BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

where abouts in l-ville?

From out of the yard at the corner of 43rd and Foster.

good for you!

huh?

@erok: My thought exactly.

hahaha... i totally misread this... i'm an idiot.

i've been having a really good day today, and for some reason when i read this i thought that that meant that the bike was found there, i will keep an eye out... the reason i asked is a found a neighborhood kid climbing over the fence in my back yard the other day... i went out and talked to him, but i honestly believed that he wasn't out to steal bikes... we have lots of bikes in our back yard. i'm on 49th though so it probably wasn't related

Was the bike locked up in the yard? If so, what sort of lock?

Uhhh - I saw a kid yesterday on the corner of 47th and Hatfield on a blue and white (or silver?) bike that had a silver rack on the back. Sorry I hadn't seen this first; it may be yours. I'll keep an eye out - I'm fairly sure this kid lives right around there.

Naw, netviln, that's where I obviously screwed up. I didn't lock it up in the yard. I was in a yard that was fenced off with a closed gate and just in the house with my mother, father and sister. It was mid-day and cold and it didn't seem like there was anybody around. In retrospect: would've, should've, could've.

Yeah.. I had two bikes stolen out of my back yard a few years ago. Didnt have them locked..

That's a bummer, netviln. Knowing that I'm far from alone in experiencing this is helping me to keep from getting uselessly pissed about it. So thanks for your input.

In case anybody on here hasn't figured it out already, I've made a picture of my bike's model my avatar...Hopefully, this will help anyone who might spot the thief on my bike to better identify the stolen goods.

i feel like most stolen bikes in this town are due to people leaving them out- on their porch, backyard, garage, etc. since locked bikes dont get stolen that often, i think there's a false sense of security and people often do that.

That's true, my bike was taken last night, I got distracted and just left the bike sitting outside, no surprise it was taken. So if anybody sees a red frame with a neon green 26" rim on the back and a 20" Scwalbe on the front, that would be mine. I'm having trouble imagining what the thief is going to do with it because it's such a distinct bike. I'm bummed, but I did leave it sitting out all night, unlocked, on Butler st. Duh

Well, timito, If I see yours, I'll pass it on...If you could do the same, that would be great. (I get the impression that most people who have owned bikes have had one stolen at some point. Any statistics on this kind of thing?) Seems like there should be some kind of Bike Pittsburgh version of block watch or something.

that would be the messageboard. bikes have been recovered using this thing

I lock my bikes when they are out of sight. This includes in my house, let alone leaving them outside. I lock them to the top of my car when I'm traveling as well, and not with those wimpy fork mount lock cores either. I've not had a bike stolen here or anywhere else around the country that I've traveled with them.

Not saying it won't happen to me, but taking some precautions has paid off so far.

I've still yet to hear a credible story of a ulock being breached in Pittsburgh.

Point taken, Erok. I'm encouraged so far.

part of the reason that i messed up up there is that most of the time when i hear of a bike recovered in pgh its just sitting in an alley or a front lawn somewhere... if i were both of you i'd take to the streets and alleys of lawrenceville and give them a good look...

this thread has caused me to rethink my bikes on the backporch scenario.

I'd have to imagine, Mark, that the kid you spoke to might well know the kid who stole mine, though...particuarly when you consider what mdabkowski observed above. I'm now of the strong impression that the kid who stole my bike lives on that stretch of Hatfield Street, so it probably makes sense to be careful with your bikes there.

There is a somewhat organized gang of bike thieves up on Carnegie near my house, they stole my friends bike, it was seen in the yard by a neighbor along with a pile of other bikes. My friend posted a flier about his bike. It's my beleive the thieves saw the flier because then, poof, bikes gone. I'll be ziggin and zaggin down all the alleys today and tommorow and the next day, I'd be kinda surprised if I didn't find at least one of our bikes, you can spot mine from a half mile.

Well, you just talked me out of posting flyers, then, Timito. Good luck in your search...

I just met and talked with a cop about this...anybody have any feedbck on how useful the police are in a situation like this?

I would definitely report the theft to the police if only for data purposes. They need to know what crimes are happening. When my bike was stolen (unlocked on porch) I can't say I really got the impression that he was going to spread the word to make sure everyone was looking out for my bike, but he'd make a minimal effort.

I think tabby got it spot on. they have bigger things to deal with, but the data collection is good

Works for a claim against insurance too if necessary.

Yeah, I expected to just file it just make sure that it's recorded as stolen, with the police having a record of the serial number. I wasn't expecting them to send an officer out. Once they did, I felt like I had to catch him up on progress I was making anyway. Obviously, they have more important issues to chase. But we'll see.

is trying to figure out if he should keep notifying the cops every time his stolen bike is sighted, or if that's overkill, which is my sense of it. Thoughts, anyone?

I dont think its necessary. Unless you actually find it and are standing beside it.

Works for a claim against insurance too if necessary.

Some insurance companies won't even let you make a claim if you don't have a police report.

Dude,

come get your bike.

1-412-616-2059

as the prophet doth sayeth:

good for you!

I can take back my last question about the police....since timito was good enough to confront the kid on the bike when he found him with him in the Sunoco parking lot at Butler and Stanton. The kid gave in and gave it to him, and I have it back now. I'm truly grateful to Timito and everyone else on this message board who helped me through this, particularly mdabkowski and Erok. Here's hoping Timito gets his bike back, given my experience, I'll definitely be looking for it.

Magic happens 'round these parts.

i love happy endings.

Wow! Well done, Timito!

I almost had to fight a thirteen year old, I think he would have won.

Fucking awesome. I signed on the other to say "Sorry dude, been looking, no sightings" and instead saw this. Nice job, Timito

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.