Theft from bike shed Underhill Road

[JDR]

Hi

Just a warning that our locked bike shed was bust last night and one bike stolen. 2 others were lined up but not taken as my husband was up early to go for a bike ride.... My brand new birthday present!

Reported to the police but please be aware

[northernmonkey]

Thats so annoying am sorry to hear that.

The Stolen bikes in London facebook page recommends the following if not already done:

1. Log it on findthatbike.co.uk and on bikeregister.com Mark as stolen and include the frame number if you know it.

2. Tweet and Instagram post with @stolenride

3. Set up alerts on findthatbike which covers gumtree, ebay and Preloved, then set up separate alerts on shpock.

4. You can also see bikes for sale in London area on bikeshd.co.uk

5. Report it to the police via 101 crime form online. Let them know if you see it for sale, arrange to buy it then ask them to come with you to recover it. They don't always have the resources, but sometimes they do this. Good luck!

In terms of bike shed security - its difficult because the advantage of having them accessible to use also means that they are accessible to steal, and more secure sheds might indicate more valuable bikes, but adding additional security like a ground anchor and locking the bikes with a motorcycle chain when inside the shed might help to make them less easy to take?

[jimbo1964]

Sorry to hear this. I had some stolen this year and know the feeling too well.

Could you tell us what sort of bike shed it is? I'm thinking about getting one but not 100% convinced of their security.

Are your bikes insured?

[bobbsy]

Hello, also very sorry to hear.

Could you say if the shed was in the front yard or the back yard?

[JDR]

Thanks for replies - had gone to work so not seen them. I didn?t really deal with it as was getting showered as heading to work so need to find out more from my husband. It?s a wooden one with sliding doors at the front. Sounds like they hit a few places so lock them up tighter I guess. Upsetting but no one hurt- I work in NHS so work has given me some perspective!

[jimbo1964]

Hopefully the thieves will need a bit of NHS treatment at some point.

[peckhamside]

I think the steel sheds from ASGARD are a better bet. They are not cheap but saves hassle of theft. Screwfix used to do one at a substantial reduction but not last time I looked but worth checking.

Also I advise registering your bikes on bike register-which is free and you can upload a photo. This increases chance of getting them back. Also any potential purchaser can check if bike listed to vendor!!

[jimbo1964]

Make sure all bikes are insured. In my experience the chances of getting one back Is pretty slim.

[malumbu]

I was trying to get the Met Police/TfL bike lot but they seemed to have disappeared

Here's general advice from Met about bike theft.

They may well be non Gumtree which is very lax as far as I am concerned. I'd big up eBay but they own Gumtree.....

[jimbo1964]

My bike was for sale on Shpock. The police did bugger-all except provide a crime number.

[mlteenie]

Horrible and exasperating. Sorry about that.

Care to share the seller's name on shpock?

[jimbo1964]

It was a fake identity so they probably change accounts regularly. The police took a lot of convincing I knew it was 100% my bike. Right colour, special edition Brompton and I'd changed the saddle and grips. Shpock keep the seller identity secret so the police said they put a crime request in to them (never heard back with a result of this). I also contacted Shpock as a matter of urgency. Someone replied a few months later but I was so fed up by lack of action by anyone I'd given up. My home insurance paid out very quickly.

[Sue]

jimbo1964 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It was a fake identity so they probably change

> accounts regularly. The police took a lot of

> convincing I knew it was 100% my bike. Right

> colour, special edition Brompton and I'd changed

> the saddle and grips. Shpock keep the seller

> identity secret so the police said they put a

> crime request in to them (never heard back with a

> result of this). I also contacted Shpock as a

> matter of urgency. Someone replied a few months

> later but I was so fed up by lack of action by

> anyone I'd given up. My home insurance paid out

> very quickly.

You could have tried to buy the bike (though not sure how safe that would be).

Taken a lot of large threatening looking people with you when you went to collect it?

I'm only half joking .....

[jimbo1964]

I'd have gone with the police. But they were too concerned about accusing someone of stealing. They couldn't seem to comprehend I'd recognise my own bike. It was at the height of lockdown too and I think the police were already swamped.

[ianr]

Did you know the bike's frame number? A match on that would have scuppered any doubts.

[jimbo1964]

Yes. But the onus was all on me to contact the seller, pretend to buy it and hope that then the police would come with me. By then the insurance had paid out so not really worth taking the risk.

[cameronhenderson]

Hi there,

My name's Cam and I'm a student journalist writing an article about Bike theft in Southwark. I was wondering if I might be able to speak to you about your experience and the response of the police? I sent off an FOI request on this and found out that not a single bike stolen in Southwark last year was returned to its owners (including those registered with BikeRegister)! Please let me know if you would be happy to talk. Thanks, C

[cameronhenderson]

Hi there,

I just thought I'd tag you as well if you are interested in talking to me about nike theft in Southwark. I'm a student journalist based in Dulwich and I'm writing a story on the subject. My number is 07948876592. Please let me know if you are interested.

Thanks

[malumbu]

We had a nice kids bike nicked a few years ago, having briefly left it on the street outside. It was naughty teenagers, who ended up throwing it through a garden hedge a few streets away following an altercation with some locals. I put up a poster and low and behold some kind person contacted me to tell me about the fate of the bike. When I went to pick it up at the cop shop found that the police had recorded it as the wrong colour. Not a scientific study but a good/bad example of why bikes may not be reunited with their owners. None of my adult bikes have ever been reunited with me. There was a thread ten years ago about my last theft, that ended up the same evening on Gumtree, but the police were not resourced to take action. Very frustrating. Do you want to hear more? It was taken from Northumberland Avenue, they cropped the lock, back of a van, onto Gumtree. Very difficult to get anyone to share CCTV.