they know what they're stealing so...

noc231073

griffin100 wrote: »

Have this up on cycling forum but hoping this will help also.

Stolen from a locked garage in Carlow (just outside Tullow) earlier today:
Trek 1.2 - white, 2009 model. Clip on aerobars with red bar tape on front of clipons. Size 54.
Giant Trinity TT bike 2010 model, size medium, blue and white, with mavic carbones, blue mitchellin tyres

I have the serial numbers.

B@stards forced roller door in garage to get to bikes. Took these two bikes plus a Taxc turbo trainer. According to Guards they are targeting 'expensive' bike owners in the South East. They didn't take the kids bikes thankfully. Be grateful if people could keep an eye out, the Giant is not that common a bike and is distinctive with the Mavic Carbones and blue tyres.

Is that the only thing the gaurds had to say .... How are they targeting expensive bike owners ????
Following u home after a spin??
That's a disaster ..

MojoMaker

Bad luck Griff, tell me they were both covered on the house insurance at least?

griffin100

I spoke to the Guards myself when I got home yesterday and they explained that it's not that I was targeted due my bikes as such, but that bikes are now a target of the thieves as they know they can be high value. So what appears happened was that my garage was scoped out and when the bikes were seen inside they came back the next time the house was empty specifically for the bikes. They used some sort of tool to force the roller door lock. I have some cover for my bikes on the household policy but it will be little enough I expect. I can use the BTW scheme to get a new bike but I'll miss my TT bike, I've done 4 IM's on it!!

One thing that does bother me though is who buys these TT bikes? Do they ship them abroad? A TT bike with deep section wheels is hardly the type of thing your average scummer would pay €50 for, they'd stand out a mile if they did. Will my TT bike and all the others that are stolen end up in transition at some stage?

bryangiggsy

If a professional job the bikes are either re sprayed (to a very high standard) or in a container bound for abroad.

If_Only

The Tri scene isn't that big in Ireland they must be shipping them abroad.

Podge83

Sorry to read that Griff. Always makes me mad to read this sort of stuff. Whoever takes them must have somewhere to send them as I reckon 90% of racers would recognise their own bike. Serious work done in some shed somewhere I'd say. Its annoying to think that they'll be unloaded for a fraction of their value.

There's so many bikes stolen you'd wonder where they all end up.

Surely no one racing would buy a competition type bike knowing it was stolen???

Hope you get some sort of resolution.

noc231073

These bikes are being ship abroad ... That's for sure .. Eastern Europeans are involved .. Friends of mine had 2 brand new bikes stolen and they were recovered by the customs in a container on the way to Poland..
Luckily the guys had the serial numbers ...so they got them back

trailrunner

Gardai recently uncovered a "Chop shop " in greater Dublin area I believe , top end bikes stolen to order being dismantled, boxed and yes shipped to Eastern Europe. Sorry to hear of your bikes Griff, my question is who will insure these bikes .?? I've asked around and my broker, house insurance is a very grey area on bike theft and the cost of the bikes, I contacted a bike insurance company who will insure them but at a cost more then my house and car insurance combined.!?.

Shedite27

Max on my house insurance is €1500 for a bike

tunney

Shedite27 wrote: »

Max on my house insurance is €1500 for a bike

And most won't cover competition bikes.

Podge83

tunney wrote: »

And most won't cover competition bikes.

Quote from my insurance company:

"There will be cover for both bikes under contents section while locked away in your own property. In this case they do not have to be specified.

The bikes can not be insured outside of you property if they are used for racing."

griffin100

Just a quick update. I submitted an insurance claim for a TT bike, a road bike, a cheap Halfords MB, a set of race wheels, a turbo trainer, pedals and bike shoes. I gave the loss adjustor weblinks to prices for the closest versions to the models that were stolen. I was offered the combined value of all of the weblinks minus depreciation as my policy applies depreciation to sports equipment. They applied 20% depreciation to everything except the race wheels which they devalued by 30%. Once this was deducted along with the policy excess the total payout is roughly what I paid for all the kit when it was new 4-5 years ago. I'm happy with that and have accepted it. Just need to reinforce the garage door before I reinvest in new bikes!!

griffin100

Back with me 6 years after being stolen.

Long story......I spotted it on Donedeal 2 years ago in a bike shop that I won’t name. The shop was 4hrs drive away and I wasn’t sure if it was my bike but I managed to get a local Garda to visit the shop and check the serial number. Turns out it was my bike.

The Garda took the bike and the shop owner disputed the issue so it got wrapped up in paperwork.

Couple of months ago Garda called me and told me it was mine to take.

Bike is in excellent condition. It obviously wasn’t ridden after being stolen and was stored in the dry before it made its way to the bike shop. Delighted to have it back.

Fantastic outcome, fair play

EC1000

Great result!

Curious, do you think the bike shop owner was also a victim? Did he take a trade-in or how did he get his hands on it?

Shedite27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117747618#Comment_117747618

I was thinking of this when the story was posted. What's the best way for a bike shop owner to protect themselves? I assume there's not a register they can lookup to confirm owner.

Feels like the owner probably knew what he was doing. Bike shop owner probably knew the real value of the bike, could have sussed fairly quickly through a bit of conversation whether the guy selling the bike was a time triallist or not. Feels like they knew they'd make a nice profit on it

griffin100

The shop owner told the Garda he took it in as a trade in but had no paperwork to show what it was taken in against.

I’m a bit dubious myself, the bike clearly hasn’t been ridden since it was stolen (no pedals, same tyres, same cables). As said above the shop would’ve known what they were taking in, not that many TT bikes with deep section wheels are ridden by the average punter.

The shop was / is an operation that’s small and run from the back of someone’s house. For some reason the Garda weren’t that surprised when it turned out to be stolen so take from that what you will.

Dr_Colossus

Great result and very impressive getting a local garda to check on the bike and confirm the serial number. However why did it take nearly 2 years to get the bike back after it being confirmed and identified as yours and thus stolen. Presume that it was sitting in Garda custody all that time so tried up in paper work is putting it mildly.

griffin100

The delay is mostly my fault After a couple of months I forgot about chasing the Garda. A friend who is a senior Garda told me some time after that there’s a form you can complete to get it back quicker but I never bothered tbh.

db

You posted earlier that you made a claim against your insurance. If that is the case the bike now belongs to them and you have to inform them it was recovered.