Stolen Handlebars

Are bikes getting stripped for parts more frequently?

I locked my bike - front and rear wheel through frameset - in front of the store where I work in Evanston.

A Fuji Cyclocross comp with shimano 105 sti shifters and extra top bar cross brake levers.

Worked my eight hour shift, came out at 11:00PM to ride home to discover all the cables snipped  my handlebars, shifters, brake levers and headset missing.

I had my Biachi Axis Cross stolen two years ago and this felt just as bad.

It will cost me a third of the bike's original cost -bought it on end of season sale- to replace the parts.

I'm hurt and furious at the same time. If I see someone messing with a locked bike in the next few weeks, someone's going the hospital.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on August 24, 2013 at 12:43am

Ah, that sucks.  Did you report it to the police? I think bike and bike parts theft is clearly on the rise. I don't think it's on the radar screens of most police departments yet.

Permalink Reply by John C. Wilson on August 24, 2013 at 2:31am

Those sti shifters are worth some money. Stems with faceplates make it much easier to strip a bike. Aheadset stems and head bearings make it somewhat easier to strip a bike.

It is really really hard to sell a bike at anywhere near it's value. Customers are picky to an extreme. Thieves do not want to sit on a stolen bike for months and respond to unending texts, emails, phone calls. Parts are much easier to sell and less identifiable as stolen goods. The parts may sell for a lot more than the bike would have. Often enough stolen bikes are just given away to neighborhood kids or abandoned. Parts the thief can just put to the side to sell when he has some time. Unfortunately thieves are figuring this out.

Permalink Reply by Thedutchtouch on August 26, 2013 at 10:12am
That sucks. I saw a bike on my block with only the stem stolen, handlebars dangling from the cables. Seemed odd to only steal that part.
Permalink Reply by Yolondra Yarborough on August 26, 2013 at 11:58am

My Girlfriend had a handlebars, break levers, and cables stolen about a month ago down the street from her job in the west loop. I think it's a thing this summer.

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