Would you buy a stolen bike?

Artful_Badger wrote: »

So you're afraid your nice bike is gonna get stolen so you're thinking about buying a stolen bike ?

If you do buy it you will be putting money into a scumbags pocket and encouraging him to go and steal more stuff from hard working people who pay their own way though life. Basically funding the reason you're afraid to leave your bike in town.

You would be both a scumbag and an idiot as far as I can see.

Get a grip for god's sake....
Scumbag and idiot.. Talk about an over reaction.

Dietsquirt wrote: »

Again i just want to clarify that i'm not 100% the bike(s) is/are stolen, i'm just presuming. A lot of mixed opinions here but seems most people think i should tell him to F off.

If you really worried about it (which you sound like you are), then ask him are they stolen.
If he says no then buy it, if he says yes then don't..,

Dietsquirt wrote: »

Hi,

Just to preface this post, i own a decent enough racer bike which i spent €800 on.

I'm looking for a 2nd hand/cheap bike that i can use to cycle in to the City Centre (Dublin) and not be afraid to leave locked up. I have a very good lock (kryptonite) but i still wouldn't leave my racer bike in town.

Blah blah blah...

I sent an email around my job last week and inquiring if anyone had a bike lying around their sheds that they'd want to offload (for a cheap enough price)

1 guy, who i don't really know said he can get me one for €100, that was really the maximum i was willing to pay. I asked him the make/model etc.. He showed me a few pictures and they look like fairly newish bikes (all Treks). I asked him where he gets them and he said he knows a guy who gets a few in every week.

They must be stolen.

Am i a scumbag for paying €100 for one of these bikes? They are a great bargain and lets face it, if they are stolen, the person isn't getting it back.

What would you do?

If you buy that I hope you get both stolen.

I've got a friend in college who lives in inner city Dublin. He knows people who do the whole bike robbing thing and apparently most of the stolen bikes are ones left in apartment building stairwells, unlocked. The young lads just wait for someone to open the door, walk in and walk out with the bike.

It's likely that these stolen bikes were left out by utter idiots who didn't value them enough to lock them up in the first place. Not that I'm advocating the purchase of stolen goods of course

I'm curious as to whether there's a website where victims of bike theft can post up pictures and maybe the serial numbers of their frames so that people can crosscheck bikes before buying them, and even alert the owners. With the poweful means of communication these days it's something owners and genuine buyers could almost police themselves. If not there should be IMO. F*ck the scumbags!

Dietsquirt wrote: »

Am i a scumbag for paying €100 for one of these bikes?

If your gut feeling is that the bike is stolen and you go ahead and purchase anyway, then yes, without a doubt.

lets face it, if they are stolen, the person isn't getting it back.

Don't be so sure. Unless the bike was stolen a long way from where you intend to use it, you never know when the rightful owner might be waiting for you when you stroll back to "your" bike someday.

Look, in all probability you're going to take the easiest, cheapest path, regardless of any opinions you read here. And in the bigger scheme of things it won't make much difference. But just remember that decision the next time you get screwed over by some selfish pr1ck or somebody helps themselves to the contents of your other half's bag/wallet or breaks into your parents' home. The way you feel on such an occasion is probably the way the rightful owner of your bicycle felt the day it was stolen from them, to be sold to someone like you.

Tell him to get you a bike then when he produces the bike take the serial number (it's stamped in to bottom bracket/pedal spindle) and tell him your ringing the guards to check it hasn't been stolen. When your dodgey work mate gets all nervous and making excuses offer him €20 and tell him you'll pay him next week...then don't.

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Tough call morally, but the bikes are already stolen, and your decision to buy or not buy won't effect this guy continuing to steal bikes... hmmmmmmmmm, you're saving the environment too.......

I would say the only reason they are stealing them is cos there are people like OP out there who would buy them so saying that is not really true.

I personally would not, there are plenty of bikes you can get in shops for that money anyway.

I have a bike worth around €800 as well which is fairly cheap for a racing bike but it was all I could afford. I do a lot of cycling and if it were to be stolen I would be devastated as at the moment there is no way I would be able to replace it.

So no, I would never ever buy a bike I suspected to be stolen.

It seems that a lot of bike thieves have no idea of the value of the bikes they steal.
I know somebody who was offered a carbon framed Fuji Gran Fondo for €400. To buy one of those new would cost between 3 and 4k.

He said he was tempted but decided against in the end but didn't report the person selling it either. Not sure if I'd report someone selling something I thought to be stolen either.
It is undoubtedly the right thing to do, but don't think I could be a grass.

Why not buy it? It's stolen now. By not buying it, the victim won't get it back. By buying it, the victim still won't get it back but you'll save some money. If it's stolen, then every euro is profit to him so offer him 80.

If your consicience is holding you back, just remember you're not certain that they're stolen.

Peetrik wrote: »

Buying a bike you know is stolen makes you a selfish ar$ehole, you are well aware of this already OP, you wouldn't have asked otherwise.

Stop looking for reasons to justify it to yourself. If you do it, your a díckhead. End of.

Couldn't have said it better myself tbh.