Left my bike locked up at a rack on a road for pedestrian and commercial vehicles. Two hours later and I return to find that the bike has been flipped over the rack and both wheels are warped. Police have been unhelpful, saying for myself to request CCTV footage and that they won’t investigate as no one person had been injured.
I’m so pissed, had this bike for one month now, its been a dream to ride, and some fuck probably in a commercial vehicle didn’t care to check mirrors while parking, then drove off without leaving any detail.
The bike repairshop are saying the bike frame has a 5mm misalignment, both wheels will need replacing…
That’s just aweful, friend, I’m so sorry.
Sometimes life throws us curveballs. No point getting upset cuz you will just suffer. Let solid objects pass right through you; mind over matter. I’m sorry for what you are experiencing. The magick of the mind is that the suffering goes when you let go of it and let it be. Emptiness follows, and from the still waters of consciousness comes clarity and what is best in the present situation. Hope it resolves well for you.
Much sympathy for you. People suck.
Is that a Mavic A719 rim in the rear? Those things tend to be indestructible.
Was gonna say that only the wheels look dead but if the frame is bent, given it appears to be aluminum… yeah.
They have to at least take a property damage report. If they refuse go and complain.
Hahaha. The police don’t have to do anything. Literally. They don’t.
That very much depends on where you live.
That’s awful, I feel for you. Where I live the police don’t care about stolens bikes. Similarly, my old 1989 Ford car got stolen and they didn’t seem to care about that either, until it was abandoned out the front of some house blocking their driveway. Then I had to pay the impound to get it back.
That’s rough, dude; my sympathies. You’re definitely not alone though: Recently, both wheels were stolen from my bike and since there were no cameras or witnesses, the chance of police finding the perpetrator(s) is slim to none. Worth of the stolen parts is ~150 €, cost to replace them around ~400 €…
I’ve had a couple front wheels stolen, but the back wheel should basically never get taken if locked properly. Here’s a little graphic to help. You want to lock the most valuable parts and that’s the frame and back wheel. When the lock goes through that triangle on the frame through just the wheel both are secured.
I’ve always prioritized locking the front and frame to the rack. Since I figure it’s harder and more obvious to remove the back wheel
I dont think thats a bad option. I’ve done that when I had a quick release on the front, but sometimes, especially with a smaller u lock, its hard to get both the frame and any wheel secured together, so I’ll do just the back wheel between that triangle in the frame.
they won’t investigate as no one person had been injured.
Fwiw, this is the same response I got when my car was stolen. They insisted I had to goto the station to file a report, but couldn’t say how I was supposed to get there …… and they used that to mail me a ticket weeks later for “abandoning” my stripped car in a bad neighborhood…… including already a week of “storage”
I’m sorry to suggest this too late, but this is why I paid for bike insurance through my lock.
You basically share with them some evidence the bike was locked when a theft occurred, like a police report or picture of discarded lock. That said, I don’t know whether they cover vandalism.
And yes, it’s many orders of magnitude cheaper than car insurance.
LOL. Until my latest bike, which is an e bike,I never spent more than $30 for a bike. No way I’m buying insurance.
This is what stops me from using my bikes for everyday transportation. I love my bikes. I wish I could do everyday things on them, but they are so vulnerable. Even if I bought a shitty bike, it would be impossible for me not to end up putting time into it fixing it up and making it cool and I would fall in love with that bike too. If I lock my bike up somewhere there is a good chance someone will steal parts off of it or fuck it up :(.
If you love tinkering with your bike, let me introduce you to the well-known German concept of “borutizing” your bike!
This advanced concept might cover both your need for personalization and substantially increase inbuild theft protection!
Link to site (naturally original only available in German, use your preferred translator to get most out of it):
https://borumat.de/fahrrad-diebstahlschutzusing my bikes
You have several?
yes, and being able to use them for everyday tasks like going to brunch, groceries, bar, etc is exactly why I have multiple, including ones I wouldn’t be too upset about losing
8, lol
hardtail mtb, full suspension mtb, gravel bike, plus tire bikepacking bike, bmx dirt jumper, polo bike, old polo bike, random 27" vintage bike.
It’s only considered that you got a bike problem when you hit 10.
Well, I guess, it’s like a drug
Who doesn’t, as the optimal number of bikes is officially recognized as being “n+1”?
;-)You don’t?
N+1 my friend, N+1.
Folding bikes ftw!
Now imagine your car being obliterated in a similar way and the Police saying “Nah, we won’t investigate that…”
And bike frame 5mm bend basically is a 100% economic damage if it is made of aluminium or has carbon fiber components.
In my area of the US at least, that is basically how it goes even for cars. If it was a hit and run and you weren’t in the car they’re just like “well good luck wkth the insurance company bro that really sucks”
Wow, didn’t know that.
In Germany, where I come from, “Unfallflucht” (“fleeing an accident”) is a criminal offense, and for criminal offenses the police has to investigate by law.
And it’s also no joke, the penalties are potentially severe.Basically this also applies to damaging a parked bike with your car, only the final penalty for the offender might be lower, depending on amount of damage, but it would still be a criminal offense (as opposed to a purely civil matter).
Wouldn’t have expected the US to be that different, especially given the grim no-joke-reputation the US police forces have…
It’s also a crime anywhere in the US. Whether the police will do much to investigate beyond typing up a report probably depends on how easy it is for them to solve, whether you matter, etc.
depends on […] whether you matter
My original point exactly.
*insert Peter Griffin traffic control meme here, but with a car vs. a bike instead of light vs. dark skin color*
Police here don’t give a fuck about your car or your bike or your dog or anything else, unless they would get in trouble by doing nothing about it.
they should actually file a report but you may have to press them to do it.
My poor '98 Honda civic’s front bumper was literally ripped off in a mall parking garage - someone backed into it, then must have hooked something, and floored it. The police said they couldn’t do anything because it’s private property, and the mall said they didn’t have any security footage because, “we don’t film the garages - it would be a liability”. I’m in the Midwest of the US.
Why do you expect wealthy people to get better treatment??
Uhh, experience watching it happen?
Money talks.
Why do you expect wealthy people to get better treatment??
Not wealthy people.
Car people.You know, real traffic participants!
/sNot considering bikes part of normal traffic and also as being so low cost as to being not worth to bother is still a mindset surprisingly common, especially in the older parts of population.
And regarding the poor/wealthy distinction:
Where I live, it is by now often the other way round:
The poor drive car, because they have to, while the more wealthy ride bikes, because they have the opportunity to do so.Those aren’t poor people, unless that car is also their home. Poor people cannot afford to drive. When the crunch hits, the first thing you do is get rid of your car.
Highly depends on where you live, as “poor” is defined relative to the money the median person in your specific environment earns.
Here in Germany, a single person with net earning of less than ~1800€ per month is considered officially poor, while for a family of 4, the limit would be ~4200€.
(and keep in mind that’s for Germany, where stuff like health insurance and basic social insurance is already included).The jobs in this pay region are much more likely to depend on owning a car, partly because of work hours, but also because low income jobs are more likely to be in rural areas.
Whereas higher income jobs offer e.g. flexible work hours, home office and funnily enough, often fewer work hours (as these jobs often are union controlled), making it much easier for the employees to use bikes as their main mode of transportation.
So the mentioned inversion of poor and wealthy regarding the mode of transportation is probably only a thing in developed countries with general higher standards of living.
Nah, this is nonsense.
I don’t/can’t even ride a bike and this made me sad when it popped up in All. Is there such a thing as bicycle insurance, like auto insurance? It seems like it would be expensive but so is having to just accept that your bicycle could be a total loss at any moment, and having a big organization to push for better policing of malicious damage and the creation of bike-safe streets would be helpful. I guess I’m seeing a League of American Bicyclists but how about some kind of insurance co-op with a monthly fee that pays out (at least a portion) in a case like yours?
It’s usually added onto house insurance in the UK - they cover stuff happening at home by default, then you have to pay extra to cover accidents or theft from somewhere other than your house.
That Salvador Dali shit in the lower photo is just heartbreaking.
Is it worth repairing or are you looking at a new bike? In either case, a gofundme might help. I know as a long-time bike commuter, I would chip in for someone in your situation.
Damn, I’m sorry this happened to you.
This kind of bullshit is why I started using folding bikes and bringing them inside with me (either a Priority Folder or w Ride1up Portola). Once I get to work, they just come in with me and fold up under my desk.
What city?
Exeter
