My Quest got stolen in Australia

[frankvl]

My brand new Quest (v3) got stolen in Melbourne a few days ago; if you bought or see a secondhand one, please contact me or the police. They probably moved it to another city and might wait a while to sell it. I live with just my bike and hammock, so it was a very personal loss (it's because I believe using money is unethical as the value completely depends on exploitation).

It can be recognized by the heavily scratched up rear part of the frame. This is because of badly designed temporary homemade panniers that I ended up using too long due to travel time constraints. Of course, if it's sprayed over, this is even more suspicious. The rear brake is worn out and the cable frayed, although they might have fixed that up. It also misses some of the original nuts and bolts of the seat. (The assembly manual is really poor and some nuts/bolts didn't match any holes properly; there's also no loctite or anything on there, so my seat fell apart within 2 days of touring; Cruzbike didn't reply on my message asking about how/where to buy spare parts).

If you bought it and plan to keep it, remember that it is illegal to own stolen goods (it has been reported), even if you don't know about it or if they showed a fake proof of ownership. If you contact me I'll refund a significant amount.

 

[frankvl]

It only fits the small

It only fits the small wheels.

 

[Vargas]

I am very sorry for you

Hope you find it.

"I believe using money is unethical" and " I'll refund a significant amount" sounds to me like a contradiction...

 

[chrisblessing]

Wondering the same...

I empathize with your loss, but wonder how you came by the bike yourself? Good luck in hunting down the perpetrato

 

[peteg]

I have sent you a pm.

I have sent you a pm.

 

[frankvl]

So my bike got sold on ebay

So my bike got sold on ebay for $350.. There was nothing I could do.

I obtained the bike with my hard earned money; salaries aren't very high in Europe. It took me a year to decide to spend all that money on a bike, only because it was going to be my travel partner for at least the next 10 years (which turned out to be less than 4 months).

What I meant is that I avoid spending money where possible, because western jobs are not a compensation for what we do to this world, they are just there to increase consumption and misery for everyone.

 

[Dudley]

Don't give up

You should contact the police and EBay. The seller has been active for a while so probably isn't a fly-by-nighter. You may have trouble proving that it was your bike but you should try. Don't give up!

 

[lalbander]

details

Do you still have the serial number of your bike?

 

[Shahmatt]

ebay policy on stolen

ebay policy on stolen goods:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/stolen.html

Wise is the person who learns to be happy by spending in moderation.

I do hope though that you realize that we as humans must consume to some extent in order to survive. It is perhaps consumption for the sake of consuming that can lead to unhappiness. But we all have our vices. Some people spend too much. Some eat too much. Some smoke too much. Some drink too much. Some even spend too little. All of this can lead to unhappiness. I think the key is moderation.

I hope you are not against money, or the concept of money. Money is a natural product of an economy. To not have money is to limit our lives to barter trading. E.g: Say I want your recumbent, but I've only got bread to give you, but you prefer fish instead of bread - so how do we deal? It's tough to live in a world like this. Money helps with that intermediate trade. It is nature's intermediate trading good.

It is possible that you are miscategorizing the money we use in daily life (fiat paper money) as real natural money. In the US for the longest time legal money was based on the real goods of nature - gold and silver. Money was "scarce" and maybe overindulgence with money was not so easy to do. But now through all manner of skullduggery that government and central bank has substituted true money for paper money backed by the whim and fancy of what is alleged to be a powerful economy. There are consequences to this - some realized, others not realized yet.

So anyway, imho - money is fundamentally a good thing.

I hope justice is served regarding your bike.

 

[lalbander]

Hi Frankvl,I bought your

Hi Frankvl,
I bought your bike on ebay.
Neither I nor the seller knew at the time that it was stolen.
The seller is an honest person who bought your bike legitimately.
Now the transaction has been cancelled and she will return your bike to you.
Be nice to her!
And in future, lock your bike to something solid with a good quality lock.
Look after your bike, and write down the serial number.

 

[John Tolhurst]

lalbander, Thanks for

lalbander, Thanks for that.

I think we would all be impressed by your scrupulous honesty and integrity.

John Tolhurst

 

[frankvl]

A local friend is arranging

A local friend is arranging to pick it up, then I'll still have to ship it over for $300, but I'm very happy and grateful! My bike is an extension of myself and I use it throughout the day almost every day, so I was literally heartbroken. I appreciate it very very much that it's handed back to me! I've been nice to the ebay seller, I think.

I didn't have a good lock at the time because I'm traveling the world and it's very difficult to travel by plane with the bike and everything I own; I have to make a lot of sacrifices, and so I had a cable lock to save weight; also just because I got it for free otherwise I would have never used a combination lock. I already bought a U lock for the new DIY bike I've been working on. I'm not sure with which bike I'll continue my travels; of course the cruzbike is much better, but since the other bike is already almost finished I might continue that and have the cruzbike send to the Netherlands, where I'll get back to in a year or 2. My concern is that in South America the flashy cruzbike might arouse a little more attention from muggers, and I hear it's almost impossible to get any other parts than for mountain bikes, and since I will be using the Quest for the rest of my life until it's completely irreparable, I might as well wear out the other bike in the meantime. Of course I will write down the frame number this time, and mark the frame that it's not for resale - ever.

 

[Shahmatt]

Glad to hear that you are

Glad to hear that you are getting your bike back.

Consider these options to reduce the chances of getting it stolen.

Ugly your bike:
http://lifehacker.com/396527/ugly-your-bike-to-deter-thieves

Use Anti-theft rust stickers:
http://dominicwilcox.com/portfolio/anti-theft-carbike-device/

Using a cheap, battery powered, vibration sensitive alarm:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bicycle-Bike-Car-Files-Anti-Lost-Burglar-Security-Alarm-/390753797996?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5afabdc76c

I use the alarm with two cheap cable locks. I keep the second one somewhat hidden but the first one nice and exposed. My theory is that if a bike thief were to cut through one, he'd set off the alarm and be thwarted by the second lock getting in the way when trying to pedal away from me. The Cruzbike's unique design may also be helpful in preventing thieves from getting away too quickly.

 

[The Nice Ebay Lady]

Glad You Are Getting Your Bike Back

I am the ebay Lady that sold your Bike and now am arranging with your friend to get it back to you.
I canceled the transaction with the buyer and refunded the payment to them.
I am also in the process of arranging with a friend of Franks to have the bike delivered to her.
My husband will drop it off sometime next week.
I am not taking any money for the bike and i am not asking Frank to be compensated for any losses that i might have incurred.
I did buy the bike legitimately, and had no idea it was stolen.
Make sure you lock your bike up in future, so this will not happen again.
I am just happy you are getting your bike back Frank and i wish you all the best.

 

[Vargas]

There is still hope for a better world

Congratulations to all people involved on how this was peacefully solved.

Frankvl, you have a miss concept about South America. There are good and bad people all over the world. Fortunately more good than bad. And in South America you will find much more good people than bad. And riding a recumbent draws attention and makes it much easier to get involved with locals, besides the fact a recumbent is not so attractive (except in Australia ) for smugglers, and it is much more comfortable for a long trip than a DF bike.

Your concerns about parts is relevant, mainly because of the 451 wheel. 451 tires and rims are impossible to find in SA. But road and MTB parts are available.
If I was going to go for a trip around the world with a Quest I would install a regular hub and a front derailleur instead of the SRAM DD, and 559 wheels with Schwalbe Marathons.

Let me know when you are around at Rio de Janeiro and I'll find a place for you to stay without spending any money.

 

[John Tolhurst]

kindred spirits

Here's the backstory.

I was visiting a friend in the country a couple of weeks ago and met up with Geoff again, after not seeing him for quite a few years. Geoff is very unassuming but does confess to having lived in a hammock with a bike for transport for a two year period in India. Obviously Geoff and Frank are kindred spirits.

Imagine my surprise when just a few weeks later Geoff phones me to say he'd just bought a Quest for $350, and that he had been digging around the forum, happened by chance on this very thread, and so discovered that he might have unwittingly bought Frank's stolen bike. Geoff, being the humble and honest man he is, spoke to the ebay selling and between the two of them reversed the sale to allow the bike to be returned.

He called again this morning and I lent him a Quest for a couple weeks. I hope he likes it!

 

[Kim Tolhurst]

well,

there you go, I offered today to box Frank's Quest, in Melbourne, when the time comes for its sending to the Netherlands where he assures us he will spend the rest of his life trying to wear it out.

cheers,

Kim.

 

[hurri47]

pants on fire

"The Cruzbike's unique design may also be helpful in preventing thieves from getting away too quickly."

Gee, I've been hearing lately how Cruzbikes are no harder to learn to ride than anything else. It's a good sales pitch, but one that Every Single One of us knows is more wishful thinking than anything else.

This thread has warmed the very bottom of my heart, though, and my wish is that all principals should live long and prosper.

-Dan

 

[jimbo3b]

I love this community!

This is a great story.

 

[John Tolhurst]

"The Cruzbike's unique design

"The Cruzbike's unique design may also be helpful in preventing thieves from getting away too quickly."

First class security relies on something you are, something you know and something you have. In this case the 'something you know' is the few simple measures that allow you to learn quickly. Without that it might be hard. On the other hand, those youngsters are annoyingly talented and I have seen many simply hop on and disappear away! And even some older ones. Youth is all in the mind (he says, rationalising desperately).