BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

^ I hope the cool image, unique features, and your great descriptions net the return of the her bike . It would be sad to lose that bike to a criminal - jeez.

You might know that The Major Taylor Cycling Club president and his wife posted their stolen bikes on this board this summer. The bikes were found a couple months later. Best luck finding hers.

It's good to hear a follow up on the Major Taylor Bikes. Often we hear how bikes are stolen but never the outcome, also I can stop looking out for their bikes. Molly's bike is so unique hopefully it will be found soon.

I have this bike in my possession. could u have the owner email me for the infomation. steeld87@gmail.com

I passed the word on via FB.

I can testify that I'm a member of Bike Pittsburgh because this message board helped me to recover my stolen bike. So good luck. Seems like a distinctive enough looking bike that it might stand out. As an East End person, I'll keep my eye out for it.

Tim, it has already been found. She doesn't have it back in her possession, but she has been in contact with the person who does have it.

Nick, it was your post on this message board that saved your friends bike. Good work lad!! I'd call her though she should have it.

Slight hijack: is there a function for Bike-Pgh in bike theft? (in REDUCING bike theft, I mean) Because if there is, wow what a membership benefit.

At one time some cities registered bikes. If there was a conflict of ownership, or a stolen bike found, there was a process to identify the owner. Cities have gotten out of that business.

So now, if your bike is stolen and somebody sees it, or if you see it, it's They-Said-We-Said. (i'm trying to avoid he-said-she-said, it's got baggage)

Is there a niche for BikePgh bike registration? Little unobtrusive stickers to put on the bike, a database of ownership, police depts can call and ask Hey who's bike is this?

I don't know. Would that generate membership?

Cheers, V.

I believe the police department will still register bikes for you if you want. they are supposed to, but i imagine that they don't get very many registrants. Pitt police will do it for students/faculty/staff. I'd like to see something more along the lines of SF where, instead of registration, the police make it a policy where any recovered bike they catalog the number in a database, put the bike in a central location. then, it's up to the owner to make sure to record the information and save it somewhere so that if a bike is stolen, they just have to call the police to see if it's been recovered/report the theft.

@Erok; Have you ever discussed that idea with local police? Seems a whole lot easier (for them) than registration. But, then again, does anyone know how many bikes they actually "recover" or take in? I guess I thought that if the bike was registered with them they could call a "probable stolen bike" in to see if they got a registration naming a different owner than the person they found the bike with.

If you file a police report for a stolen bike (or anything) and provide the serial number it will be entered in a statewide database of stolen items.

Whenever the police recover something from a crime they are supposed to see if it’s serial number is on the database.

Pawnshops are also required to fax a weekly list of items with the serial numbers for anything they have purchased. The City of Pgh pawnshop division is supposed to look for matches and if they get a hit will notify the pawnshop not to resell the item.

edit...

You should keep a record of your serial numbers. Then if something happens to your bike file a police report and provide the serial number. If it’s somehow recovered they will notify you.

I have a pic of each of my bikes saved on my laptop. The file name for each pic is the serial number.

Background? How was it found?

@greasefoot -- that's a great plan until your laptop gets stolen, or decides to blow a hard drive or something. Make a paper copy too.

Plan for tonight..... take fresh photo of all bikes and record serial numbers. I think I have them somewhere, but not where I would be able to find them in a hurry if I needed them.

Nice older man bought the bike for thirty bucks, then brought the bike to a local gas station in north side where he knew some of the employees ride. Bike was quickly given back to rightful owner. I find it really hard to belive that this older fellow knew that the bike was stolen, probably just thought he was helping someone out with money and figured the guys at the gas station would buy it.

@Swalford - I use a Mac with a back up cloud account!

It’s a good idea to keep them written down and in a safe place.

This thread prompted me to actually take photos of my bike, including the serial number (not just be aware that I should get around to doing that someday). So thanks for that!

And I'll echo Greasefoot's comment. If you have any info on your computer that you would mind losing, you need automatic backups (or a stack of printouts, and a willingness to type it all back in). Think of a hard drive like a light bulb. It works for a few years maybe, then you throw it out and get a new one. And that's not even counting damage from fire, water, pets, kids, etc.

Good to hear there's progress on this.

Pitt police will do it for students/faculty/staff.

Back before I was officially affiliated with Pitt, I walked into the parking office and asked about bicycle registration. The lady said it was intended for students/faculty/staff but said she didn't see any reason why I, as a random guy off the street, couldn't also register my bike with them. That attitude might change if non-affiliated cyclists from Pittsburgh (and beyond) start showing up en masse to register, but for now (or rather, as of 2009), it seemed like a community service they were willing to provide.

cheap backups: put images & stuff you dont want to lose in a dropbox acct, and send a copy to your gmail.

we thought it was cute to use a laser pointer to play with our dog, who chased and bit and scratched at the little pinpoint of light. Until he noticed the little lights on my husband's computer, and went after them too.

back up early. back up often.