The Chainlink

suspicious looking CL posts that clearly push stolen bikes - what to do?

I usually flag them after looking very closely, but I saw one recently that just keeps itching at me...

It was a bike with no front wheel AND the rear wheel still u-locked to the frame. Now, if that's not suspicious, I don't know what is! I flagged it and moved on, but can't seem to shrug it off.

SO

What options do we have to do something about the ones that are clearly (or at least very likely) stolen... other than reporting to uninterested cops?

Why not post right here on this forum?

Better idea, anyone??
H??

For example: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/1100811060.html
May not be stolen, but awfully odd otherwise, right??

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Permalink Reply by Dubi Kaufmann on April 1, 2009 at 8:06pm
the front wheel is in some of the other photos. I give it the benefit of the doubt.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roboticaffair/3400836056/
Permalink Reply by Aveo on April 1, 2009 at 11:17pm
there is a guy who posts a lot of low-priced bikes on CL...a while back when I was in the market I called him--his number is always in the post. the first thing he said was "which bike you callin about?" Seeing that he had 5 or 6 bikes posted at the same time--i asked if i could come take a look at all of them before deciding. He bluntly said no, and that i could only look at ONE bike. at that point i hung up...too fishy, right?
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on April 2, 2009 at 12:18am
Fishy? Yes, I would say so.

If it was legit, maybe you'd be drawn to a more expensive bike than you were initially thinking about.

However, this only-one-bike policy sounds like he was scared of someone recognizing too many stolen bikes.


Aveo said:
there is a guy who posts a lot of low-priced bikes on CL...a while back when I was in the market I called him--his number is always in the post. the first thing he said was "which bike you callin about?" Seeing that he had 5 or 6 bikes posted at the same time--i asked if i could come take a look at all of them before deciding. He bluntly said no, and that i could only look at ONE bike. at that point i hung up...too fishy, right?
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on April 4, 2009 at 8:05pm
good question. store is called nearly new.

Rachel said:
Sometimes I've wondered about this used bike shop that is in the 3700 block of Broadway, on the west side of the street. Three times I've seen a guy pull up in a red pickup with the back full of bikes. Is that a typical way for a used bike shop to get their bikes?
Permalink Reply by Jared on April 4, 2009 at 8:41pm
I bought my bike from that shop. I had a good experience with my transaction there and everything and from what I read beforehand it sounded legit, though I still wonder where the bikes come from.

Julie Hochstadter said:
good question. store is called nearly new.

Rachel said:
Sometimes I've wondered about this used bike shop that is in the 3700 block of Broadway, on the west side of the street. Three times I've seen a guy pull up in a red pickup with the back full of bikes. Is that a typical way for a used bike shop to get their bikes?
Permalink Reply by corinne on April 4, 2009 at 9:47pm
Rachel, it is totally legit - the guy in the red truck basically just drives around the country and goes to estate sales and thrift shops buying old bikes. I've talked to him several times and he is a vintage Schwinn bike collector, so for him it's a way to build his collection, while making some extra cash buying vintage bikes that are in high demand in Chicago. As far as the serial numbers ... Ron actually writes down the serial numbers of everything he buys and sells to protect both the customer and his store's reputation. I really do think that he tries his best not to get involved with any suspicious characters - and "big John" the guy in the truck is a sweetie, who just really loves bikes and driving around the country.

Rachel said:
Sometimes I've wondered about this used bike shop that is in the 3700 block of Broadway, on the west side of the street. Three times I've seen a guy pull up in a red pickup with the back full of bikes. Is that a typical way for a used bike shop to get their bikes?
Permalink Reply by Rachel on April 4, 2009 at 9:53pm
Good to know!
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 27, 2013 at 1:43pm

I had an inquiry from someone newly arrived in town about responding to a Craigslist ad and encountering a situation that seemed suspicious to her at 2906 W. Armitage.  Are any of you familiar with this place?  The text of her inquiry follows:

The reason I'm contacting you today is to just share concerns over a bike sales operation I discovered today, through an ad on Craiglist.

My husband was looking for a large frame bike, and found one listed on W Armitage, so we went to have a look.

The guy had a large room with over a hundred bikes there. They were all secondhand, varying condition, and I think that most if not all were adult bikes.

It all seemed very suspicious. As a Londoner sadly bike theft is something I see all the time, I've lost two bikes myself in the past few years.  So I hope I'm wrong about this but it seemed a very suspicious set up.

I'm new here and don't want to jump to conclusions or make trouble, so I'm writing just to ask firstly if you know of a legitimate bike business at that address, and if not, what should be done to investigate the possibility of organized thefts in that area.

Here's the ad and some pics I took there.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/3693197024.html

Here's a list of Craigslist ads that currently come up for the same seller.  Her photos are below.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on March 27, 2013 at 1:59pm

The Chicago Stolen Bike Registry received the same inquiry.

Anne Alt said:

I had an inquiry from someone newly arrived in town about responding to a Craigslist ad and encountering a situation that seemed suspicious to her at 2906 W. Armitage.  Are any of you familiar with this place?  

[snip]

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 27, 2013 at 5:25pm

I wonder how many others she broadcast this to? Now I'm feeling kind of dumb for spending as much time on this as I did.

Kevin C 4.1 mi said:

The Chicago Stolen Bike Registry received the same inquiry.

Anne Alt said:

I had an inquiry from someone newly arrived in town about responding to a Craigslist ad and encountering a situation that seemed suspicious to her at 2906 W. Armitage.  Are any of you familiar with this place?  

[snip]

Permalink Reply by annlaura on March 27, 2013 at 5:29pm

The bikes in the list Anne linked now all say sold.

Permalink Reply by Sean Newby on March 27, 2013 at 6:32pm

Every one of the ads these people post start off saying "sold bike..." and say to call for more info. Is it a poor grasp of English or do they really post bikes that have already been sold?
 
annlaura said:

The bikes in the list Anne linked now all say sold.

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