Slowtwitch Forums: Triathlon Forum: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen...

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So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen...

Joe Santos

Oct 9, 08 23:06

Post #1 of 8 (637 views)

So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen...	Can't Post

Just venting here. Built Bonita (a fixie) for my wife to commute on from the shop downtown onto campus (UC Davis) where she works. Got Bonita going about 2 weeks ago, but there were still some changes I was going to make. And then, she gets ripped off today. Bummer. The thing has the coolest freaking rear wheel ever. Took our master wheel builder 5 hours to build. It was truly his piece de resistance. The wheel incorporated crow's foot, radial, tied & soldered, 3 leading/3 trailing and twisted spokes. All on one wheel. Gorgeous.

At least this has given me a new hobby. I'm spending about 4 hours a day lurking on the campus - waiting and watching for somebody to ride by on Bonita. Going to bring Bonita home.

Anybody else have similar stories to share? How about theft stories with a happy ending?

_______________________________

-Joe S.

Davis Wheelworks
http://www.daviswheelworks.com
Davis, CA

The NorCal Tri, TT and Road Source For: Cervelo, Felt, Kuota, Scott, Cannondale, Look, Pinarello, Colnago, Time, Ridley, Seven. Zipp, Mavic, HED. Profile, X-Lab, Hydrotail.

Rokko

Oct 9, 08 23:41

Post #2 of 8 (617 views)

Re: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen... [Joe Santos] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hey Joe.... you have a picture to post? I'm in EG and will keep my eyes out for it. Also be sure to troll craigslist. A lot of stolen stuff ends up there.
-----

Blazeman Warrior
Wildflower Long, Big Kahuna, maybe Vineman, hopefully Alcatraz

rik

Oct 10, 08 0:06

Post #3 of 8 (601 views)

Re: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen... [Joe Santos] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Joe,

I am very sorry to hear this. A lot of us have emotional attachmenst to our bikes way beyond that of our other "stuff".

Bike thieves are scum.

Best of luck. In the meantime, it's OK (and even healthy) to indulge in vengeance fantasies. And who knows, you may get lucky.

I'll keep a look out around town.

Rik

Nitrox73

Oct 10, 08 6:20

Post #4 of 8 (457 views)

Re: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen... [rik] [In reply to]	Can't Post

x2 --->Bike thieves are scum.

Years ago I was traveling around Europe. We had been in some seedy parts of Europe before we went to Slovenia. When we arrived in Slovenia the embrassy warned us of a "major crime wave" currently going on in the capital. They went on to say the government was really putting some time into curbing the "crime wave." Having just left Naples Italy we were thinking the very worst; murder, kidnapping, rape, or something along those lines. No, they said there were a large number of bicycles being stolen and the government wouldn't tolerate it. I had to laugh and think 'to me this would be a major crime, but at home in the US this wouldnt even make the last line of the last page of the paper.'

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Southern Indiana Triathlon Team- Sponsored by TriSports.com, Rudy Project, Swift Athletics, Top Spot Outdoors

jaybike

Oct 10, 08 7:54

Post #5 of 8 (355 views)

Re: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen... [Joe Santos] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Years ago my wife and I had returned home after a group ride. We got busy and I forgot to unload the bikes out of the bed of the truck. I had parked in the driveway next to the house under one of those motion lights. I guess the light came on and the theives could see pretty well to work the fork mount and assemble the front wheel back on the fork. Well, the next morning everything was gone -- both bikes, helmets, shoes. I filed a police report with pictures and receipts of the bikes. My homeowners policy paid for new bikes.
Flash forward about nine months. I'm sitting in my house one day visiting with some friends. I just happen to look out the window and see a guy walking along pushing a bike. I stand up to get a better look and then it hits me -- That my bike! I run out to meet him on the sidewalk. I confronted him and asked him where he got the bike. His response was that he had borrowed it. Yeah right! I told him it was mine and that I had pictures of me riding on it and a copy of the police report from when I reported it stolen. I even told him the quick story about the broken tab on the Time pedals. After that, the guy says I can have the bike and drops it and runs off. My wife had called the police when I ran outside. They showed up an hour later. The officer told me I had guts to confront a thug like that. I presented the officer with the report and he closed the case.
I cleaned up the bike and sold it. Never found the wifes bike.

There is hope you bike will be found. Good luck.
High-five myself, no friends.

drfunk000

Oct 10, 08 8:00

Post #6 of 8 (336 views)

Re: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen... [Joe Santos] [In reply to]	Can't Post

You should also check ebay. In college, a friend of mine crashed his bike. He parked in a motorcycle spot in the parking structure behind the engineering school and made arrangements for the local performance shop to pick up the bike so it could be fixed. They showed up but there was no bike!

I told him to check Ebay - he did, and found his bike! It was pretty easy to pick out with the damaged front end. He never did get the bike back as the police held it as evidence and let the heads rust in a parking lot... BUT... they did get the guy that did it. He was from a town about an hour and a half away, and the cops had evidence of at least 3 other motorcycles he'd stolen and stripped. With such a unique rear wheel you'd definately be able to identify your bike on Ebay.

Good luck

trexleradam

Oct 10, 08 8:26

Post #7 of 8 (290 views)

Re: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen... [Joe Santos] [In reply to]	Can't Post

When I was living in London I had two fixies stolen in a month. The first one was a beautiful, all chrome Schwinn frame with red accents, made the year I was born, and it'd taken me a year of hunting to get it perfectly right. Schwinns were never sold in England, so I spent literally years hoping I'd see that frame. Then I figured, hey, I still need a commuter, so I bought a really nice off the peg fixie. Gone in a week and a half, with pieces of the $100 lock exploded all over the road. It took me a long time to get over that run of bad luck.
Here's to finding it, but remember that ultimately it's just stuff, even if it's really nice stuff. And yes, bicycle thieves are worse than horse thieves, if you ask me!
I think the only good side of this is that then you get to start building another, if you can still afford it. Best of luck, though.

rubberband

Oct 17, 08 10:53

Post #8 of 8 (126 views)

Re: So my wife's unfinished fixie (Bonita) was just stolen... [Joe Santos] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Suck. Sorry to hear that, Joe. There've been a couple posts from the cycling team of stolen bikes lately, someone definitely is casing the campus for good looking stuff. The thieves have moved upmarket, it seems.