A few weeks ago my mom gave me a cannondale that she picked up and stole the wheels off of. I was gonna offer it to my wife but rent is due and Chris needed a bike to go on a tour with his buddies this weekend. Unfortunately when he locked up his bike at Paragon in Union square he was probably followed by the 5P3C14L1Z3D gang or some other pro thief caught the flare riding through grammercy. Chris thought going in for 5 minutes to grab a last-minute necessity he could get away with a cheap Kryptkeeper chain. Sadly the stalker on a 5P3C14L1Z3D or whatever sized up the chain and knew exactly how to defeat it. Knowing that the rider on the hot cannondale would enter the store and almost surely be gone for enough time to snatch the bike and be off; the fiend was able to have confidence to swiftly swipe his Canyonsnail. Most bike thieves stalk their prey. I am not saying that a person should be paranoid and check out all the other cyclists suspiciously instead of paying attention to traffic. Cars are deadly, buss es and trucks?What I am saying is if you have a sexy whip and are going to Manhattan below 86th street, you need the $100 Krypto NY lock chain or a Fahgettaboutit U'lock and mini for the rear wheel.
When my bike was stolen as when Jacks bike was stolen, it was seen again. The key is to keep the bike. We need to start a phone tree of people who can get the word out and post the photos on a blog or something so that these bikes can be RECOVERED! Follow the bike to the place where the rider locks it and when they enter their destination you lock it with your heavy chain. Photo the bike and call the gang up who will mobilize the recovery force.
Record your bike serial number in your phone and another place you will not forget.
Photograph your bike with you.
Have a bike shop give you a receipt for your bike with the serial number.
Talk about your bike with your friends so they get to know it (don't bore people to tears though)
Care for your bike so that if it is recovered it is more likely in better condition than being ruined because only you know how to ride it and the thief or moron who bought it from the thief who do not know your bike ruin something on your love, your ride.
Bike theft remains out of control in the city and this is truly the lowest form of thievery. Bikes usually belong to people who cannot really afford to replace their bike and pay rent at the same time. I know these are harsh times and car theft is so pasé these days. But bike chop shops are getting closed down or so goes the gossip around the chain vine. Can anyone tell me what happened to that bike shop on Albany? I am too mad to go back and check if the rumors that they were shut down are true or not.
Keep your eyes peeled and call us if you see the cannondale in the photo. Has a dent in the middle of the drive side seat stay and a full RSX gruppo with a new Alex rim on the back and a nondescript cassette freehub and a suntour front hub laced to a late 80s Black anodized Araya rim with 32 spokes and a kenda front tire that had some vulcanzing fluid on the sidewalls to bolster them for the tour. The rear tire was a Vittoria 700X28. The rack Chris painstakingly custom installed was an AXIOM streamliner.
Safe cycling, together we can take a bite out of bike theft...
