Stolen In Madison - $8000 Fixie?

[slacker]

Yup, just walked into the grocery store to use the ATM. Left his $8000 carbon fiber fixed gear unlocked. Ridiculous! Especially given the fact that bicycle theft is at an all time high in Madison.

Lucky for this dufus, the thief couldn't ride it and ditched the bike a few blocks away. Dufus and his bike are reunited.


In case you were wondering what Batman would ride if he had a fixed gear:

 

[chimichanga]

$8,000 fixie? That's ridiculous!

 

[CCR]

i lock my $500 car up when i get out, and my bikes dont get out of sight without bein locked up either

 

[Rat Rod]

I think that has to be one of the most uncomfortable looking bikes I have ever seen....ha ha.

 

[langsmer]

There is a fellow here in town that rides a stunning 20's track bike around. It is a beautiful bike with a very well done restoration. I have seen it laying around town a few times. :|

 

[sensor]

heck when i lived in chico one of my friends had his grandfathers old b6 and never locked it the 11 years i was there.......however it did get stolen once but somehow it made its way home(i think it was the fact that it was highly recognizable as there really werent any old tank bikes there) :shock:

 

[cashman]

Now we know where all the old Oldsmobile hood ornaments went. They are used for handlebars on $8000 bikes.

 

[Buck Masterson]

The pic of that bike made my boys cringe. I bet the owner has a very high pitched voice!

 

[Boardtrack fan]

Do the missiles come out of bomb bay doors in the down tube or do they mount under the handlebars?

 

[brandonehansen]

That bike makes no sense, he's riding what they call "suicide" which is brakeless and just platform pedals. Also those are time trial bars, which aren't allowed on the track and are really rediculous for the streets. He's got some issues it seems like.

 

[GodHatesCleveland]

This story hit the craigslist bike forum a couple of days ago and neither the bike or the owner got much respect there. I thought the funniest comment was something along the lines of "I bet the owner is happy the story mentioned the price of the bike so now he doesn't have to work it into the first five minutes of every conversation"

 

[slacker]

I seriously want to follow up on this story. I live in the neighborhood, and frequent that grocery store. Would really like to meet this character, and see this colossal carbon fiber catastrophe.

I might have seen him out on it once or twice. He was gone so fast, I could never be sure. He was an apparition. Like a ninja. A trust fund hipster ninja.

 

[GodHatesCleveland]

BSNYC ripped him a new one:

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/

It's about half-way down the first page. There's also the Madison police report which gives the officer's name you can contact:

http://www.cityofmadison.com/incidentReports/incidentDetail.cfm?id=9236

But if the bike was found, the police won't have any more to do with it. They might be able to give you the owner's name so you could follow up on the story that way.

I kinda feel sorry for the guy. He probably thought he had the coolest bike in a big bike town, now it's a symbol of ineptitude, not exactly something you want in-between your legs. Maybe you'll get lucky and he's embarrassed enough to want to sell it cheap, like half price or something. :wink:

Hey slacker, could you detail the Madison bike theft problem for me? For example, how secure are the bikes being stolen? Were the owners just using a cable lock or a combination of two types of locks? Are the bikes being stolen left overnight in a rack or is it happening outside of stores during regular hours? I've heard from many sources that bike theft is high in Madison right now, but I haven't heard too much about the nature of the thefts themselves.

Is any particular area worse for bike thefts? It's been a long time coming and I'm not there yet, but I may be moving back to Madison soon. I plan on looking in the western side of Atwood, or anywhere in the Willy Street and Vilas Park area as a first choice (as long as I can find a Vilas Park apartment that hasn't been through the ringer of student housing), and somewhere in suburban Fitch that's centrally located by the bike trails as a secondary location.

Are there any cruiser rides in town or is it just all triathletes and roadies? Oh yeah, and the trust fund hipster ninjas. I've got a great idea for a cruiser pub crawl.

 

[dangratsdan]

$8000 bike, BIG DEAL!
Around RRB there are lots of bike that look like a MILLION, and I am sure some of them would require more than a $1,000,000 to purchase them. After all, if its a one of a kind bike, like most of our bikes are, the value is PRICELESS!
Dangerous Dan

 

[slacker]

It is starting to look like Madison has pros. High-end bikes being stolen in broad daylight, well secured and in highly visible areas. Both thick cable locks and mid-grade U-locks, snipped right through.

I am sure I know how, but won't put it in print. Don't want to make matters worse. Simply put, the thieves are cutting locks in mere seconds without drawing undue attention.

Cops say the thieves are defeating the locks and leaving the scene. After a few minutes or longer, they return to retrieve the bike.

A neighbor had his Lemond Fillmore stolen from his porch as he ate dinner in the next room. He literally came home, locked up his bike inside the porch and had a quick meal. Twenty minutes later the Fillmore was gone. Neither he, nor his wife or kids saw a thing.

The Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit locks and similar seem to be the only serious route. I won't leave any of my bikes out over night. Ever. And when I do lock up my bike, I leave it in a place where I can check it frequently. I only have one bike worth any significant amount of money, but I ain't chancing it.

 

[GodHatesCleveland]

The Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit locks and similar seem to be the only serious route.

I kinda got the feeling that was the way things are headed...everywhere.

 

[CCR]

pretty soon everyone is gonna need xtracycles to carry around viscious dogs to guard thier bikes :x

 

[Mr. Farrell]

I seriously want to follow up on this story. I live in the neighborhood, and frequent that grocery store. Would really like to meet this character, and see this colossal carbon fiber catastrophe.

I might have seen him out on it once or twice. He was gone so fast, I could never be sure. He was an apparition. Like a ninja. A trust fund hipster ninja.

hahahahah... hey man... you gotta watch out for those trust fund hipster ninjas. if you're don't know all the words to the new wilco album, they'll cut you up quick, with swords made of mommy and daddy' hundred dollar bills.

 

[slacker]

Q: How many hipsters does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Oh my god dude, I can't believe you don't know that.

 

[Pete]

Eeeugh ...that is one ugly, tacky looking contraption. $8000? Comedy classic. I suppose the owner would be equally disgusted by my ride,though.

To be fair, who can honestly say that they've never left their bike unlocked while they nipped into the shop or wherever - I do it all the time (as I'm an idiot) ...