Bike Theft: This is ridiculous

[Guest notmyname]

there are plenty (majority) honest sellers on the hub so im not running a sneaky accusation at anybody so don't name names

 

just think about this and I only speak from experience in western cape (mine and mates who ride)

sellers who come on the hub -no other posts- with "bits" that when you go look at said bits theres no "well im upgrading my whatever or I replaced this with that " some of them don't know much about what they are selling (or bikes sometimes) and most are cheapish pricing and its always random untraceable parts

 

I really think there is an underground auction system going (which there is for other types of stolen goods) and sometimes those weird homeless parts find there way onto our classifieds

 

who can prove that a saddle or a pair of carbon pedals(sorry no cleats ??) or a drive train with clipped off cables? belonged on their stolen bike - all these bits are untraceable and we can wind up buying them

 

the ones that we don't get to buy wind up in the hands of unscrupulous cyclists who build up fantastic spec bikes for themselves (and connections) or ratty bikes for sale to the uncaring

 

theres no reason to keep stealing top end stuff if it has no where to go hence it goes somewhere and one of the somewheres is right here sad but true

Possible exporting of high end components for sale on the second hand market abroad. I dont know the ins and outs but it cant be to difficult to send a box with a few group sets and other random bits and pieces.

[Bonus]

If they can manage to smuggle drugs and human beings, I'm sure they can manage some bike bits without breaking a sweat.

[Skylark]

No dude. Mr xmas tree is legit and damn that dude has skills for days and days. I ride with a whole bunch of blokes that know him.

He's legit, just being sarcastic, he buys all the bargains in the classifieds only for it to appear the next day in the classifieds for sale from him, free market but oes are getting a little bleak about it.

 

I don't see many suspect sellers in the classifieds, there have been a few though and our shark eye fellow hubbers have spotted them.

 

There was a guy who had his Spez stolen in Ct only to find it for sale by another hubber, the guy had a private investigator pick it up for him. The guy started a thread about it, nothing seemed to come of it. He claimed the old story, I bought it off someone else.

 

That same seller is still selling lots of high end 2hnd bikes and spares in the classifieds. Very dodgy, where do you get a stream of 2hnd stuff like that, if the seller isn't legit then he's brazen with balls of steal.

[Skylark]

Possible exporting of high end components for sale on the second hand market abroad. I dont know the ins and outs but it cant be to difficult to send a box with a few group sets and other random bits and pieces.

100%, there's definitely that possibility, I've heard it happens with cellphones and laptops. Apparently there is a huge market for stolen iPhones in China, they are stolen and blacklisted in US and Europe but good to go in China. Icloud lock may have diminished that but still.

[velomonatiCT]

its easy to export used bike parts as exactly what they are, even frames, there is no real central clearance like there is for a VIN or chassis number

and bonus is right dodgy people can export anything to anywhere

there are huge markets out there for high end gear both inside this country and in others

 

money talks

[Guest notmyname]

I pulled some stats for a newspaper article late last month. These are as at 22 September 2015:

Reported stolen bikes in 2015 to date: 205

In the Western Cape: 124 (60.5%)

 

Compared to 25.4% in Gauteng and 7.3% in KZN over the same period.

Considering that 48% of our overall site visitors come from Gauteng and only 35% from Western Cape the numbers suggest a definite spike in the Western Cape.

Like I said, ridiculous.

 

This is only bikes reported here. How many other incidents are there that go unreported on this forum?

Edited October 7, 2015 by Small Fry

[Eddy Gordo]

I suspect that a number of them are broken up into parts and the frames sold at scrapyards. There are always plenty of used components for sale.

[Bonus]

Nothing to do with bikes, but I remember a story a year or two ago about cables being stolen from Duvha Power Station and turning up in a Witbank scrap yard. A special dept of the police got involved. They persuaded the scrap yard owner to phone the thieves that had dropped off the copper and tell them that he had money for them from the latest load.

 

When the thieves arrived to collect their money the group consisted of 5 people, 3 of whom were Witbank police officers.

[Odinson]

I wonder whether there are any dodgy bike shops who buy mid to high end bikes from the thieves and sell them with their 2nd hand stock. 

 

Considering that their is no registry or database of new bikes sold and their owners, the SAPS will have a hard time establishing whether a bike in someone's possession is stolen or not, unless they have the actual owner of the bike to confirm same.

[DirtyFrank]

My intention is not to diminish the whole bike theft issue in SA but if you look at most other countries we are actually not that bad compared to the global statistics. 205 bikes stolen in 9 months countrywide, considering our catastrophic high levels of poverty and unemployment this is hardly a major crisis. As far as theft is concerned, look after your damn stuff better. I see expensive bikes on bike racks and bakkies every day without any locking device in sight, gates left open, bikes in open garages etc.

 

Bikejackings on the other hand are a serious problem given the violence involved in these events and also the limitation of our freedom of choice to ride where and when we want without fear of this happening.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/recreational-cycling/11180315/Where-is-the-worst-place-for-bicycle-theft-in-England.html

[Paul Ruinaard]

How do we solve this:

 

1.) Tracking - problem is battery.

 

2.) RFID?

 

How about the (bike) hub putting together a fund to fund some research and possibly assist with tracking these criminals and setting up a fund to allow us to find out what is going on here.

 

I would be willing to put up funds.

 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

My intention is not to diminish the whole bike theft issue in SA but if you look at most other countries we are actually not that bad compared to the global statistics. 205 bikes stolen in 9 months countrywide, considering our catastrophic high levels of poverty and unemployment this is hardly a major crisis. As far as theft is concerned, look after your damn stuff better. I see expensive bikes on bike racks and bakkies every day without any locking device in sight, gates left open, bikes in open garages etc.

 

Bikejackings on the other hand are a serious problem given the violence involved in these events and also the limitation of our freedom of choice to ride where and when we want without fear of this happening.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/recreational-cycling/11180315/Where-is-the-worst-place-for-bicycle-theft-in-England.html

205 reported The stat for the whole country is, I'm sure, far higher. 

Edited October 7, 2015 by Myles Mayhew

[popcorn_skollie]

I have no doubt that there is some sort of organised crime syndicate responsible for many thefts. Some thefts are probably just opportunists after some quick cash. I believe that out of the few bikes that resurface. These are probably the ones that do. But most of them are never seen again. Because they are well organised at moving, stripping and storing stolen bikes and parts.

 

If you look at the volume of high bikes being stolen it can only mean one thing.
There is a demand for them. Bikes like these can't easily be stripped by any common thief. Some knowledge and the right tools are required.

 

A bike listed with a price that's too good to be true raises suspicion. But there is hardly any suspicion around bike parts. These could resell at reasonable prices without anyone raising a brow. Here or elsewhere.

[Bonus]

205 reported HERE. The stat for the whole country is, I'm sure, far higher. 

 

Is that 205 reported on Bike Hub?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Is that 205 reported on Bike Hub?

Sorry, I mis-read. It's as per a newspaper article, so it should be semi-accurate. Still just reported thefts though, so I'm sure the actual figure is a bit higher

[Guest notmyname]

Sorry, I mis-read. It's as per a newspaper article, so it should be semi-accurate. Still just reported thefts though, so I'm sure the actual figure is a bit higher

Admin pulled the stats from bikehub for a newspaper article.

 

 

*this is how rumors start.... ????????????

Edited October 7, 2015 by Small Fry