I just found my stolen bike on craigslist!!!
Thread started by
andorkappen at 05.10.09 - 4:18 pm
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/bik/1163672053.html
It's now converted to a fixie of course...
But it's guaranteed my self-painted grey frame and wheelset!!!
What can I do???
Help a dude out!
Should I try to go down to Long Beach and take it back with a posse?
Any ideas?
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i found a posting about the same bike 2 weeks ago (that time no pic), but the seller wouldn't contact me back...
dunno what i can possibly do.
that's my RiDE though...
If anyone from nearby long beach is willing to contact the seller and get his address, i'm willing to pay you some money..
andorkappen05.10.09 - 4:26 pm
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Do you have any way to prove that it's yours? Like, the serial number? Or something specific about it? (I've heard of people hiding something in the seat tube.) Because then maybe you can call the police for assistance in getting it back?
Good luck!
HappyLand05.10.09 - 4:28 pm
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well, i don't have the serial number...
there IS a police report.
it's a red 2007 specialized that i first painted red then painted again grey.
all the decals have been removed from the rims - by me.
they swithched out the dropbars, switched out the crank, my red pedals, etc
now it's your token converted STOLEN fixie - like many of them on the road nowadays...
andorkappen05.10.09 - 4:36 pm
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If there's a police report then I would call and tell them you found it. Could help get rid of these bike thieves!
HappyLand05.10.09 - 4:41 pm
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contact craigslist to get his real e-mail or ip. report that ip/e-mail to the police, and get your bike back.
or report to the police first, and show them the ad. i don't think craigslist can give that info out to the public.
quanmunist05.10.09 - 5:15 pm
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just found his e-mail.
e-mail me if you want me to give it to you.
my e-mail is: quanmunist@gmail.com
quanmunist05.10.09 - 5:35 pm
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I would agree to call the cops. Do you have any pics with those exact components on the bike? What kind of evidence can you show the cops?
Get your shit back man, and hang the bike thieves by thier own Vas deferens.
Take this as a lesson to the MR community, WRITE DOWN YOUR SERIAL NUMBERS. If your bike doesn't have any serial #s, then get it etched on the bottom bracket shell with your ID# and name.
TheDude05.10.09 - 5:36 pm
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GO DOWN THERE WITH a friend then ask the guy if you can take it for a test ride and when you do take off with it lol and meet up with your friend after
hurry b4 someone else gets to it first
Dean453705.10.09 - 5:37 pm
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I emailed the guy. this the response I got
"stevo62@charter.net"
It is a single speed about 56cm. It is still avail. A lot of interest,
Steve
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
sexy05.10.09 - 9:41 pm
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I hope you get your bike back. I fucking hate this shit! Get the cops in on this because lawd knows how many other bikes this guy's got.
HappyLand05.10.09 - 9:48 pm
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guys, unbelievably,
IT's NOT MY BIKE.
...at least not the frame.
The wheelset though is suspiciously identical to my old ones.
Me and 3 of my roommates drove down to long beach to confront the dude and take the bike back,
and -fuckin A- IT's an older model year Specialized Sirrus frame, with the original painted Specialized logos still in tact (faded enough not to show on the provided picture!)
AND the guy was nice.
i now feel like a moron, we almost went in there an forcefully jacked the bike.
Strange times...
so now i'm just gonna try to go back and just buy it tomorrow, 'cuz it's actually a really great single speed bike!
wow.
wow.
wow.
I'm monkey's uncle, now OFFICIALLY.
andorkappen05.10.09 - 10:08 pm
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Fate works in mysterious ways.
Pay it forward.
HappyLand05.10.09 - 10:11 pm
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HappyLand
from everything I have read that you posted, you sound like a really awesome person. I have to ask, and i choose to ask in a snide way.
What the hell do you mean "Pay it forward" pay what forward?
I guy just thought somebody had his bike and got excited. He didn't get anything to pay forward. He just realized he made a mistake and found a bike he might possibly want
sexy05.10.09 - 10:24 pm
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no really, i'm really weirded out by the whole thing.
totally.
a truly epiphanic experience!
...
i'll post it if i get to buy it tomorrow...
i had to ask my mother on mothers day to lend me some money for it, cuz i don't have it!
(i bet the dude got a bit sketched out 'cuz i was all nervous and i was extensively checking out the frame and scraping it to see if the paint would come off and expose the original layer.)
phew..
andorkappen05.10.09 - 10:51 pm
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and you showed up with 3 of your friends. rofl
quanmunist05.11.09 - 1:38 am
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Oh I just meant to pay his good luck forward. I love the whole story...boy loses bike, boy thinks he finds stolen bike, boy finds out bike is not his stolen bike, boy falls in love with new bike.
When good things happen to me, I try to remember to "pay it forward"...give a friend a ride, donate some bike parts, you know. Instead of "paying it back."
That's all I meant, just passing on the good energy...so that eventually the good energy comes back to you.
Apologies if it came out wrong.
HappyLand05.11.09 - 8:26 am
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I think there was a little luck involved...mystical forces at work...magic.
Overactive imagination and all that.
Have we met in person yet, sexy ?
HappyLand05.11.09 - 8:31 am
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I'm just waiting for the story where some victim goes to this sellers house and claims that the bike is his, then beats the crap out of the seller. Then the police come and the seller produces his bill of sales complete with the serial number.
You guys rolling with your cable locks keeps my hopes alive. :-)
User105.11.09 - 6:39 pm
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btw it didn't occur to you that if you had the sellers phone number, email address, house address, and probably his name, this was not a stolen bike?
OK I'll give you the Belmont Shores part, cause you probably didn't know that it's some of the ritziest parts of LB. I could have told you were barking up the wrong tree. I'm not sure if Belmont Shore ever produced a thief. A rapist, yes, a thief, I'd have to research that.
User105.11.09 - 6:45 pm
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I don't know, User1, thieves and rapists can come from anywhere! They come in all shapes and sizes!
Like me, for instance.
One wouldn't suspect that I am a dirty pervert.
....
; }
HappyLand05.11.09 - 7:05 pm
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Oh I could see it in your profile Happyland.
You ain't foolin me!!!!
User105.11.09 - 7:52 pm
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funny this isnt the first time a mob was ready to pounce.... ha yeah, something tells me thieves are too smart to put stolen bikes on craigslist but you never know I suppose...
Roadblock05.11.09 - 8:43 pm
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If it's your bike for sure,
Just go take it back, is the bike thief going to call the cops ?
doubtfull !
My experiences with recoving stolen bikes the police are a total waist of time. Bike theft is usually handled by the juvinile div.
and givin a low priority.
Don't kick there ass, it then becomes a assault and battery.
Dedicated81805.12.09 - 9:53 am
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-so yesterday i bought the bike i thought was my stolen bike, but it's not.
-$350 (!!!), the best bike by far i've ever even hopped on.
-i'm stoked.
-i'm still finding it sketchy that he only charged 350.
-i still think the wheelset is my old wheelset.
-the guy admitted that it was a put-together bike from random parts that he couldn't account for the origins of...
-i'm riding down to echo park cycles right now and get a new fucking u-lock.
-i'm going to crank mob after all.
-i'm so fucking glad i didn't call the pops on the guy.
-i'm so fucking glad i didn't steal it and/or beat him up
-me & my mates could be in jail right now.
-nice day out, hit the streets...
-(S)andorkappen
andorkappen05.12.09 - 2:21 pm
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Happy endings always bring a tear to my eye.
:* }
HappyLand05.12.09 - 4:12 pm
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anyone lose these bikes?
http://cgi.ebay.com/lot-of-road-bikes_W0QQitemZ230341809000QQihZ013QQcategoryZ98084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
turdfurguson05.12.09 - 4:16 pm
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