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news
Casarti MarteBike stolen after vicious attack by van passenger
Bike thieves are usually content to quietly swipe bikes from the streets, but a South Yorkshire man suffered one of the nastier bike robberies we've come across at the weekend when he was assaulted by a van passenger and then had his bike stolen.
On the afternoon of Saturday November 29, at about 1:35pm, the 34-year-old was riding along Westfield Road, Kirkhouse Green, about 10 miles north-east of Doncaster.
The driver of a white Ford transit van braked heavily in front of him causing him to stop.
A man got out of the passenger side of the van and attacked the rider, punching him in the head and knocking him unconscious to the ground.
The bike, a black Casati Marte, was then stolen.
Casati is not a common brand in the UK, and the Marte is its high-end, custom-built frame, so it's safe to say there won't be many of then about.
A South Yorkshire police spokesman said: "The man who punched the rider is described as white, approximately 5ft 10in tall, of large build with broad shoulders, around 25 to 30 years old. He had brown hair, was unshaven with stubble and had a moustache."
Police would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the robbery or has any information as to the whereabouts of the stolen bike.
Anyone with information is asked to call South Yorkshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 627 of 29 November. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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36 comments
@yclingDMlondon: you're describing notfastenough's opinion as infantile? That has totally destroyed my irony-o-meter...
Isn't it great to have been dragged into the mainstream...what's next, gunpoint herding of sportive sheep into large shipping containers?
On Saturday I heard someone tooting behind me but it was quite far behind so I assumed it was nothing to do with me. Shortly after a car drove past me, slowed down, gave me the 'eye' then pulled up ahead in front of me. I had absolutely no idea what was was going on but was extremely nervous. It turns out my f***ing shite fizik saddle bag had fallen off my saddle. I had repaired a flat 5 or 6 miles earlier so I hope it wasn't re-attached properly rather than a design fault. But anyway, the couple in the car were so, so incredibly nice and I had such a big smile on my face for the rest of the ride. Faith in humanity and motorists restored. So be careful and sure before you stab/pepper spray/chain ring anyone.
Surprised it doesn't happen more to be honest but obviously hope this gets resolved.
Think about it - Increasingly expensive kit coupled with the reality that as a cyclist society already has you pegged as wholly dispensible and to thieves we're the perfect target.
Give Cameron a few more years and we'll either have to just donate our bikes to some new 'enthusiasts' or choose to go lay in the road and have done with it all. Very sad state of affairs and as ever no sign of anything changing.
All this silly talk of getting extremely violent, is there anyone here who doesn't know that you'd likely be prosecuted with GBH and worse IMO end up with a criminal record.
Deodorant as pepper-spray-like protection is more sensible. Pepper-spray should be a legal defence.
Agree, its ridiculous.
Spreado - search GumTree, Craigslist, eBay and all ...
Because Craigslist is a royal pain and only lets you search one small area at a time.
No hits as of yet.
This is awful. A van in front screeches to a halt so you stop and try to anticipate what's happening. If you're standing there, straddling the bike, maybe with one foot clipped in, you're incredibly vulnerable - the last thing you're expecting is an attack from the passenger I would have though. Talking about weapons is pretty pathetic IMO. I hope the poor guy has a speedy recovery and gets back on his bike as soon as possible.
It's always good to be prepared...
No seriously... http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-cyclist-weapons-20141125-sto...
One can only hope there is some truth in "What goes around, comes around"
I was cycling my country lanes this summer and went past two pikey looking chaps, as i got closer they were really taking a good look at my bike.
It made me wonder if they were looking to do something similar?
Not sure exactly what a typical cyclist looks like, but they were definitely not it!
As Shaw Taylor would say "Keep em peeled"
That's gone way over some folks heads!
Sadly the perjorative "pikey" reference rather detracts from the punchline.
If it looks like s**t, it is s**t!
It makes me sad that people on this site complain about the way society doesn't respect human beings on bikes and discriminates against "us"; yet it is OK and generally goes unchallenged to use inflammatory and prejudicial language against others.
It makes me livid that anyone seeing me on my bike might assume that I support this kind of prejudice, that someone might think that as a cyclist I might go around judging others because of appearance, that as a cyclist I might be prejudiced against a whole ethnic group and that as a cyclist I might carry weapons to defend myself (or more importantly my bike).
Sometimes I despair!
Slightly OT, but "pikey" isn't quite as bad as you might think. I've worked with the traveller community and although the word is sometimes used pejoratively against them as a whole (which IS offensive), the travellers I know also use it themselves to describe their own undesirable or criminal elements.
Carry an old chain. Just make sure it's clean cos you don't want to get dirt in their wounds
its getting more difficult to argue against helmet cams. I have wondered about this situation. In terms of sentencing, adding assault to theft and its a much bigger deal....should be enough to put off most for the limited rewards of selling on heavily discounted kit.....but then you have to remember that criminals like this tend to be very thick.
Fork the **** in the eyes
I guess as well spare cassette sprockets might make a decent knuckle duster? Just saying...
Truly shocking what some people do.
Nothing like an aerosol deodorant in the eyes to discourage some angry folk. They do them in nice small travel sizes and they fit in your jersey pocket nicely and allegedly, sting like mad when sprayed in road rage car drivers eyes and of course you carry it so you don't stink at cafe stops, nothing illegal about that.
Self defence officer.
my hiplock chain doubles as an improv flail...
2012 / TDF legacy....is this what the suits talked about?
Over at Reddit, concealed carry has been discussed a few times because of incidents like this.
Makes me almost consider carrying a sharp penknife as part of my saddlebag kit (obviously for cutting seatbelts if a car has crashed)
Really ? Its only a bike ? Why escalate things with a blade in any altercation ?
Because its my fucking bike!
Where I live there is a big problem with junkies loitering around. Even in the stairs of my block, Ive had the same group of junkies commenting on my bike when I come in and out of the building. One has even noticed that I ride more than one bike.
So should I let myself be continually robbed because "its only a bike"?
Fuck that shit.
Really ? Its only a bike ? Why escalate things with a blade in any altercation ?
I hope the chap is alright. A blow to the head bad enough to render someone unconscious could be extremely serious.
I hope the police track down the nut job that did it and I hope hope the bike is recovered!
What? No mention of helmeted status?
just make sure you drop it out the big ring first eh!
If you find the need to defend yourself seriously when cycling, holding the bike by the forkblade and seatstay allows you to pick it up and hit your assailant with the outer chainring. I did this once, many years ago, most effective!
Shocking story. Let's hope no one on the internet mentions how rare the bike is. That way the idiot muggers might try to sell it on eBay or Gumtree.
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