swap'o'rama tips?

So... my bike got stolen last night. (Yes, I listed it on the stolen bike registry). It sounds from other discussions as if a lot of stolen bike are ending up at the Swap o Rama. I know the main thing is to get there early, but I'm wondering: if I find my bike, what do I do then? Do I need to call the cops? Should I just show them a copy of the police report and hope they'll not want to deal with the hassle and just give it back? I do not have the serial number. I'm also not very good at being confrontational. Any tips will be much appreciated. The picture below is pretty accurate except that the rear fender is gone and I added some neon reflective tape strips on the fork and seat stays.

Tags: stolen

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Permalink Reply by heather s on April 28, 2010 at 10:24am

Hope I'm just not picking up on your sarcasm... why would I want to capitalize on someone else's loss, particularly after suffering the same fate myself? I have no interest in buying a stolen bike.

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Permalink Reply by heather s on April 28, 2010 at 10:53am

Ah, sorry I jumped to conclusions. Yes, thanks, if I don't find it on Saturday I do look at this as an opportunity to build up a new bike -- one that fits me better and is less flashy-looking. (In fact, if I do find it I think I'll sell it anyway.) The Bianchi is/was not my only bike and was mainly my winter ride, so that gives me plenty of time to whip up a replacement.

ERCHLVRSN said:

What I was hinting at was you may just have to go there and look and see if your bike is there just with different parts but again if you do find a good deal scoop it up…

If not contact your insurance company and have them handle it…look at it as a great way to build a new bike.

Many bike shops will write up an estimate for your bike with new parts added so you can submit it to the insurance.

I too have had parts stolen not a whole bike I’m sorry to say but I looked at is as a way for me to upgrade what I had.

The summer is not even here you have plenty of time to buy or get another bike and make it more than what you had before…nothing more.

Sorry for the lose…

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Permalink Reply by joe on April 28, 2010 at 7:37pm

u can also file a report over the phone if u dont have time. i did that with the last bike i had stolen. nothing came of it tho...scrap yard bound since it was a stupid bum with tools. good luck man.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on April 28, 2010 at 10:21pm

It will take at least a week for her to receive in in the mail-- not much use in this situation, although they may tell her the report number over the phone, which would be enough to get the cops to hold it if she can get their help, but not much use if you were trying to get a third party to intervene.
Beware-- the folks that are assigned to take theft reports over the phone often have advanced sarcastic A-hole certification.

joe said:

u can also file a report over the phone if u dont have time. i did that with the last bike i had stolen. nothing came of it tho...scrap yard bound since it was a stupid bum with tools. good luck man.

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Permalink Reply by RigWheels on April 29, 2010 at 11:58pm

Heather, if you give the shop a call tomorrow you might get some good info. We have had a couple mechanics lose their rides only to find them at the swap. Bob recently had luck recovering his bike, ask for Bob and he can tell you what he had to do. Good luck and keep us posted. We can hook it up no matter what comes of this. So sorry for your loss, see you Sunday.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on April 30, 2010 at 12:11pm

Nobosy else is in for a trip down there tomorrow morning?

Really?

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Permalink Reply by heather s on April 30, 2010 at 3:45pm

::radio silence::

;) I was not really expecting anyone else to give up their Saturday morning--my girlfriend might come along too.

I did file the police report and the cops were super nice and gracious. I have not seen a police report in a long time so I'm little surprised at how little info is on the actual paper they gave me. It's basically just a report number with my name and the date on it.

I tried, in a friendly offhand way, to explain to the guy how I was trying to get the bike back and how a lot of stolen bike end up at the Swap. I guess the naif in me thought that maybe he would say, "Gosh, I didn't know that a lot of those were stolen! Maybe we should send someone down there to check it out!" Alas, he was pretty skeptical.

H3N3 said:

Nobosy else is in for a trip down there tomorrow morning?

Really?

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Permalink Reply by T.C. O'Rourke on April 30, 2010 at 4:19pm

Heather clearly stated: "If there are lessons to be learned here, they include: don't leave my bike outside overnight, and get renters insurance to protect the remaining bikes."

Why tell her the same thing with your hindsight? It's no longer helpful, it's just smarmy and rude...

Craig S. said:

Sorry to hear the news, Heather, but ummm, yeah, leaving a bike outside over night, especially a Bianchi, isn't really the best idea. Also, why work with your roommates with regards to renter's insurance? Renter's insurance is cheap. All the years I rented solo and with roommates I had my own policy. Don't wait for roommates to look into renter's insurance.
heather stratton said:
Yeah, unfortunately getting renters insurance turned out to be one of those things that I kept meaning to do, and brought up with my roommates, and never got around to.

If there are lessons to be learned here, they include: don't leave my bike outside overnight, and get renters insurance to protect the remaining bikes. I'm glad I got this shake-up with the bike that never fit me well and to which I wasn't emotionally attached. I'm more annoyed (well, and out a big chunk of cash) than sad. dav said:
Don't forget that your bicycle can also be claimed with your homeowners or renters insurance. You may not be able to get the complete value, but it should get you on your way if the swap-o-rama thing doesn't work out. Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by T.C. O'Rourke on April 30, 2010 at 4:33pm

If you find your ride, you might ask to see if your U-lock fits on it. Then refuse to unlock it.

I would imagine two people will be enough to claim the bike, one to get security and one to watch/hold it.

Maybe bring a camera to photo the vendor?

Shit, 7am. Ugh. I'm in. I'll email you for details.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on April 30, 2010 at 10:31pm

Could use some ground support to run bike descriptions (e.g. someone home with a steamy cup of morning coffee and a working web browser standing by by phone)-- if you see this before early tomorrow (Saturday) morning and have a reasonably easy time parsing search engine results, please give me a call at 773/710-4143-- would need your help from roughly 7 to 9.