clubman 

Ouch, that's hurting me.

JamesHM

In the late 80s my 1982 Schwinn LeTour was stolen from outside the college classroom in broad daylight. The chain could not have been easy to cut. I'm still amazed it disappeared the way it did and still miss that bike. I have a Schwinn Continental now, but it's just not the same. And it's heavier. 🧐

noglider 

I've had more bikes stolen from me than anyone else I know. Every one of them still makes me sad.

smontanaro 

My first nice bike, an Italvega (full Campy save for Universal center-pull brakes, tretubi Columbus, Nuovo Record maybe?), grabbed from the bike rack while I was in a biology class at UCLA, probably around 1973 or 1974.

JaccoW

Amsterdam?

Rage

Downtown NYC. Had eleven bikes stolen from late 80s/early 90s to about 2003. Two more had parts stripped to such an extent that I just abandoned them in disgust. That was 2004/2005. They might still be chained up where I left them, rusting away.
So count that how you will.

Having briefly lived in Amsterdam, I might concede they come in a close runner-up. Although I am uncertain as I never actually had a bike stolen from me in Amsterdam.

Oldguyonoldbike

While I was in college, early 80s Norman OK, my JCPenney 10-speed was stolen. After that I borrowed by sister's Schwinn Varsity, which also got stolen. Then I borrowed a friend's bike and it got stolen too.
In the last 35 years I've only had one bike stolen, a Bianchi city bike, sometime around 2000 when I was living in Florence, Italy.

uncle uncle

Yeah, the campus security person got a big sarcastic smirk on his face when I asked about filing a report on my stolen bike. He didn't even want to go thru the effort of getting me the form to fill out, as it required him to get up and walk a few steps to get one for me. My parent's home insurance paid out a part of the value (about half), so maybe the report might have did something for getting a payout. Not sure.

VS3

1976 Evil Knievel Huffy

Chr0m0ly 

Last year, out of the garage.
Trek 610 in beautiful like new condition.
Fit 700x32’s and was awesome riding crappy Chicago roads.
It’s not the most valuable, or the fastest, but it was my favorite rider. 430mm chain stays, 531 main frame, chromo fork and stays... It was a beautiful compromise between racing and touring. If I wanted to do a rando, that was THE bike.

I replaced it with a ‘79 514, and that bike might ride even better, but I still miss that 610...

Slightspeed

I had a red Reynal English Racer three speed stolen from the school racks when I was in 5th grade. I loved that old bike. The cops found it after a couple of days. The bike was fine, but the top tube book bag was missing. Go figure. Last month on a pre-corona virus ride up to Santa Barbara, passing Carpentaria High School, I was amazed to see how many kids still ride to school. I just had to stop for a picture.

gear64

Yep, not had one stolen to date. But drunk ******* friend of a room mate taco'd the front wheel of my first 10 speed on a joy ride. Raleigh Rampar. The guy was an all round dick even when sober.

unworthy1

Everbody's on a Cruiser in Carpenteria! That could go on the "Welcome to" sign on the highway
I have told this story before, but...I had a second-hand Bianchi that was my first "10-speed" in high school in SoCal, I bought if off a friend-of-a-friend who was of Italian heritage and would make a yearly trip each summer to Italy where he stayed with an Uncle and trained as a junior racer. He brought back this Bianchi in the fall after one trip and sold it to my friend who sold it to me. Neither of us had ever heard of the brand but "the Italian friend" considered it was worn out junk and he was going to get something BETTER for next summer's trip, anyway, so it was sold cheap. As a result I didn't know much about it, didn't take care of it but was getting used to riding it everywhere since I did not drive, yet. One day I got a notice that a library book I had at home was past due and I had to return it that day or would pay a fine, so I raced home (on the Bianchi) grabbed the book and raced to the Library where I leaned the bike against the outdoor rack, thought for a half-second that this was taking a risk, but over-rode that thought since I was "just gonna run in, drop the book at the desk, then run back and pedal away". Naturally this didn't work out as expected: had some minutes of delay while the Librarian processed my return and when I dashed outside that Bianchi was gone, jackie, gone! Not a soul in sight.I had visions I WOULD get this bike back since it had the then very rare distictive paint color and I was full of self-righteous rage and determined on revenge. But luckily for both me and the thief that never happened.

The "silver lining" is that next time "the Italian guy" came home with a used bike to sell it was a Gitane TdF that he bought "to be different" but was scorned and humiliated by his fellow racers in Italy that summer so he again got rid of it quick, even quicker cause of the shameful taint of "frenchness". It had been cobbled with the Simplex dropout hanger tapped to hold a Campy RD, but the mechanic had not done a good job with threading so that was a weak point. This and also got passed fom my friend and finally he tired of it and sold it to me. I kept THAT one for many years, repainted it once myself to more-or-less original blue over silver "cromovelato" paint, eventually got Ed Litton to fix that dropout and HE gave it a really good paint job!
Then I sold it.
Good times.

Cougrrcj

Kids at the schoold I ride by ARE NOT ALLOWED to ride their bikes to school -- since 'Little Johnny or little Janie' are opening themselves up for abduction. That is the 'justification' from the local school district, anyway. Indoctrination comes early...

/rant, lest I turn this thread into something more political....

Slightspeed

I think it's a law that the kids drive Beemers to school here, where I live, or so it seems. 😎

billnuke1 

My beautiful gold Schwinn Varsity...trying to find a particular picture now...all legs and bike!

c0rbin9

1991 Schwinn High Plains : (

Pretty nice ATB, lugged steel frame.

Joe Bikerider

I am writing is as kind of a confession for my bike stealing career. 1970, I was in the dorm (Argo) at UCSD. The campus was very new at that time, far from town and very few girls. Boring! One thing we could do was ride around the roads that had been built to service the buildings that might be built some day. I had learned from working at the LBS how to quickly open cable locks. I could do it pretty much as fast as the owner who knew the code. Rotate the cylinder until it would wobble back and forth and move onto the next one until it opened.

The little store next to the dorm would always have a bunch of bikes out front. In the evening a friend or two would quickly release some bikes and off we would go. Down past the burger place and then all around the campus. At that time it was mostly eucalyptus forest with roads and paths all empty. When we returned I always parked “my” bike on a different rack from where it came from. All part of the fun.

My apologies to everyone but I did always put it back. When I got my PX10 the next year I kept it in my room despite regulations to the contrary.

Darth Lefty 

This reminds me of the joke about "secure the building"

Army: level it with rocket artillery
Marines: storm it room by room
Air Force: take out 3-year lease with option to buy
Navy: turn out lights, lock door

Darth Lefty 

I had a back wheel stolen off my Novara at Purdue, 1997-ish

My kindergartner had his Bianchi 16er stolen from in front of his grade school a few months ago. Not locked, left overnight due to miscommunication with Mom. Some people will steal any dumb thing. Was recovered mostly intact, saddlebag and chain case missing.

Yonah

I don't remember having a bike stolen. I do remember Bike Thefts being common in Brooklyn, NY in the 70s and 80s. The NYPD offered a free service where they would etch a serial number on your bike in case it was stolen so they could identify it and return it to you if it was ever recovered. They'd etch the frame and the wheels. Two of my friends bike thefts stood out:

- One of my friends had his BMX stolen when we were in Middle School. His dad was a cop, and not surprisingly it was found within a week.
- Another friend had his bike stolen in HS from right in front of our building. He had a u-lock on his frame and removed front wheel, and would regularly park and lock it against a parking regulation sign in front of our building. One day two guys came over and started removing the sign. People in the building saw it, and assumed that they were city employees that were updating the sign - until they lifted the bike + u lock over the signpost and left the signs on the sidewalk. He never got that one back.

tsacco27

Soon after starting college in about 1970 or 1971, I bought my first 10 speed race-type bike - a Corso, a kind of fake brand named after the Manhattan bike shop owner who had the bikes manufactured somewhere as cheaply as possible. I knew nothing at all about bicycles but I thought it was awesome because it had drop-bars and a derailleur, a major step up in my opinion from the 3 speed coaster brake Dunelt and Raleigh bikes I had used all through grammar and high school. The main thing I remember about it was the plastic Simplex rear derailleur that never worked properly. I used the bike regularly to try to follow a group of racers who trained in Central Park, and they sort of adopted me as their enthusiastic but hopelessly slow mascot. One day in about 1972 I left the Corso unattended in the back yard of our family house in the Bronx, and when I came back a few minutes later it was gone. I went to see my racer heroes soon afterward to ask what I should replace it with, as the homeowner insurance covered the theft. I never knew their names, but I'll always appreciate the advice they gave me - go to Kissena Cycles in Queens, tell them we sent you, and to sell you a Zeus race bike. I picked out a very bright red Zeus Competition, which was a mid-level build with a mix of Zeus and Alfa (entry level Zeus) components. It was extremely expensive to me at the time, $250, but wow what a good buy that was. I still have and cherish that bike, on which I've covered many miles over the years, still trying to go as fast as those guys in Central Park. And to the bike thief who liberated me from that horrible, horrible Corso - thank you, thank you, thank you

boomerbicyclist

I used $100 paper route money in summer 1973 to buy a barely-used $120 Peugeot [get this--after owning the bike an entire month, he got his grandmother to buy him a top-end Gitane] from the friend of a friend. It was, I recall correctly, one step down from a PX 10, but I couldn't have told you now what that model was; I do recall it having chromed front forks, a Simplex rear derailleur, and Mafac brakes. Took it to college in '74 & lent it to a friend at the end of the school year so she could ride it to work. Even though I made her promise to take care of it, she (wait for it) left it outside unattended overnight, thinking the dorm fence would keep it safe on the second-floor landing. She never even really apologized, let alone offered to replace it or comp me for it; only sheepishly told me about it. I got a new friend. Wish I still had the bike, though; that thing was fast & fun to ride.

xiaoman1 

A little bittersweet....
The Bitter:
While at Cal Berkeley my wife and I live off-campus in student housing in the city of San Pablo. The campus was a little over 3 miles away and parking was impossible so riding our bikes up to school was a necessity. Bike parking provided right outside of our unit next to the entry door.
I had my beautiful Sliver MIst Schwinn "lifted" one evening, the only thing left was the mega pound chain that I used to secure it with.

Not mine but from Classic Bicycle Exchange.

BF member Ohjohnybegoode's Paramount sans G.T. R.D.

The Sweet:
I bought my first Schwinn Paramount, which I still have today...Yellow P-15 with sew-ups and the rear derailer that everyone loves to hate, the Gran Tourismo.
No dings no dents and no complaints about the R.D.
Best, Ben

JackieYan

I'm glad you included the serial number in your post. Stupidly it has never occurred to me to make a note of my own bike's serial number.

I've just done it twenty minutes ago and saved it on my laptop and mobile phone too.
Thanks again for making me realise my mistake.