Stolen bike

[Shaggy]

This past weekend I had my hardtail stolen (not my K2).  Someone broke into a storage room in my basement, took the bike and a few other incidentals.  I contacted the police and received minimal help.  (Their advice after the report was to check back when they had their auction for recovered property.)
I'm in process of going to local bike shops and giving them a flyer with all the information in case it comes in.  I'm also checking classifieds and ebay for any listing.  Does anyone have any other ideas on what I can do try to find it?  
I realize that the chances of recovery are slim, but I hate sittng here with my thumb up my a__ feeling like no effort has been made.  
Insurance is no go b/c I personally don't have renters insurance (anymore) and my girlfriends policy won't take it b/c it technically wasn't hers, even though it was our apartment and I've basically given the bike to her since.  The total investment I had made is about $1600.  I hate to see that completely vanish.
Thanks for any advice...
Josh

[Matno]

How about a complete description so we know what to look for? Also, general location would be helpful. Other than that, I'm afraid there's not a whole lot that can be done. That's a real bummer. People who steal bikes ought to be shot.

[Carbon_Angus]

someone knew the bike and other things were there. think back of the people who knew you had the bike there...maybe a connection. do the other items taken point in any direction to someone in particular? i'mnot implying anything or implicating anybody but it's always the first place to start.

could be somebody who did some work on the building recently, who came back and knew exactly where to go...that's happened to me.

even if you draw a good conclusion it's doubtful you will see your bike again.

sorry about all of that

[Thunderchild]

One of our worst fears!  Check all the pawn shops you can even up to 100 miles away if feasible.  When I lived in Oregon, a 3000 f/s bike was stolen from a LBS.  It turned up in a pawnshop in Vancouver Washington a couple of days later.  

[RoentgenRanger]

While the chances of recovery are pretty slim, there is hope!  A few years back, when my wife and I still lived in the 'hood, our basement was broken into and my wife's bikes as well as my old road bike were stolen.  This happened on Veteran's Day weekend.  We filed the police report and left it at that.
About 9 months later I was returning from work and what did I see but a 13 yr. old riding around on the wife's old Hardrock!!  I called the police and detained him.  I don't think he was the one who stole it(he wasn't big enough to have caused the extensive damage to the basement door/frame).  The police showed up as did his mother and they gave me the bike on the spot.  I declined to press charges, figuring he wasn't the perp and that I'd scared the Bejeezus out of him(I'm 6'6").  So, who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and karma will be on your side [smiley=nod.gif]

[bayarearider]

Any of you guys lock your bikes even in your homes?

i am thinking about buying a lock and i'll lock it to the treadmill or something.

[zulu]

  Funny you should ask that I was thinking I am the only one that locks my bike to their rack. I have four bikes on a rack and run a cable thru them and secure it to the rack. If someone wants take them they have to take all four & the rack out of my garage without me hearing them. I guess it could happen if I was away for the weekend but I want to make it as difficult as possible. So lock your bikes!  
[smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif] [smiley=beer.gif]

[Shaggy]

The bike is a blue Caloi aluminum hardtail, which over the years I have replaced every part except the frame (XTR/XT).  I think it has ended up in the not so great parts of Cincinnati, probably sold for drugs.  
I've tried to put together a timeline of events and who was around.  I had it out during the last week of December when it was nice here.  Otherwise it had been locked up the entire time.  There is a window to the outside which is probably how it was seen, but I don't know for sure.  Reinforcing that is the fact that ours was the only storage room broken into.  We had snow on Thursday/Friday of last week and I saw tire tracks coming out from the driveway in the snow.  I thought that it was a little unusual knowing that my neighbors really don't ride, esp in this weather, but it was just a passing thought at the time.    
In hindsight, the storage room was an easy target with how the hasp was mounted and the condition of the wood.  It has been fixed since.
I honestly never thought that I would have this problem.  I live in a relatively nice area that is always quiet.  
The other things that were taken were a small amp, and a couple pairs of ski gloves...incidental as far as I'm concerned.  The person wanted to conceal the amp, so they took my ski boots out from the bag to carry the amp in.  At least they didn't get my boots.  
I thought the police sent records out to pawn shops in the area with descriptions of stolen bikes, but after my experience with the infamous Cincinnati Police, I'd better just do it myself.

[Carbon_Angus]

if you do go to the pawn shops, don't tell them you had your bike stolen and are looking for it, or the amp or other things. just say you are looking to see if they have any bikes or amps or whatever.

the shops are not to knowingly take any hot items and if you imply that they may have something in their inventory that is stolen....you won't get much cooperation from the pawn brokers. [smiley=diaper.gif]