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Bike theft victims disgruntled at police "prioritising" Trek Madone appeal over less expensive bikesStolen Trek Madone (Thames Valley Police)

Bike theft victims disgruntled at police "prioritising" Trek Madone appeal over less expensive bikes

Thames Valley Police have been accused of concentrating on high-value items after a social media appeal for the bike, and many other expensive items, which were burgled from a property in Windsor last week
by Dan Alexander
Mon, Apr 04, 2022 17:44
9

Thames Valley Police are under fire from disgruntled bike theft victims who say the force is "prioritising" high-value bikes, following a Facebook appeal featured a Trek Madone burgled last week.

A post appealed for information about a break-in at a property in Windsor between about 7.30pm and midnight on Wednesday, during which a Trek Madone was stolen.

The 2016 model had Zipp 404 wheels, customised with decals of the victim's signature and the number nine.

The offenders, three white men were travelling in a white Audi A3 with the registration plate GN64 XMM.

As well as the bike, a graphite-coloured Land Rover, expensive jewellery, a Prada handbag and several unique IndyCar racing baseball caps were also taken, prompting Thames Valley Police to share news about the high-value raid.

One reply said the post had "boiled my bacon"...

"This post has just boiled my bacon because you’ve headed it as a high-value burglary, so some resident who is very very well off for a bob or three can pull strings!

"Yet a local fella in Caversham has his electric bike stolen whilst locked up in Reading, and he can ill-afford to replace it until he’s saved up enough earnings, and Thames Valley Police weren’t interested."

In response Thames Valley Police defended the post:

 We publish appeals for many crimes across our social media accounts. In this case, the investigating officer needed the help of the public, so we decided to publish the appeal on our channels.

One reply asked why the force decided to go beyond simply giving the victim a crime number for insurance purposes, as they alledge has happened after many other bike thefts.

Another commented: "Burglaries are all the same, high-value or not. Don’t prioritise rich people's burglaries over the less well-off. A stolen bike has the same 'value' to the owner. Do you do this post for all robberies?" 

One other asked if the force would do a post for their stolen bicycle, a comment which received no reply.

However, not everyone jumped on the force's post, with a well-liked comment pointing out: "High-value is not a description of the victim its a description of the value stolen.

"In other words what was stolen cost a lot of money. Also, if what was stolen is quite rare or unique it can be easier to locate if advertised. Police, damned if they do , damned if they don't.

"Love the experts on here....quick to criticise but unable to do the job themselves.... as usual."

Another, from a member of staff at a local bike shop, asked for the serial number in case it was brought to their workshop.

Thames Valley Police
Trek Madone
Dan Alexander

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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9 comments

Avatar
joe9090 | 343 posts | 1 year ago
0 likes

If you get your bike stolen best to tell the pohpoh that you are a Russian oligarch. Then they will put a special team on the case. 

Avatar
Rendel Harris | 5461 posts | 1 year ago
3 likes

I'm certainly not in the business of blindly defending the police but it is a bit ridiculous to criticise them for this one. This was an organised gang in balaclavas that broke into a house and stole a lot of gear apart from the bike, including a Land Rover. Thus already one can understand the police making them a high priority in order to catch them before they do it again. The police have a car registration number, so worth publicising that, and these sort of high value items are most likely going to be offered for resale as opposed to a low value bike which will most likely just be swapped for drugs or whatever, so again, worth publicising. There are many more elements than just the value of the bike involved that make comparing this with a simple theft off a bike rack comparing apples and oranges. If the Madone had been taken from a bike rack and the police were publicising it over and above over bike thefts from racks that would definitely be a cause for concern, but that's not the case.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Rendel Harris | 12211 posts | 1 year ago
2 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

as opposed to a low value bike which will most likely just be swapped for drugs or whatever,

I didn't realise that drug dealers operated the barter system! 3

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to brooksby | 5461 posts | 1 year ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

Rendel Harris wrote:

as opposed to a low value bike which will most likely just be swapped for drugs or whatever,

I didn't realise that drug dealers operated the barter system! 3

Very much so, a £100 bike might get you £5 of gear, the dealers will give it to someone who's done them a favour (lookout, carrier etc) to either sell or use. With many small thefts the item will end up exchanged for drugs for a fraction of its value, an addict wants the drugs as quickly as possible, they're not going to wait for days to sell on eBay or Gumtree.

Avatar
chrisonatrike replied to Rendel Harris | 6825 posts | 1 year ago
1 like

Rendel Harris wrote:

Very much so, a £100 bike might get you £5 of gear, the dealers will give it to someone who's done them a favour (lookout, carrier etc) to either sell or use. With many small thefts the item will end up exchanged for drugs for a fraction of its value, an addict wants the drugs as quickly as possible, they're not going to wait for days to sell on eBay or Gumtree.

Mikey Forrester : Opium suppositories. Ideal for your purposes. Slow release. Bring you down gradual. Custom f****** designed for your needs.

Mark "Rent-boy" Renton : I want a f****** hit!

Mikey Forrester : That's all I've got, matey, that bike's pure Shimano Ultegra...

Avatar
brooksby replied to Rendel Harris | 12211 posts | 1 year ago
0 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

brooksby wrote:

Rendel Harris wrote:

as opposed to a low value bike which will most likely just be swapped for drugs or whatever,

I didn't realise that drug dealers operated the barter system! 3

Very much so, a £100 bike might get you £5 of gear, the dealers will give it to someone who's done them a favour (lookout, carrier etc) to either sell or use. With many small thefts the item will end up exchanged for drugs for a fraction of its value, an addict wants the drugs as quickly as possible, they're not going to wait for days to sell on eBay or Gumtree.

Huh! ?  I had just assumed that they would sell it for cash down the pub (or, on ebay or gumtree).  You learn something new... 

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to Rendel Harris | 4331 posts | 1 year ago
1 like

Our secure bike parking wasn't so secure over the weekend as the building managers decided to leave the garage door up. Two pool bikes (less the wheel of one that was locked) and one that had been forgotten by someone who left the organisation all gone. 

All cheap bikes and not been used for several years so I expect they went the way Ren mentioned. 

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to Rendel Harris | 4331 posts | 1 year ago
4 likes

Quote:

The police have a car registration number

So just go to the registered address and arrest them. After all it is why we are told cyclists need registrations for........kiss

Avatar
Secret_squirrel | 3195 posts | 1 year ago
5 likes

Someone really does exist that will get excited about anything on social media.

One might suggest that the bike was rather incidental and it was the theft of an entire Landy defender AND it was an organised gang rather some chancer off the street AND they had bags of detail go on.

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