Channel 4 Documentary - Bike Theft

OctoberF · Oct 1, 2009

Hi all,

I'm working on a television documentary about cycle theft. I'd like your input, just for research purposes at first.

If anyone would like to share their thoughts, they should PM me or post on this thread.

Have you had your bike stolen and gone to extremes to retrieve it? What was the response if you reported it?
Are there local hotspots I should be looking at? Obviously looking at Brick Lane & surrounding, also Bristol, Edinburgh, Oxford, but more specific would be great.
Are there characters in the trade I should be aware of?
What are some of the tactics employed by thieves to steal even the most secured bike?

I look forward to your responses.
Thanks,
Cat

JeRkY · Oct 1, 2009

If your looking at bricklane then the characters in the trade will already be known to you. Dodgy stand operated by the elderly orientals. Pretty sure I saw the stripped down handlebars off of my Ribble road bike on sale on that stand.

As a cyclist, I find the whole place leaves me with an ill feeling.

cchris2lou · Oct 1, 2009

Bristol seems to be a hot spot , there is a dedicated web site for stolen bikes .

stew-b · Oct 1, 2009

OctoberF":2uynfc8f said:
What are some of the tactics employed by thieves to steal even the most secured bike?

ok so a brand new user logs on and asks you guys how to steal a bike and this doesnt ring any alarm bells???? :shock: :shock: :shock:
you may indeed be researching a documentry but i dont think this is going to be very productive!

barry2017 · Oct 1, 2009

You can find out how to steal a bike anywhere. Not exactly a trade secret.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC3hFr8p ... re=related

Bear in mind these are motorbike locks, so generally stronger than bike locks.

I know you said you wanted specific locations, but every town has theft hotspots! Generally, outside cinemas (because the thieves know how long you'll be gone) and train stations. Same with leisure centres, some of them are tantamount to throwing your bike off a cliff.

The sad thing about bike security is the best you can do is make it look like it would be easier to steal the bike that is parked next to yours.

jonnyboy666 · Oct 1, 2009

luckily haven't had anything stolen in ages but as for a response when reporting, the police have better things to do, they give you a form to fill out and that is pretty much the end of their involvement. if you do get it back it is more often luck.

also i found out that it is possible to sell stolen bikes on ebay etc quite easily, having asked the police about it, a customer had an orange 5 cutom build done, about £2750, about 6 months later it was stolen from his car, his insurance paid out and he came a got another bike sorted, a while after that his original bike turned up in a shop 5 miles away, i knew the owner, he'd asked me to sort some technical issue with the bike, i recognised it straight away, i said he should inform the police, when i asked the police what the score was they said that the new owner had "bought it in good faith" from ebay and therefore was the legal owner, and because the original owner had a new bike then it would at most been owned by the insurance company who wouldn't want anything to do with it.

it's like saying that it is ok to steal stuff as long as the person you are stealing from is insured.

insurance wise, if you have it, they force you into having a load of crap from their own designated dealer because they are scared you are being fraudulent yourself. this is affecting the independant dealers by taking away sales that they should get locally.

have dealt with loads of it over the last few years until i finally left the bike trade last year.

bike theft probably accounts for a lot of new bikes being sold so some would argue it helps new bike sales.

getting the new bike doesn't stop it being frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking though. i was gutted when one of my bikes was stolen a few years ago.

jonnyboy666 · Oct 1, 2009

just saw stu's post, fair point really.

Cool Mint · Oct 3, 2009

jonnyboy666":dum0eh9a said:
luckily haven't had anything stolen in ages but as for a response when reporting, the police have better things to do, they give you a form to fill out and that is pretty much the end of their involvement. if you do get it back it is more often luck.

also i found out that it is possible to sell stolen bikes on ebay etc quite easily, having asked the police about it, a customer had an orange 5 cutom build done, about £2750, about 6 months later it was stolen from his car, his insurance paid out and he came a got another bike sorted, a while after that his original bike turned up in a shop 5 miles away, i knew the owner, he'd asked me to sort some technical issue with the bike, i recognised it straight away, i said he should inform the police, when i asked the police what the score was they said that the new owner had "bought it in good faith" from ebay and therefore was the legal owner, and because the original owner had a new bike then it would at most been owned by the insurance company who wouldn't want anything to do with it.

it's like saying that it is ok to steal stuff as long as the person you are stealing from is insured.

insurance wise, if you have it, they force you into having a load of crap from their own designated dealer because they are scared you are being fraudulent yourself. this is affecting the independant dealers by taking away sales that they should get locally.

have dealt with loads of it over the last few years until i finally left the bike trade last year.

bike theft probably accounts for a lot of new bikes being sold so some would argue it helps new bike sales.

getting the new bike doesn't stop it being frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking though. i was gutted when one of my bikes was stolen a few years ago.

I should be surprised but it's a fact that the police have virtually no interest in recovering bicycles or dealing with bicycle theft; if it doesn't have an engine it's a waste of their time. A car worth £500 will get more attention than a bicycle worth £5000.

OctoberF · Oct 6, 2009

Just a quick note to alay any fears of this kind.

I am towards the start of this project and the point of the thread was to go in broad and call out for helpful people to come forward and share some info. The process obviously becomes narrower as it goes on. These forums are an invaluable resource to get the word out, and work alongside all the traditional tools of journalism and documentary research.

For a bit of background info. I'm a producer with October Films, one of the UK's most respected and well-established documentary production companies. A little more information can be found here www.octoberfilms.co.uk

Channel 4 Documentary - Bike Theft

OctoberF

Retro Newbie

JeRkY

cchris2lou

stew-b

Senior Retro Guru

barry2017

Old School Grand Master

jonnyboy666

jonnyboy666

Cool Mint

Dirt Disciple

OctoberF

Retro Newbie

Similar threads

Latest posts