any advice on avoiding stolen bikes

[Tazio]

This reeks.

Arrested, put in a cell, computer and phone confiscated, released on bail.

To be honest the entire story doesn't ring true to me.

 

[grover1979]

you are welcome to your oppinion if i was a criminal i would not be telling my story on here for self opinionated judgmental people such as yourself to pick the bones out of i shared my story in the hope that someone else may not make the same mistakes as i did quite why the police felt necessary to treat me in the manner they did is a question for them not me as there seem to be more questions than answers to this one. whats to say the bike you are riding around on is not stolen there are limited methods of checking oh well you may find out when you come to sell it? i rest my case

 

[Tazio]

Well if you are so indignant I would suggest you get your brief to contact the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

You clearly have a case against them.

 

[grover1979]

i thought it a good idea to share this story im sorry if it seems a little far fetched to you but it is a true account of what happened oh well listen or not i dont really care and i wonder how many of you are riding about on stolen bikes hope you dont discover this in the same way i did

 

[Tazio]

I was being quite serious with my last post.

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx

 

[videojetman]

this amazes me as most bicycle crime is never taken seriously.
although this sounds more serious if they have to take dna from you.

 

[Pyro Tim]

everyone arrested is fingerprinted, and a dna sample taken, even if they let you go without charge

 

[grover1979]

i spoke to my solicitor in the hope they may have over stepped the mark but was told no matter how heavy handed it seemed they were acting lawfully as i say it is a misconception we are innocent until prooven guilty as i was clearly treated as guilty until prooven innocent
my conclusion to this is unfortunately i would not buy another bike unless the owner could provide me with original receipt anyone could have their fingers burned in the same way i didnt want this discussion to get so heated but wanted to make others aware of the way an unwitting buyer could be treated

 

[greenstiles]

As i don't know you please forgive me, but if you are innocent i truely feel for you, nothing worse than being accused of something you haven't done (ie not knowingly buying stolen goods)

in a way it's good that the police are taking it seriously as usually cycle crime is not at the top of their list.

I would certainly be careful in the future if that was happening to me !

 

[grover1979]

this was posted on here not only to see if i had overlooked anything in the checking of bikes and everything i have been told i could have done little more to protect myself i bought from a sellers house in a seemingly nice area for a good price. there are limited tools available to us when it comes to buying bicycles common sense and forums are about it when these methods fail us any one of us can fall foul of the law far fetched as it may seem this is a true account of what happened and the police now have teams working around the clock on people selling stolen goods on line i note the lack of response from certain indeviduals when i mentioned they could infact have a shed full of stolen bikes guess they rushed out to make sure. lol the police do not have a public database and would not disclose info if you contacted them with a serial number before buying
as i say you may not infact find out the true origins of your bike until you come to sell it 12 months or so later
some good points here to chew over