Levo Gen 2 Alas another stolen Turbo Levo thread-Please Help.....

[veryoldfart]

Yesterday my wife got a 1'" stone jammed between her rear tyre & sicom frame guard and her bike stopped dead. She was s thrown off and bashed her head and shoulder ( she's only 70 in two days) ! It hurt her today and so when we met a friend for a days riding, she decided to get it checked out at A & E. The car with her bike (double Kryptonite locked) was parked outside our friends house in Sheffield for two hours. When we got back, it was gone, with both locks cast aside and clearly professionally cut. South Yorkshire Police were a joke. "No we will not send anybody unless you have a neighbour's CCTV footage", even though we had a description of the two lowlife, plus there is a hidden airtag fitted on the bike...

We spent the rest of the afternoon, touring some " interesting :" areas of Sheffield trying to get an up to date signal from the airtag, but it looks like the bike is now hidden inside a container as the last contact was registered an hour+ earlier, than our search.

This is definitely NOT a stock Turbo Levo and easily distinguishable.

Its a Size Small Blue (with white Specialized lettering) 2019 Comp carbon with invisiframe fitted plus the following changes:

Santa Cruz 29" Reserve carbon rims with newish Schwalbe tyres on Hope Hubs
Nukeproof carbon handlebars fitted with Aegon grips (essential for oldies like us)
2022 160mm Fox 36 Kashima fork (decals removed)
Shimano XT ( not SRAM ) front and rear 4 pot brakes and rotors
Shimano XT ( not SRAM) 11 speed chain, Shifters and rear derailleur
Sicom Rear protector plus mudhugger mudguard
Fox Transfer dropper post
A "ladies" type saddle
Hope handlebar light fitting

IOW this does'nt look like, nor is it, the "out of the box" Turbo Levo.
The frame number is WSBC604465273N
Specialized have been advised via the selling dealership.

If anybody gets any info on its location please mail me via EMTB. There will be a reward from me that you will enjoy for your postive help in locating this. We don't expect to see this lovely bike (that my wife treasured) ever again, but would love to see the scumbags who did this apprehended

Please help

VOF

 

[Planemo]

Bastards.

Deffo need hands cutting off. Or at least a few digits to make them think twice about doing it again.

Re the police, I kinda see where they are coming from despite you, I or anyone else getting their bike nicked not being happy about it. CCTV would be a minimum requirement to get the case moving anywhere. Descriptions can be taken over the phone and do the police even get involved with airtags?

But yeah, one thing I would like to have seen done was for at least a local PCSO to do some local house to house enquires. If there was a fair bit of noise made (I suspect there was) theres every chance someone twitched a curtain. Were the scumbags covered head to toe? Wearing gloves? A nosy neighbour may have seen a van reg (if they used one).

If you have descriptions I presume you have already done your own local enquiries though? Even then, I would still prefer old bill to do it, sometimes people are a little freer with info. Or not, depending on whether you are a 'free man of the land' or an 'auditor'.

 

[veryoldfart]

Yes, already checked. Checked with all the neighbours. Two saw a couple of " 30 years old males with grey hoodies" checking out the bike... ( why didnt they even ask what they were doing?). Then they went, but seem to have came back later, all done in just a very few minutes.

There is just one issue here. If we can identify where the bike is located. Will they actually intervene to recover or sit on their hands again?

Lessons for you all.

Dont, dont, dont, ever rely on Kryptonite cable or even those huge Kryptonite thick locks- they just sliced through both of them and set them aside...

The airtag is still tracking and it may take us a few days to find out where it might be, but even if we do, I very much doubt the Police will even bother to spend a few minutes to investigate and try and recover. Its no wonder criminals make so much money - there is no effective deterrence against criminality in UK today. The fact that we still even refer to "Old Bill" makes me cringe. There was a time when the long arm of the law meant something.

Today, whilst we we searching the last known location, one owner of a property said the trouble today is that the Police dont know anything about Policing they are just social workers. As much as Suella Bravermann is a detestable individual, Its sadly true that the Police spend more time worrying about social issues rather than dealing with basic knicking criminals.

Its not the replacement price. That should mostly be covered by insurance ( but I expect them to wriggle).

But, my wife loved that bike. She was pleased and proud to have done the rides she did. She feels violated.

My offer to anyone who can help identify its location still stands

Angry VOF

 

[Planemo]

There is just one issue here. If we can identify where the bike is located. Will they actually intervene to recover or sit on their hands again?

They will intervene, providing the accuracy is decent. And of course assuming they have someone free but that might be unusual given that most forces have had their numbers decimated.

If the accuracy is say 2 or 3 houses they won't have justification to smash in 2 or 3 doors. They can knock, but will a criminal say 'yeah sorry mate the bikes out the back, I'll just go get it ya'.

If it pings to a relatively remote lock-up you might be lucky.

 

[Nicho]

My offer to anyone who can help identify its location still stands

One would hope that any EMTB owner helping to find your bikes would not want a reward and would just do it for the satisfaction of getting your property back to you, and hopefully assisting the police to apprehend the thieves!

 

[Repsol]

Wot we need to do is set a decoy and lay in wait for the fucking bastards. Put the scum in hospital, no scrap that, why put more strain on our NHS. Leave the bastards to crawl back to where they came from.
I hope you get it back, my heart goes out to you. As for the coppers I'd report them so they have to investigate it., total waste of time. I too have been a victim in the past when we had our house burgled.

 

[Plutohora]

When did it last ping and location?

 

[veryoldfart]

Good news and bad news.

Despite my fear that the police would not do too much, I was wrong. My wife emailed the neighbourhood Inspector and she passed it on to some of her team. Net result on Wenesday, when the bike started being moved around, we contacted them and four South Yorks Constabulary officers helped us try to find the bike based on updated tracker signals. We think the last place we went was possibly where we missed it, as it may have been driven away from a house opposite, whilst the tracker indicated it was on the other side of the road.
Cannot fault the boys in blue. They did everything possible and were genuinely trying to help find it.

But, alas the tracker went dead until the next day and then gave out its last identified position. I went there in the pouring rain on Thursday, got totally drowned and found nothing. Its not changed its last location since then, so I think we can assume the tracker has been found and removed.

Very much doubt we will ever see it again.

Moral & lessons learned.

Dont leave your bike unattended on a rack -even when locked with a big lock in an urban environment. Remove the battery (less attractive as another thing to be purchased to make it sellable (& expensive)).

Thanks for all your support

Fit multiple trackers.

Never assume because its parked outside your friends house, its safe.

 

[Plutohora]

Oh man

Will the airtag work with android?

One thing I always say- never leave your mountain bike or motorbike unattended at motorway services. Always leave someone with it. Never on a roof rack outside a pub post night ride etc.

 

[veryoldfart]

I think airtags work with both Apple and Android, but others will know for sure.

 

[Bhutanbob]

City of London Police have a great video covering bike locks on youtube. I suggest you get acquainted with it and research lock pickers to understand how much security each bike lock provides and research how to correctly use a bike lock to lock to posts and railings. In summary, most cable locks only take a few seconds to cut. D locks depending on the size and brand can be either cut or need a grinder. A high tensile chain can only be removed with a grinder taking two cuts. All locks can be picked within the time it takes to use a grinder provided the thief has the skill. Its a personal choice what security to use in the situation. Inside a car and covered or better still inside a house is best. I use two high tensile security chains on the occasion I use a bike rack. A GPS tracker with a data subscription is better than an air tracker in sending out an accurate location but its larger and harder to hide. My bike shop suggested insuring the bike and forgetting about it being stolen...haha!

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Cannot fault the boys in blue. They did everything possible and were genuinely trying to help find it.

It should be noted that only after she got in touch with an inspector.
Which is something we do hear about often. Cops say theres little they can do, until the victim contacts the brass or their local MP then all of a sudden theres a team of officers working on it.

 

[57 Reaction]

City of London Police have a great video covering bike locks on youtube. I suggest you get acquainted with it and research lock pickers to understand how much security each bike lock provides and research how to correctly use a bike lock to lock to posts and railings. In summary, most cable locks only take a few seconds to cut. D locks depending on the size and brand can be either cut or need a grinder. High tensile chain can only be removed with a grinder taking two cuts. All locks can be picked within the time it takes to use a grinder provided the thief has the skill. Its a personal choice what security to use in the situation. Inside a car and covered or better still inside a house is best. I use two high tensile security chains on the occasion I use a bike rack. A GPS tracker with a data subscription is better than an air tracker in sending out an accurate location but its larger and harder to hide. My bike shop suggested insuring the bike and forgetting about it being stolen...haha!

High tensile chains can be cut with bolt croppers in seconds, I have the evidence (and sadly very little else) in my garage.

 

[steve_sordy]

Register your bike with immobilise.com

The National Property Register, for Phones, Gadgets, Bicycles & More...

www.immobilise.com

It will not prevent a theft, but it may make it marginally harder to dispose of, with a small risk of capture.

 

[Plutohora]

Does anyone use the Samsung Smart Tag+?