What happens with high end stolen bikes

[Offroad]

We had a Hightower CC stolen over the weekend. Chances of recovering it is Zero, Nada, Null, Niks, F@$@l. 
what happens to these bikes? And the Insurance has “Loss adjusters” whose job it is to get out of a claim - no hope there either. The thieves know what to take because they know what they’re worth. I also suspect they don’t disappear into suspect areas to be used as transport.

 

Has anyone had any luck in getting their stolen bikes back?

[Chrisjanopsyfiets]

Stolen bikes only have value to fellow cyclist…. So somewhere in the chain “we” provide a point of off set for these goods. 
I have wondered about this a lot.
Really sorry to hear about your loss. 

 

 

[Mook]

My experience is not high-end bike related, but theft of bicycles. Had an incident many years ago where 2 perps got into my garage and stole both brand new 20" kids bikes.

Within a hour I apprehended both these shoppers myself. This is where the chaos started. I contacted SAPS with the 2 secured on the ground with the help of bystanders. SAPS started tossing the case between 2 adjacent stations, since the theft took place in a different municipal area from where I caught them. Eventually I had to personally transport these gentlemen and the stolen bikes to the SAPS station in the suburb where the theft took place.

Why tell you this story 🤷‍♂️

To SAPS these kind of incidents are a schlep and they are not interested in the paperwork associated with events of this nature. SAPS could not care less if every bike on the roads got stolen.

No realistic prospect of recovery, unless by pure chance - as in my case.

The above drives the insurance industry to behave the way they do. 

My heart goes out to everybody whom falls victim, but the best prevention is to not get it stolen in the first place. Yes, it is easier said than done 🤬

[mecheng89]

9 hours ago, Offroad said:

We had a Hightower CC stolen over the weekend. Chances of recovering it is Zero, Nada, Null, Niks, F@$@l. 
what happens to these bikes? And the Insurance has “Loss adjusters” whose job it is to get out of a claim - no hope there either. The thieves know what to take because they know what they’re worth. I also suspect they don’t disappear into suspect areas to be used as transport.

 

Has anyone had any luck in getting their stolen bikes back?

Not me, no. Lost 2 mid-level bikes, and my heart is still sore.

[mecheng89]

2 minutes ago, Mook said:

My experience is not high-end bike related, but theft of bicycles. Had an incident many years ago where 2 perps got into my garage and stole both brand new 20" kids bikes.

Within a hour I apprehended both these shoppers myself. This is where the chaos started. I contacted SAPS with the 2 secured on the ground with the help of bystanders. SAPS started tossing the case between 2 adjacent stations, since the theft took place in a different municipal area from where I caught them. Eventually I had to personally transport these gentlemen and the stolen bikes to the SAPS station in the suburb where the theft took place.

Why tell you this story 🤷‍♂️

To SAPS these kind of incidents are a schlep and they are not interested in the paperwork associated with events of this nature. SAPS could not care less if every bike on the roads got stolen.

No realistic prospect of recovery, unless by pure chance - as in my case.

The above drives the insurance industry to behave the way they do. 

My heart goes out to everybody whom falls victim, but the best prevention is to not get it stolen in the first place. Yes, it is easier said than done 🤬

The insurer I'm with will not cover you if your bike has been stolen from inside your car. 

The entire reason I transport my bike inside my car is I would never dare leaving it on the bike rack while I pop into the Engen 1stop for a Coke after an event. 

Insure - you can't live them, you can't live without them. They pray off our fear.

[Two-Stroke]

28 minutes ago, mecheng89 said:

The insurer I'm with will not cover you if your bike has been stolen from inside your car. 

The entire reason I transport my bike inside my car is I would never dare leaving it on the bike rack while I pop into the Engen 1stop for a Coke after an event. 

Insure - you can't live them, you can't live without them. They pray off our fear.

Is "theft from inside a car" an exclusion you opted for to reduce premiums, or is it a standard clause in the underwriting?

Which insurance company do you use?

[cadenceblur]

Mine is with Naked, and cover also excludes "inside of vehicle"

[The Ouzo]

11 minutes ago, cadenceblur said:

Mine is with Naked, and cover also excludes "inside of vehicle"

so what exactly do they expect you to do with the bike when you are transporting it somewhere ? just about every shop/mall etc. will not allow you inside with the bike.

would love to see this challenged in the courts

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, mecheng89 said:

The insurer I'm with will not cover you if your bike has been stolen from inside your car. 

The entire reason I transport my bike inside my car is I would never dare leaving it on the bike rack while I pop into the Engen 1stop for a Coke after an event. 

Insure - you can't live them, you can't live without them. They pray off our fear.

15 minutes ago, cadenceblur said:

Mine is with Naked, and cover also excludes "inside of vehicle"

mine is very much covered. why take the risk?

[cadenceblur]

yeah, even if locked with those Thule knob locks, I don't let it out of my sight, sometimes use my U lock though

[Comrade J]

My gut feeling, and has been for a while, is that they are stolen and broken up and sold as spares.

[BigRed1]

I had a bike stolen out of my car while I was with King Price, and they rejected the claim. Apparently bikes are safer on bike racks than inside locked cars? 🤯

[Eagle_i]

5 minutes ago, Comrade J said:

My gut feeling, and has been for a while, is that they are stolen and broken up and sold as spares.

AKA affirmative shopping, we are their suppliers and market...

I had my Specialized Epic MTB (bought from Conrad Stoltz with which he won Xterra World championship with) and Specialized roadie collected by them for free, still not over the episode...

[Eagle_i]

8 minutes ago, BigRed1 said:

I had a bike stolen out of my car while I was with King Price, and they rejected the claim. Apparently bikes are safer on bike racks than inside locked cars? 🤯

It's only safer because it suites their claim/disclaimer policy...

[The Ouzo]

just check my policy

This clause says I'm covered

THE REQUIREMENT REGARDING THE CONCEALING OF ITEMS INSIDE THE VEHICLE DOES NOT APPLY TO BICYCLES.
 

[Oufy MTB (Roadie)]

Back to the question, what happens to these bikes? 
A few years ago a team mate’s bike was stolen, next day it was advertised and my team mates set up a meet and got the bike back. 
I really would like to know what happens, this retrieval was the exception. 
not interested in insurance chat now