The aftermath.
(Photos: Wakefield Gregg)
(Photos: Wakefield Gregg)
The eBike Store on N. Vancouver Street and Alberta was burglarized early this morning. Owner Wakefield Gregg says thieves threw a brick through one of his storefront windows and took a bike valued at $1,800.
This is the second smash and grab at a North Portland bike shop in less than a month. On February 27th, thieves broke into Cascade Cycling which is just a few blocks north of The eBike Store.
The bike stolen from The eBike Store is a blue eZee Sprint step-through and Gregg says the thieves didn’t steal a charger or a battery so “they might not be enjoying the bike to its fullest potential.”
If you see a bike that looks like the one below (but with blue paint and no battery), contact wake@ebikestore.com.
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Thanks for broadcasting this, Jonathan. Hopefully someone will recognize this distinctive bike and report it. That’s a busy corner with a bus stop; maybe there were even some witnesses.
oh, NO! wake is the nicest guy. and that bike is sweet; every time i stopped by i coveted it. man, i hope this is what insurance is for. 🙁
What a drag – hopefully the bike is retrieved very soon.
At least it’s pretty distinctive … and slow without a battery. 😉
Mine eyes are open.
Oh man! What a nightmare. I’m so sorry Wake. What a nightmare for you. I hope the D-Bags get what the deserve.
Is it just me or are there a bunch of smash-and-grabs like this happening lately?
p.s. Wakefield if you find a serial number for that bike, drop it here in the comments please.
Haha, a bike without a battery is worthless! Uh…wait…
hope that crack kills them.
Sorry that you are dealing with this frustrating & costly hassle.
Looks like bicycles are popular.
With so many cyclists, and thus bikes, in Portland it’s easy to fence a bike without fear of it being tracked back to you.
As the mode split edges more towards bikes from cars we can expect a bike theft trend to closely match auto theft.
So as cycling becomes more popular we are left with an important question: how do we discourage bicycle thefts without some draconian DMV style registration system?
With all of the new business’s in the area I would think the business aliance for the area would put some pressure on the police for more affective patrols in the area. Maybe this would be a good area for some bicycle patrols, they could approach suspects in a stealthier mode. This area is also very grafiti prone, those guys seam to be real hard to catch
No doubt they will find this one near the bottom of a hill because of no battery
@ Q’Tzal:
It seems to me there are two ways to look at your question.
One is, we don’t step up bike security and reduce theft WITHOUT enacting a more rigid (um, I believe your word was “draconian”) system of bicycle registration and tracking, similar to the VIN numbers found on automobiles. Keys to taking this set of steps would include getting bike makers, retailers, consumers and law enforcement on board — and passing effective legislation to ensure that enforcement actually happens.
Without making bicycle security more of a priority I frankly don’t see this happening anytime soon.
(Consider how slow state and local governments have been to enact and enforce bike laws that protect bike RIDERS…)
Another way to look at this is to suggest that a lack of systemic protection and enforcement is perhaps part of the price we pay for greater personal freedom and less scrutiny as bicycle owners and operators. More freedom for you and me means more freedom for would-be bike thieves, too.
The question is, which would most people rather live with — greater personal freedom in exchange for more government involvement, or greater protection from thieves in exchange for less personal freedom? And how many people think that the latter would actually provide greater protection from theft and/or greater likelihood of recovery of stolen bikes?
IMHO the psychology of this argument, especially as it pertains to adult bicyclists, is worth a closer look.
Correction to last entry — I meant to ask:
“greater personal freedom in exchange for LESS government involvement” in the last paragraph.
I am really bummed to hear about this strike on another shop. The E-bike store is a GREAT shop and Wake is bar none one of the nicest bike shop owners I have ever met in Pdx. Let’s hope these types of crimes end and this criminal is brought to justice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP1-6GYO0nY
OK!!! the frame looks to be the same, I can’t really tell..
I just saw this bike on killingsworth like 10 min. ago, and filmed it, put it up 5 seconds ago. I can’t tell what the deal is with this bike but it looks like the parts may have been swapped(I don’t know how the thieves work), and it looks like this still isn’t the bike because the spot in back can’t fit a battery or can it? The frame is definitely blue!!
the rear looks to be different…
I just realized that motorized bicycles are motorcycles.
I worked in a shop where our front window was broken out three times in one month. We never had a bike stolen because we did two things.
1. Had a very loud alarm.
2. At the close of business each day we locked up all the bikes.
So what measures did this owner take to protect his inventory?
Do they have an alarm?
Do they have security cameras?
Do they lock the bikes during the time the business is closed?
Could serial numbers be more prominent and easy to copy down and register?
I mean, most of the cost at DMV is the paperwork, but if we had a way of registering, voluntarily, online – this is my new bike, this is its registration number here’s some other information that proves I’m me…
and it’d be searchable, whether the bike is reported stolen or not.
Or would this be a violation of privacy like gun rights advocates say registering fire arms is?
Hello PDX Bike Community,
We would like to thank all who have lent their encouraging words, hearts & hands in helping us through this burglary. Your kindnesses have touched us deeply and while it is funny to say, your support has, from our point of view, turned a dark event into a brightness. Thank you.
Johnnie, thanks for taking that video! i have seen that bike (I believe it lives on Albina) and it does look very similar. but the prodigal eZee has a seat that flips up so that a battery can slide down the extended frame in front of the rear wheel.
I have some photos on the way and will have a serial number shortly (there was a paperwork mixup and the SN was doubled in our system – we are verifying shipping records)
We also have video footage that should be released shortly.
Thanks again to all, I am continually inspired by seeing how well you folks live your values.
All the best,
Wake
Owner
The eBike Store
Thieves suck!!!
Sorry about the loss Wake and eBike Store. 🙁
Johnnie O.: it’s not the same bike, there’s no curve to the down tube… similar though…
but it’s a nice bike that somebody spray-painted… it just screams “stolen”…
(awaiting forum activation)
Burglar bars?
It’s not blue, but this ad and bike look pretty suspect to me. It appears to be an ebike without a battery, and could have been easily spraypainted. Does craigslist have a way to track the poster?
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/1672659888.html
Hey Reopmok,
Thanks for keeping a lookout! The stolen bike looks exactly like that one, but blue. Same model. However, that bike is legitimate – It was in a small accident and the driver’s insurance paid for it to be rebuilt, and so it has a great new powdercoat finish. It is an incredible deal and the lady selling it is super sweet. I am betting she needs the capital to start a business she is about to launch.
A customer had a white one similar to that one stolen a few weeks back, so if you see a white one with two tubes on the downtube, let me know!
Thanks again for looking out for us~!
All the best,
Wake
Owner
The eBike Store
Possibly would have had the bike back sooner if it had listed here / at stolen bike registry site.
Why don’t people do that?