Lock and keep your bikes indoors!

Rare $8000 bike stolen

By Joyce Lim
June 02, 2007



And two wheels, it seems, are easier to steal than four.

Thieves are targeting high-end bicycles that are easy to dispose of.

In some cases, the bicycles are dismantled and the parts sold to different people.

This makes them hard to track down.

Last week, someone broke into the compound of a double-storeyed terrace house in the east and stole a US-made mountain bike valued at more than $8,000.

The bike was left outside the house, covered and chained to a grille door.

The owner was in Jakarta on business at the time. His Filipino maid discovered the loss on 24 May.

The owner, who wanted to be known only as Morten, said: 'My maid found the big chain lock broken on the floor and my bike gone.

She called me in Jakarta and I called the police immediately. I flew back the next day.'

Mr Morten, 41, who works in the telecommunications industry, moved here from Denmark two years ago.

He and other biking enthusiasts go cycling every Saturday morning in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

He had paid about $6,200 for his Turner 5 Spot mountain bike from Hup Leong Company about 18 months ago and later spent another $2,200 to upgrade some parts.

ONLY TWO BROUGHT IN

Said Mr Gilbert Loo, 35, manager at Hup Leong: 'The size of the frame and colour of Morten's bike is rare here.

'We brought in only two such bikes at the time he bought it from us.'

Hup Leong is the sole distributor of Turner bicycles in Singapore.

Said Mr Loo: 'Last October, Morten upgraded to a complete set of Shimano 2007 XTR parts and carbon handlebars.

'It is the latest design and model now. Luckily, he upgraded only certain parts of the bike. If he had done a full upgrade, it would have cost him a five-figure sum.'

A bicycle shop owner who declined to be named confirmed that Mr Morten's bicycle is rare here.

'There are probably only two such bikes in Singapore,' she said.

'His bicycle parts have high re-sale value. There is a good re-sale market out there for high-end bikes and their parts,' she said.

Mr Morten and his wife, who have five children aged 6 to 19, have no complaints about the area they live in.

Said Mrs Morten: 'We find this neighbourhood quite safe and quiet.'

They have lived there for a year.

Mr Morten has visited the 'Thieves Market' in Sungei Road three times, hoping to find his bicycle there.

He has also gone to more than 10 bicycle shops to find out if anyone has tried to sell his bicycle or its parts and has pasted notices at the shops offering a $500 reward for anyone who finds his bike.

Another biking enthusiast, who wanted to be known only as Ron, had better luck.

He lost his $1,000 GT mountain bike last year, but found it at a used bicycle stall on Sungei Road the same day.

Recalled the 40-year-old sales manager: 'I had locked my bicycle outside my flat. It was locked with a heavy-duty, stainless steel chain. But the thief cut the chain.

'At lunch time, I decided to pop over to Sungei Road, as I have heard many stories of stolen bikes being sold there.'

He spotted his bike at one of the stalls.

'I have a colourful bike which is easily recognisable,' he said.

'I called the police, who arrived 30 minutes later. I was really panicking as someone was interested in buying my bike then.'

'When the police came, I showed them my police report. After checking the bike, they told me I could take it home. They did not arrest the seller.'

Like Ron, Mr Eric Leong also managed to recover one of his lost bikes three years ago.

Mr Leong had chain-locked his twobicycles outside his HDB unit.

He had paid $1,800 for them and he had had them for only a week before they were stolen.

Recalled Mr Leong, 62, a clerk: 'It was Saturday night and I was watching TV until about 1am.

'I checked that my bikes were still outside my flat when I turned the lights off and went to bed.'

When Mr Leong got up to use the toilet at 4am, his bicycles were gone.

Six months later, he was walking past the bicycle shop in his neighbourhood where he had bought the bikes.

'TEEN BOY INVOLVED'

Said Mr Leong: 'The owner was smiling at me when I walked towards his shop one day.

'He pointed to a bicycle and asked if I recognised it. I looked closely and realised it was my bike.

'The shop owner told me that a teenage boy had just tried to sell my bike to him, but he ran away (leaving the bike behind) when the shop owner told him I was walking towards the shop.'

Although Mr Leong managed to get the bike back, most of its expensive parts were missing.

The wheels and saddle had been replaced with cheaper ones.

Mr Leong has since bought a new bicycle, which he keeps inside his flat.