Am I right to be suspicious?

[burdturglar]

Would appreciate some quick advice here. I recently won an ebay auction for a silver ridgeback genesis day 05 and have some suspicions that the bike might have been stolen at some point.

The bike itself has a broken gear cable and front and back tyres are different colours.

The seller has about 50 ratings and his history shows he has sold a number of bikes in the past year. This by itself doesn't indicate much, but I recently found a recently cached google page of a gumtree ad listed for the same model of bike. This advertisement doesn't give many clues that it is the bike I have bought, but looks like it could have been written by some illiterate crackhead. So I am thinking this ebay sellar might have recently bought a stolen bike, and has now sold it on to me.

Does this look like something I should try to get out of asap? Or should I be asking the ebay seller some very specific questions? (I am due to pick up the bike at his house tomorrow). Thanks

 

[marin man]

Ask the seller where he got it ...he will not mind if it is kosha will he

 

[Tad]

A broken gear cable is no sign of a stolen bike, just that it has been neglected and that the owner doesn't care anything for it or is mechanicaly incompetent, if he did he'd have fixed it before selling, a gear cable only costs £2!

Mismatched tyres, again no indication that it's been nicked, rears wear out quicker than fronts, this is just an indication that the owner has no aesthetic sympathies what so ever.

As for some cached ad on gumtree, well I don't think that yours is the only Genesis 05 out there in the world. Yes, your seller could have bought it off some crackhead, he could have nicked it himself, he could also be selling a genuine bike he has owned from new or bought second hand... Of course none of this helps you with your dilemma.

 

[burdturglar]

Thanks for the advice guys. Only reason I am asking is that from the limited amount of information I have been able to find on this model on the internet, it is not very common.

 

[barry2017]

I'm sure it's fine. Most bikes are.

 

[coomber]

Probably nicked the photo after doing a search like you instead of taking one and uploading it himself. Loads of people do it.

Wouldn't worry too much mate

 

[Steve Kish]

Just ask for a simple bill of sale as a receipt for the dosh confirming that the bike is his to sell. If he refuses, just walk ..... can't be too careful these days!