Stolen: Specialized Epic 2015 (Cape Town)

[Kellerman Assessors]

Stolen: Specialized Epic 2015
When: 10 July 2015
Where: Cape Town, Western Cape

On 18:00 the evening of Sunday 21 June 2015, our client parked his metallic grey pick-up in the parking lot. On the back his two Specialized cycles was secured and on a locked and fitted cycle rack to the tow-bar connection. Upon returning approximately 45min later, he noticed the whole rack and his cycles were unscrewed by the bolts from the tow-bar. No security guards were on duty nor any camera footage available as the system was faulty.

Get further details about the incident in the Stolen Bikes section

[Skylark]

Mmm that's interesting, wonder if my towbar ball is unscrewed that easily, last I checked its just 2 bolts/nuts.

[Oufy MTB (Roadie)]

Mmm that's interesting, wonder if my towbar ball is unscrewed that easily, last I checked its just 2 bolts/nuts.

I actually noticed that the other day that most tow bars, the ball is held by 2 bolts. My discovery's one is locked, so I'm okay for now.

 

Geez these okes.

[B20]

Leaving expensive bikes on a bike rack, out of sight, is like leaving a cash box with R100000+ bolted to the back of the car.

A tip for thieves not to remove the bolts is to tack (spot weld) the nuts to the bolt.

For extra security, tack a washer behind the nut and end of the bolt.

That way the nut cannot be removed.

Any fitment centre can do it (and remove it with a bit of effort).

[Bianchisti]

Do the skelms walk about with spanners and socket wrenches that just happen to fit a towbar bolt?

 

Sorry to break it to you Jozi oke's but the Cape Town skelms overtook you with ambition, imagination and dedication.

 

 

[velomonatiCT]

maybe the cape town skelms have just noticed that in cape town everyone needs to drive round with his bike stuck on the back of his car 24 hours a day 365 days a year so if you go out with a spanner you are definitely going to get lucky very quickly

[Kom]

You spot weld the bolts to your towbar, next they walking around with battery powered angle grinders ... escalation is ongoing as to what the thiefs will do.

 

I agree that hanging them on your car 24x7 is a little careless (not assuming this was the case, but have observed this becoming a trend)

 

My point though is that thief will be thief, and people will be people, but I'm a little surprised that we have a general culture in the 2nd hand space to be willing to buy bicycles with no proof of purchase. We the bike riders create the very demand in the used bike space that perpetuates the problem thieves supplying to meet the demand. If we all were a little vigilant around purchases, we would dramatically change the behaviour.

[B20]

You spot weld the bolts to your towbar, next they walking around with battery powered angle grinders ... escalation is ongoing as to what the thiefs will do.

Just like a safe in your home is a delaying device for your valuables, the idea of spot welding the bolts is a delaying "defence" on the cyclist part. 

Time and noise is the biggest enemies for a thief.

[Kellerman Assessors]

Once again many thanks to info received that resulted in recovery of the frame at this stage. We are confident that accessories will also be recovered soon.

 

We are thankful for the assistance of The Bike Hub and others in locating the frame.

 

Andre Kellerman

[Bianchisti]

Can you tell us how this was recovered? Might help those in need in future.

[Kellerman Assessors]

item was advertised for sale. It is always advisable to record the frame number, take a pictures and record distinctive features for identification.  

 

Mention these when reporting the theft and place picture(s) on Bikehub.

 

Look at surroundings where theft took place and source CCTV footage of theft timeframe to identify perpetrator(s).