5 Bikes Stolen

[SLEASK]

I had 5 bikes stolen from my house on 20/05/2021. By the sounds of it its the same car that has stolen numerous other bikes in our area (Heidelberg) the past few months. 

What struck me about this was as seen on the video there were 4/5 robbers coming into my property at once. That must probably show that they had a good idea I have a lot of bikes. I do not suspect anyone close to me to be involved. 

Another thing I noticed is that they were specifically looking for bicycles as there were other valuables in my garage which they have not taken. 

What I was wondering if they could've used Strava to get the info as I post a lot of pics of my bikes and my Strava was not marked as private.

The other thing I wondered is what actually happens to the bikes. My Cube AMS mountain bike is as far as I'm aware only 1 of 4 in SA. 

So how would they sell these unique bikes? Or strip for second hand bicycle parts? 

I have placed my bikes on the Stolen Bikes section. 

They have stolen the below bikes. Please be on the lookout. 

Cube AMS C68 Mountain Bike

Titan Team Carbon Hardtail

Cervelo P2 TT

Rocky Mountain Vertex Carbon 950RSL

Titan Hardtail Alu bike. 

[Shebeen]

that sucks big time. sorry to hear.

on the strava thing, it's possible. do you have the home exclusion zone setting activated? It blanks out an area of a radius around where you live, to stop this sort of thing.

 

 

[SLEASK]

Yes I have now activated that as well. 

[Steady Spin]

No passives in the garage? I'm sure even if the alarm is triggered they would still get out in time before you can get to them. Very organised. 

Bikes make their way over the border and into neighbouring countries or other cities. 

Sorry for your loss. Hope insurance sorts you out quick.  

[SLEASK]

There is a passive in the garage but with the load shedding our alarm kept going off. So we did not activate our alarm. That was very stupid I know..

[FootballingCyclist]

Sorry to hear about your losses, But on the Strava thing, a definite yes. It happened in the UK where a syndicate were stealing top end bikes and the 1 16yr old youngster was caught, He eventually gave in after being threatened with hard time in a normal prison and said that they had used Strava to watch people with high end bikes, then watched the houses for when the owners were not home.

[Eddy Gordo]

Sorry for the loss.

On the alarm. Get a gate magnet added to the door. Also try and get some outside beams added and if possible one point to point beam across the driveway. Maybe look at what is triggering your alarm as well. Could just be something needs to be tweaked. You can also ad a bigger backup battery and the alarm will last for hours without power. 

[TheoG]

22 minutes ago, SLEASK said:

There is a passive in the garage but with the load shedding our alarm kept going off. So we did not activate our alarm. That was very stupid I know..

Was the garage door locked?  How did they get in?

[Robbie Stewart]

19 minutes ago, SLEASK said:

There is a passive in the garage but with the load shedding our alarm kept going off. So we did not activate our alarm. That was very stupid I know..

Sorry for your loss. I hope your insurance pays out seeing as your alarm was not activated. They like to cling on to these types of facts as mitigation of risk. All you need to do is to replace the alarm's 12V battery to stop it from constantly going off when load shedding is around. The load on the battery runs low during the constant load shedding cycles and results in the battery having insufficient power when the power comes back on again and this somehow triggers the alarm. I had the same issue in 2019 and when I went to get a new battery I literally bought the last one, and while I was paying I had three guys try to buy if off me making stupid offers. I stuck to my guns and left with the battery. The lady at the counter told me they sold over 500 batteries in the preceding 3 days.

[Mojoman]

Can you add motion zones to those CCTV cameras and shedule arming during your sleeping hours as well....
I have 6 dogs, 8 CCTV, 1 x alarm,  6 foot fence with razor wire top, middle and bottom...
And still I have visitors...I run my alarm and CCTV off a cheap inverter I bought some years back. 

To be honest I would be looking at who I employed, had in the house lately etc.....?

 

[SLEASK]

Yes I will add motion zones and take all the necessary measures now - beams etc outside.  I have had no one employed recently and only have a domestic worker that has worked for me for 8 years and she does not go into my garage. Also that same car has been spotted doing these robberies all over Heidelberg. I have also heard the car was seen on footage leaving Heidelberg - hence my suspicion on the Strava thing. 

[MORNE]

Regarding where they end up. I recall not to long ago a guy asking around here for assistance as he found his bike on gumtree in malawi or somwhere up north. Also a bit longer ago someone (i think successfully) tracked their bike down to Mozambique. When my bike got jacked last year (also the only one in SA)..the police just told me the guys ride them around in the townships...noone there bats an eye about what brand or possibly how expensive it is. They sell a 50k bike for 3k and it changes hands 4 - 5 times in 4 weeks. well at least mine did. We eventually tracked it down as it got sold to a security guard who worked at a mall and it was seen there. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by MORNE

[SLEASK]

17 minutes ago, TheoG said:

Was the garage door locked?  How did they get in?

Yes it was locked. Lock was cut and taken. 

[MORNE]

4 minutes ago, MORNE said:

Regarding where they end up. I recall not to long ago a guy asking around here for assistance as he found his bike on gumtree in malawi or somwhere up north. Also a bit longer ago someone (i think successfully) tracked their bike down to Mozambique. When my bike got jacked last year (also the only one in SA)..the police just told me the guys ride them around in the townships...noone there bats an eye about what brand or possibly how expensive it is. They sell a 50k bike for 3k and it changes hands 4 - 5 times in 4 weeks. well at least mine did. We eventually tracked it down as it got sold to a security guard who worked at a mall and it was seen there. 

to ad to this.....why I look at these part-hoarding sellers on here through skeptical eyes sometimes....

if you think about it....thats how car chopshops operate too. In a lot of cases...the frame is one of the cheaper parts on a bike....so if they steal bikes....dispose or recycle the frames or whatever...there still lots of monry to be had by selling off expensive groupsets, GPS's and wheels etc

Edited May 24, 2021 by MORNE

[Eddy Gordo]

Make sure to get pet friendly sensors. They work better as well.

Also I have 4 slide bolts on my garage door on the inside. 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom. That skelm must really wanna get in and f@k up the door to gain entry. The bolts get locked when the door is closed, whether I am home or not.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Eddy Gordo

[Robbie Stewart]

19 minutes ago, Eddy Gordo said:

Make sure to get pet friendly sensors. They work better as well.

Also I have 4 slide bolts on my garage door on the inside. 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom. That skelm must really wanna get in and f@k up the door to gain entry. The bolts get locked when the door is closed, whether I am home or not.

Now there's an idea I never thought of. I will be doing the same. Thanks for this. Currently I live across from an open veld that leads into uninhabited bush alongside the R27 and despite electric fencing I reckon my garage door is a weak point.