Saturday, December 19, 2009

Stolen bicycle recovered

Howdy. Tonight I will say that I've got a history of being overly attracted to people getting back their bikes that had been stolen. Even if the rightful owner doesn't get his/her bike back, it gives me a warm feeling to know the thief no longer has the bike.

After several incidents of retrieving bikes from thieves; all done with the help of the police, we humorously started calling our shop "Crimestopper Bike Shop" whenever discussing issues of stolen bikes.

Recently, Tim, or as Gretchen and most women seem to call him, Timmy, came in to tell us his bike had been stolen when he was visiting his girlfriend in Santa Barbara. Hers was stolen as well. The bikes had been at the end of a long driveway and I can't remember if the bikes had been locked or were deemed safe from theft due to being not visible from the street.

About three or four weeks later, Tim's girlfriend saw what she figured may be her bike advertised on Craigslist in Santa Barbara. She contacted the seller and made arrangements to meet him at a park, (at his suggestion). Before going to meet him, she called the police and made arrangements to call them if the bike was hers. She took some friends along. The bike was hers, the cops were called, the cops came and the "seller" was taken away in handcuffs.

Good enough. Tim's bike wasn't recovered but he now has plans to give the theif an ultamatum. If he doesn't get his bike back he will resort to civil action/small claims court. I think Tim will win if comes to that.

Another happy ending.

Chuck

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Even bike shop people get excited at the prospect of a new bike or bicycle addicts

I'm thinking I need to put something up here more often or it's not interesting. This one is about a bicycle addict. We'll call her Gretchen.

I've been on a quest for something for a while now and that's what I'm going to write about tonight. Gretchen had (has) a fascination with skip tooth drive trains. We've already set up some pretty neat bikes for her. I like the fact that she is interested in riding them and in having input into the bikes and how they are designed. She's come up with bikes that are uniquely hers and have garnered compliments from lots of people. The latest project is in the works. We got her a very nice Campy skip tooth crankset, cog, bottom bracket and new old stock chain.

We had a new frame for her but it looks pretty up to date and modern. With this drive train, I am having a problem picturing it on a tig welded modern track frame. For these parts, I picture something in the way of an old lugged track frame or a newer path racer with lugs. We'll have whatever we come up with at the shop, so you'll be able to come by and see it. Keep in mind that as of this writing, we haven't come up with a frame yet. I'm talking about having it here when we figure out what kind of bike it will be.

Another bike theft story has surfaced and I want to tell the story. That will be my next post. It has a cool and happy ending.

Chuck