Does anyone have a bigass oven? I want to stop theft.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 18, 2013 at 4:54pm

Your neighbor is only one of many scrapers out there.  I have seen bikes worth way more than scrap value that would have gone to the crusher had people not chased down the scrapper. 

h' 1.0 said:

Read again, Doug. See "quality." I know what Working Bikes was getting for $5 from the scrappers and I don't think it's in the same universe from what was stolen from Christine here (although it looks like we'll never know excatly what her bike was beyond "hybrid.")

I don't really need to go looking for anyone to ask, anyways-- one of my tenants is a Junkero an I've watched first hand for 7 years how items with value in excess of scrap value get sold through other channels.

notoriousDUG said:

Untrue.  Ask the people who used to buy bikes off scrappers at the scrap yard about the bikes they have scored.  Scrappers see bikes, and most stuff they find, as nothing but metal.

h' 1.0 said:

Scrappers make their living off of knowing exactly what things are worth. They're not going to scrap a quality bike for the value of the metal.

Michael A said:

A lot of bikes are sold for scrap, the scrap yard does not care who's name is welded on it

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 18, 2013 at 5:07pm

Are you saying you think it's likely that Christine's bike was sold for scrap metal?

How do you know where that truck was going? They chased it down as it was pulling into the scrapyard?

Sounds like you've got some entertaining and possibly enlightening stories of people chasing down scrapper trucks-- wonder why we've never heard them.

notoriousDUG said:

Your neighbor is only one of many scrapers out there.  I have seen bikes worth way more than scrap value that would have gone to the crusher had people not chased down the scrapper. 

h' 1.0 said:

Read again, Doug. See "quality." I know what Working Bikes was getting for $5 from the scrappers and I don't think it's in the same universe from what was stolen from Christine here (although it looks like we'll never know excatly what her bike was beyond "hybrid.")

I don't really need to go looking for anyone to ask, anyways-- one of my tenants is a Junkero an I've watched first hand for 7 years how items with value in excess of scrap value get sold through other channels.

notoriousDUG said:

Untrue.  Ask the people who used to buy bikes off scrappers at the scrap yard about the bikes they have scored.  Scrappers see bikes, and most stuff they find, as nothing but metal.

h' 1.0 said:

Scrappers make their living off of knowing exactly what things are worth. They're not going to scrap a quality bike for the value of the metal.

Michael A said:

A lot of bikes are sold for scrap, the scrap yard does not care who's name is welded on it

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Permalink Reply by S on July 18, 2013 at 6:45pm

What does that indicate really?  Maybe people in other cities don't bother checking bikes against the chicago registry?  Given the low number of recoveries in general, I don't think this really indicates anything about bikes possibly being sent to other cities to be sold.

h' 1.0 said:

BTW if you want to get an idea as where stolen bikes go, you can read here:

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/recovered

In 7 years there has never been a report of a bike stolen in Chicago turning up in another city outside the Chicago area, although we have received credible information that some of the 'professional' bike thieves have connections in other states.

Christine (5.0) said:

Is scrap metal the usual fate of stolen bikes?  I figured they would be transported to another city and sold.  Who would buy a bike with someone else's phone number welded on it?

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 18, 2013 at 6:50pm

It indicates whatever you want it to. As I wrote I have reason to believe it does happen, but if it were happening to any significant degree my belief is that there would have been at least one incidence in all these years of someone locating a bike in another city (e.g. while browsing eBay) that we would have heard about. You do realize the CSBR is indexed by major search engines?

Are you suggesting that you think it's likely that a significant percentage of bikes stolen in Chicago are sent to other cities to be fenced?

S said:

What does that indicate really?  Maybe people in other cities don't bother checking bikes against the chicago registry?  Given the low number of recoveries in general, I don't think this really indicates anything about bikes possibly being sent to other cities to be sold.

h' 1.0 said:

BTW if you want to get an idea as where stolen bikes go, you can read here:

http://chicago.stolenbike.org/recovered

In 7 years there has never been a report of a bike stolen in Chicago turning up in another city outside the Chicago area, although we have received credible information that some of the 'professional' bike thieves have connections in other states.

Christine (5.0) said:

Is scrap metal the usual fate of stolen bikes?  I figured they would be transported to another city and sold.  Who would buy a bike with someone else's phone number welded on it?

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Permalink Reply by S on July 19, 2013 at 11:17am

h' 1.0 said:

It indicates whatever you want it to. As I wrote I have reason to believe it does happen, but if it were happening to any significant degree my belief is that there would have been at least one incidence in all these years of someone locating a bike in another city (e.g. while browsing eBay) that we would have heard about. You do realize the CSBR is indexed by major search engines?

Are you suggesting that you think it's likely that a significant percentage of bikes stolen in Chicago are sent to other cities to be fenced?

Given the recovery numbers, I doubt there are enough numbers to say anything about bikes being fenced in other cities one way or another.  CSBR might be indexed by search engines but how often do bike buyers on craigslist or ebay search for matches to their bike or use the right terms to bring up the appropriate entry.  I'd suggest that the higher end bikes may be fenced in other cities or sold online after a while but it's all speculation without much evidence.

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 19, 2013 at 12:23pm

Jeremy, I'm not sure why you would only look at such a narrow range of options for a connection being made between a bike stolen in Chicago and sold elsewhere. Victims can also search the web, set up alerts, etc. Yes, the percentage of recoveries is low, partly because the volume of bikes stolen every day is huge, but the stories of people getting their bikes back come to us on a regular basis. And there is plenty of evidence that stolen bikes can be fenced right here in Chicago with virtually no consequences, so what would the motivation be to ship stolen bikes elsewhere?

I don't quite get why you guys are so insistent on supporting the notion that stolen bikes primarily get scrapped for metal and/or  leave the city as suggested. Do you really believe this happens to any significant degree? My problem here is that you're feeding into the hoplessness that seems to have led to the OP to not even report the theft.

S said:

h' 1.0 said:

It indicates whatever you want it to. As I wrote I have reason to believe it does happen, but if it were happening to any significant degree my belief is that there would have been at least one incidence in all these years of someone locating a bike in another city (e.g. while browsing eBay) that we would have heard about. You do realize the CSBR is indexed by major search engines?

Are you suggesting that you think it's likely that a significant percentage of bikes stolen in Chicago are sent to other cities to be fenced?

Given the recovery numbers, I doubt there are enough numbers to say anything about bikes being fenced in other cities one way or another.  CSBR might be indexed by search engines but how often do bike buyers on craigslist or ebay search for matches to their bike or use the right terms to bring up the appropriate entry.  I'd suggest that the higher end bikes may be fenced in other cities or sold online after a while but it's all speculation without much evidence.

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on July 19, 2013 at 12:57pm

And partly because it's so low priority for the police?

I spent a fair amount of time scouring Chicago CL after my Schwinn Madison was stolen a couple years ago.  I reported it stolen on the stolen bike registry. I had no other idea what things I could do.  I see on the front page of the "recovered" listings, that someone found their stolen bike for sale at something called "Swap O Rama".  I had no idea such an event/place existed.  It might be helpful if the stolen bike registry attempted to enumerate at least the most common places stolen bikes might turn up, and what you should do if you come across your bike.  Other than "report your bike stolen here", the stolen bike registry doesn't hing at things you might try or places you might look to try and track down your missing bike.  This would seem important, because as I've asserted multiple times (cue broken record), the police don't seem to care.

In short, the crooks know where to go to find and fence stolen bikes, but the victims don't.

Apologies for griping...

h' 1.0 said:

Yes, the percentage of recoveries is low, partly because the volume of bikes stolen every day is huge....

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on July 19, 2013 at 4:31pm

Sold for scrap or fenced, scrappers still steal bikes. It doesn't really matter to the victim if it's been melted down or not.

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on July 19, 2013 at 4:39pm

When a report comes my way and the details match the pattern of bikes that end up at Swap O Rama, I often reach out to victims, but most trips down there end up being a waste of time. Also consider that for every theft victim you send there via a public notice of some sort, there's some scumbag who may see it and decide it's a great place to score used bikes. I have reservations even allowing the name of the place to appear on the CSBR.  We did compose some pages with some of the info you describe but are waiting for technical help to get them live and properly intergrated.

As Kevin likes to point out, the vast majority of bikes stolen in Chicago are either not locked or poorly locked (= cable lock, locked to something easily breakable.) I share your frustration about the police, but there's plenty that can be done to minimize bike theft even without their help.

Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

And partly because it's so low priority for the police?

I spent a fair amount of time scouring Chicago CL after my Schwinn Madison was stolen a couple years ago.  I reported it stolen on the stolen bike registry. I had no other idea what things I could do.  I see on the front page of the "recovered" listings, that someone found their stolen bike for sale at something called "Swap O Rama".  I had no idea such an event/place existed.  It might be helpful if the stolen bike registry attempted to enumerate at least the most common places stolen bikes might turn up, and what you should do if you come across your bike.  Other than "report your bike stolen here", the stolen bike registry doesn't hing at things you might try or places you might look to try and track down your missing bike.  This would seem important, because as I've asserted multiple times (cue broken record), the police don't seem to care.

In short, the crooks know where to go to find and fence stolen bikes, but the victims don't.

Apologies for griping...

h' 1.0 said:

Yes, the percentage of recoveries is low, partly because the volume of bikes stolen every day is huge....

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Permalink Reply by El Dorado on July 19, 2013 at 11:09pm

These "scrap yards" are dens of criminal proceeds. Metal from bikes, platinum from car parts, copper from wiring ect...The police need to be cracking down on this. Also, I could see top end $2,000+ road bikes being shipped off to other cities or sent to bike "chop shops" like they have for stolen autos. I just saw a place (which I won't name) that's selling cordless angle grinders for $20. I guess thats all it takes.

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Permalink Reply by Eli on July 20, 2013 at 10:51am

When a report comes my way and the details match the pattern of bikes that end up at Swap O Rama, I often reach out to victims, but most trips down there end up being a waste of time.

Out of curiosity, what is the pattern you're referring to? It wouldn't have occurred to me that a specific type of bike would be more likely to end up there vs other outlets.

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Permalink Reply by David P. on July 20, 2013 at 4:25pm

I will say that if you find that big-ass oven and put your bike in it, it is probably not going to get stolen.

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