This made me sad

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Permalink Reply by Garth Liebhaber on January 2, 2013 at 3:03am

They don't do it regularly, but I've seen such stickers on occasion. I've not attended a police bicycle auction in Chicago, so that is my assumption.

Apologies if I upset anyone, am interested in this as a practical ethical issue.

thanks.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on January 2, 2013 at 3:26am

If you don't own it and you take it it is stealing pure and simple. 

If you take steps to ensure it is abandoned that is different but if you make that decision by just deciding it base don your opinion of the bikes condition you are stealing.  I see bikes come in all the time that if I saw them locked up I would assume them abandoned because they are so poorly cared for but there are people out there who do not maintain their bikes.  I also see people who leave their bikes locked up for months at a time outside.

Just because it's not what you would do does not mean it is abandoned.

Garth Liebhaber said:

so, ethical dilemna question: how long should a bicycle be abandoned before it's okay to recycle it?  At some point the original owner clearly has no interest in it.

The police have stickers they put on bicycles they believe to be abandoned, giving the owner a week to claim it before it goes to auction. This is all around ethical. If the owner has registered, the police have an even better chance of maintaining ownership.

Consider also that at some point an abandoned bicycle becomes an eyesore and is also taking up space where someone else could be locking their bicycle. Ethically, it is in the place of the police to sell abandoned bicycles at public auction. 

Part of the dilemna comes into being when the police are lax in this duty and others see opportunity. If a bicycle has been abandoned for three years and is beginning to rust, isn't it safe to say the owner doesn't care about it anymore?

Permalink Reply by Charlie Short 2.9 on January 2, 2013 at 5:04am

Abandoned bikes are generally marked for a week before they are removed under the city's abandoned bike ordinance. Sometimes they are tagged more than a week. The bikes are then moved to Working Bikes and held for 30 days before being donated to Working Bikes. During the winter we try to do abandoned bike removals once a month, during the summer, we are out every week. If you want to report an abandoned bike, just call 311 and ask to report an abandoned bike. You must have an address or a cross-street.

I think that some CPD folks and Streets and San folks will remove bikes in advance of construction, and we (at CDOT) aren't often notified that this has happened, but we're occasionally able to track down the bikes.

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on January 2, 2013 at 6:01am

Once you figure out how to lock your f^*&ing fork to a rack, please let us know.

 

I think this was a working bike before the forktheft.  I don't think it was living high off the hog (single speeded and no rear brake) but it had both wheels.  Note the rear wheel is still there even though it isn't locked.  The thief knew how to remove a headset and fork.  He or she must have known that the fork would only fit another Chicago Schwinn bike.  

 

And all this work took place at Chicago Avenue and State.  I assume no one thought this was out of the ordinary to see a guy taking bike parts off of a bike.


Bill Savage said:

Metal recyclers.  Every ounce counts.  What I want to know: how do you NOT lock your f^*&ing fork to the rack too?

Juan Primo said:

Who's to say it was abandoned before the fork was stolen?  Once the bike is immobile I can see why it's abandoned.

But jeez... who steals a 19" schwinn varsity fork?

Permalink Reply by Katie on January 2, 2013 at 6:53am

I hate seeing those :(

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on January 2, 2013 at 8:35am

This is on NU's campus.

h' said:

Is this in reference to Chicago? The police do not sticker abandoned bicycles here, and they do not go to police auction once removed.

Garth Liebhaber said:


The police have stickers they put on bicycles they believe to be abandoned, giving the owner a week to claim it before it goes to auction. This is all around ethical. If the owner has registered, the police have an even better chance of maintaining ownership.

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on January 3, 2013 at 3:41am
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on January 3, 2013 at 4:04am

A million times THIS.

Working Bikes has about 1000 forks in the fork bin and they cost less than the bus fare to get there and back, round trip. 

The amount of effort required to pull a stem, loosen the headset (probably both are seized up) and steal the barset with the fork seems to be not worth it even without factoring in the eternal guilt of taking something that isn't yours. 

This bike looks like a quickNdirty SS conversion by the short chain so there weren't any derailleurs or cables missing.  Perhaps there was no rear brake with only a nicer modern front brake caliper installed -which is what the thief may have been after in this case.  If the fork was converted to a nicer modern dual-pivot with a nutless mounting stud, and the owner had put a bearing into the Allen head as an anti-theft deterrent,  I could maybe see a thief pulling the fork to get the caliper home.

This bike doesn't look abandoned other than the fork/bars/stem being missing.  What is left locked up would  not have needed anything more than a functional fork/bars/stem and a front brake/cable/lever attached to them. 

william said:

maybe get your own bike parts, rather than resort to mental masterbation to rationalize taking something thats not rightfully yours. If I need a fork or a saddle, I'll buy/trade for one myself instead of sneaking around taking parts off bikes and convincing myself it's ok.
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on January 3, 2013 at 4:14am

Scenario #2:

Perhaps the owner has no inside space to work on or even store a bike.  Maybe the owner himself (or herself) removed the bent/damaged fork and is currently searching for another Chicago Schwinn matching fork so it can be rebuilt again into a fully-functional bike.  If they have the bars/stem/brakes inside it wouldn't take much to put this bike back together. 

It is possible. Stealing more parts off this bike would be just that -stealing. 

To ASSume this bike is "abandoned" doesn't necessarily make it so. 

Permalink Reply by Juan Primo on January 3, 2013 at 8:47am

Scenario #2 is my favorite and now I'm not sad.  He had a bent fork and was on the CTA to working bikes fork in hand (measure twice, buy once).  I'll bet if I go back to that corner the bike will be back in one piece.

 

Good chance working bikes even has a silver fork so the mod is seamless.

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