Where are all the stolen bikes going?

Finnrocco

Where I live every single young lad is going around on a very nice bike - usually mountain / hybrid type with disc brakes.

I don't think their parents are forking out 500 +.

Finnrocco

It must be possible to create some sort of immobiliser on a bike.

For example, there are skewers and seat post bolts that have an allen key type head on it - you lock the axel and the bolt with a specific tool.

Must be possible to lock the chainset for example so that it can only be opened with this specific tool.

I don't know how you would do it but I'm sure engineering type people could figure out a way.

smacl

Tombo2001 wrote: »

The gardai arrive 15 minutes later. They get photo. Who is it. We don't know. Where are they. We don't know. Lets drive around for the next hour on the off chance we catch them.

I think the post below is probably a better explanation. I don't believe that bike theft is a crime that is particularly more difficult to address than other forms of common theft such as burglary. Suggesting that AGS can't police this and we should change our expectations of them is just green-lighting the crime.

Del2005 wrote: »

I guarantee that if you ask a Garda off the record who stole the bike they'd have a good idea who it was, most crime is committed by a tiny minority. There problem is catching them with enough evidence and then if they do bring them to court they walk away with a slap on the wrist.

Agreed. The courts need to be handing out harsher sentences to habitual repeat offenders.

Finnrocco

Finnrocco wrote: »

Where I live every single young lad is going around on a very nice bike - usually mountain / hybrid type with disc brakes.

I don't think their parents are forking out 500 +.

Even a Carrera from Halfords which a lot of them round my way are on will set you back about 400+

One father and son though near us who wouldn't work to warm themselves are riding around on a Felt F5 and a Boardman SLR 8.9a worth about 1200 new, would sicken your hole to see him ride it, he even looks lazy doing that :mad:

reg114

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Thats really interesting on a number of fronts.

(I) that it took so long to hit Adverts.
(II) a lot of people look in the for sale sections, or in the sold section.

More items in Adverts seem to be 'Withdrawn' than 'Sold' even after a transaction appears to have been conducted (i.e. offer made, pms sent etc) - so always look in the Withdrawn section also.

Other point - this notion that 'the gardai are doing nothing' really annoys me.

I do think the spotlight needs to be elsewhere - particular on the people who act as distributors of bikes.

As mentioned - if Adverts/ DoneDeal made it a requirement to post a serial code for any bike being advertised, if bike shops had to record the serial code for every bike they sold - I think we would see a very sharp drop in bike thefts.

Perhaps the authorities could force websites like adverts.ie to show a photo of the bikes serial number in the ad for the bike...

reg114

I reported an advert for a bike worth 7k which was online for a tenth of the price , the website in question took the ad down

oholly121

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Regarding the immediate incident: Not being smart but what can the Gardaí do with CCTV.

They have a cut lock, grainy image of some dude they cant identify and a stolen item that they cant trace.

What exactly should they be doing here? To pursue a bike worth what - 300 euro ? 500 euro?

What is your ask of the Gardaí in this situation? Because I don't see any way they conduct an investigation based on the information presented.

Don't mean to be a downer but I am just seeing in my view from a realist position.

Regarding the van - all I can say is when I had a bike stolen from the garage, they came around and spent an hour at the house talking about it; so it would be inconsistent to say they least if they didn't follow up on this.

My wider position here is that there is very little the gardai can do about bike crime, therefore the gardai do very little about bike crime apart from offer sympathy. And bike owners would be wrong to (I) expect more and (ii) blame the gardai for this. Which goes back to the bigger point here - who is robbing bikes, where are the bikes going. With the ultimate point being - the most effective way to change this situation is to make it much more difficult to sell stolen bikes.

Sorry Guard

Tombo2001

oholly121 wrote: »

Sorry Guard

I'm not a guard, don't have any family members guards. Or any friends guards.

AndrewJRenko

reg114 wrote: »

Perhaps the authorities could force websites like adverts.ie to show a photo of the bikes serial number in the ad for the bike...

Photo AND text version of the serial number - so the owner can set up an alert to be notified whenever an ad is submitted.

It wouldn't stop some real chancers, but it would make it very, very obvious that it is a dodgy sale.

Also, anyone selling more than x bikes a year (x = 3 maybe, or 5) should require photo id with proof of address) to be sure they are traceable.

These sites really have a big responsibility.

Tombo2001

smacl wrote: »

I think the post below is probably a better explanation. I don't believe that bike theft is a crime that is particularly more difficult to address than other forms of common theft such as burglary. Suggesting that AGS can't police this and we should change our expectations of them is just green-lighting the crime.

Agreed. The courts need to be handing out harsher sentences to habitual repeat offenders.

Disagree.

Its just being realistic about the situation.

Green lighting - I'd put say people driving in bus lanes in that category. Or people breaking speed limit in city centre. There's never any checks. So people do it.

In the above situation, gardai can set up speed checks on Dorset Street if they want. They don't.

This situation is different because there is absolutely no way that this can be policed.

Gardaí cant prevent a bike being stolen. And once its reported they have absolutely no way to track down the thief. A photo of the bike, a serial number, a cctv photo of the thief.



The information the yneed is - who stole it, whats their name, where do they live, where have they stored the bike. They don't have any of that.

It just really annoys me when I see people whingeing about the Gardaí in this situation, as they are blaming people who didn't cause the situation and can do damn all about it - its lazy scapegoating.

That's why - because I've thought long and hard about it after having several bikes stolen!! - I think the number one way to approach this is to make it harder to sell Stolen Bikes.

Hello used goods websites!!

That's if you want to tackle the problem. I do get the sense in Ireland, that what people actually want is just to give out, and they don't really care what they are giving out about.

NasserShammaz

Parnell st.

Tombo2001

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Photo AND text version of the serial number - so the owner can set up an alert to be notified whenever an ad is submitted.

It wouldn't stop some real chancers, but it would make it very, very obvious that it is a dodgy sale.

Also, anyone selling more than x bikes a year (x = 3 maybe, or 5) should require photo id with proof of address) to be sure they are traceable.

These sites really have a big responsibility.

Agreed - they make the distinction between Private Sellers and Commercial Sellers.

If a guy is selling €2k worth of bikes a month - all for €300/ €400 each - that's some work for one bloke selling his own bikes.

And there are heaps of these punters.

A lot of these sites are owned by reputable international businesses, you'd have thought certain standards apply.

Effects

Paddigol wrote: »

The legal profession makes f**k all from minor offences like bike theft. Free legal aid pays peanuts in those cases.

Do they not get paid on the same rate no matter what the crime is?
I had thought most of the big firms handled most of the legal aid cases, making decent money for the partners, while paying the junior solicitors, who are dealing with it, peanuts.

Tombo2001

Spent a lot of time looking at used goods websites in past few days and its really - I cant believe it to be honest.

I nearly every part of Dublin, there is an individual (from their home) that is actively advertising bikes for sale week in week out - selling literally dozens and dozens of bikes, and mostly marked 'withdrawn' after a transaction is agreed.

By area, I just went through the 'As' and even in the As alone there are 5 or 6 of these guys.

smacl

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Spent a lot of time looking at used goods websites in past few days and its really - I cant believe it to be honest.

I nearly every part of Dublin, there is an individual (from their home) that is actively advertising bikes for sale week in week out - selling literally dozens and dozens of bikes, and mostly marked 'withdrawn' after a transaction is agreed.

By area, I just went through the 'As' and even in the As alone there are 5 or 6 of these guys.

As per my previous post, if you simply made the resale sites jointly and severally liable for fencing stolen goods, this outlet could be shut down quickly without much expense.

gman2k

Tombo2001 wrote:

I nearly every part of Dublin, there is an individual (from their home) that is actively advertising bikes for sale week in week out - selling literally dozens and dozens of bikes, and mostly marked 'withdrawn' after a transaction is agreed.

I'm on adverts, and I nearly always have a couple of bikes for sale, as basically it's a hobby of mine to buy bits and pieces, build them up and sell on (generally at a loss tbh).
There are plenty of people out there like me too.
But, there are obvious signs of dodginess that have been discussed here already.

sunny2004

Has no one come up with a GPS tracker for bikes ? Seems rather odd as they are relatively cheap and small.

bladespin

sunny2004 wrote: »

Has no one come up with a GPS tracker for bikes ? Seems rather odd as they are relatively cheap and small.

There are many available, not sure how many actually want them, horse to water etc.

sunny2004

I would have thought even a sticker on the bike saying this bike has an embedded GPS tracker, even if it's not present, would put most of the scum robbing bikes off.

Sam Quentin

You can chip a dog,.so it would be so easy to chip a bicycle!?

Tombo2001

The other thing with GPS - which is not clear to me - has anyone ever retrieved a bike through GPS and would the guards follow up on it.

Tombo2001

gman2k wrote: »

I'm on adverts, and I nearly always have a couple of bikes for sale, as basically it's a hobby of mine to buy bits and pieces, build them up and sell on (generally at a loss tbh).
There are plenty of people out there like me too.
But, there are obvious signs of dodginess that have been discussed here already.

Ok so that's interesting

But in your case would you not also be buying bits and pieces. You'd see both sides of it.

gman2k

Tombo2001 wrote:

But in your case would you not also be buying bits and pieces. You'd see both sides of it.

Exactly, I see some sellers who are continuously selling high end parts, in near to new condition. I can't see a genuine reason for how they are doing what they are doing.
Unless they are involved in the bike business somewhere it doesn't make any sense.
My gut tells me they are fencing parts stripped off bikes that were stolen on the continent at some stage.

Tombo2001

gman2k wrote: »

Exactly, I see some sellers who are continuously selling high end parts, in near to new condition. I can't see a genuine reason for how they are doing what they are doing.
Unless they are involved in the bike business somewhere it doesn't make any sense.
My gut tells me they are fencing parts stripped off bikes that were stolen on the continent at some stage.

What would you think if they were specialists in two lines of goods...

for example, bikes and mobile phones.

Or bikes and power tools, the type you'd normally see in a garage or shed.

Somehow a steady supply of both.

Not being smart, but there is a chance there is a valid explanation for this....I just don't see it.

Tombo2001

smacl wrote: »

As per my previous post, if you simply made the resale sites jointly and severally liable for fencing stolen goods, this outlet could be shut down quickly without much expense.

Unfortunately I don't have authority. But I have contacted my local TDs about it.

Utter Consternation

I was in a hardware store on Talbot Street today to buy chain for securing my bike. I was chatting to the lad in the shop and he was saying there's lads in vans driving around just picking bikes up off the streets and loading them up. Not just scumbag opportunists.

He also said the cordless angle grinders from Lidl are being used to cut the chains. They'll cut through any chain.

Tombo2001

Utter Consternation wrote: »

I was in a hardware store on Talbot Street today to buy chain for securing my bike. I was chatting to the lad in the shop and he was saying there's lads in vans driving just picking bikes up off the streets and loading them up. Not just scumbag opportunists.

He also said the cordless angle grinders from Lidl are being used to cut the chains. They'll cut through any chain.

I heard similar over on Harcourt Street.

But it still doesn't answer the question - where are they all going?

FFS lads, the figures are 15000 bikes a year. That's the estimate. What happens to them all.

bladespin

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I heard similar over on Harcourt Street.

But it still doesn't answer the question - where are they all going?

FFS lads, the figures are 15000 bikes a year. That's the estimate. What happens to them all.

Scrap metal for a large part, well the more day to day bikes that is, certain local communities were searched by the gardai a few years back and stockpiles running into hundreds were found, and I'm from a town, not a city.

Tombo2001

bladespin wrote: »

Scrap metal for a large part, well the more day to day bikes that is, certain local communities were searched by the gardai a few years back and stockpiles running into hundreds were found, and I'm from a town, not a city.

Be a shame to see a €1000 road bike end up in that situation.

bladespin

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Be a shame to see a €1000 road bike end up in that situation.

I'm sure many have, along with the child's precious bmx (just as big a shame), I doubt they're very discerning about what they take, probably worse, a carbon frame wouldn't be worth anything to them so they'd just break it up and bury it.