Anti Bike Pjorn -- aka thieves suck --

Man, that sucks...

Thanks for the tips.

I got a call about a month ago that our garage door was up, and had been all day while we were at work.  Not sure how it got left up.

All I could think about is the 15k worth of bikes, race wheels, power tools.  AND the fact you could also get into the house with the computers/Ipad, Ipods, golf clubs, wife's bling...

It was such a releife to get home and see the bikes and wheels where they should be.

ETA:  I guess the standard procedure now it to keep an eye on ebay or craig's list to see if it shows up.

We've had occasional rashes of theft in our 'hood and the garage is a very easy target.  My whole LIFE is in that garage, I would just die, and of course it's attached to the house.  The garage door goes to the porch, and the house door is locked at that point, but I don't think breaking into a house while hidden in the porch from anyone seeing/hearing you would be that hard.

That's very scary about your wife and daughter being home. I am sure you're grateful it was just a quick grab and they didn't go into the house!

Hope you find the stuff - I hope those b@stards are caught.

Yes there should be a rider available for your bikes just like the one you have for your wife's ring.

I have both of my bikes scheduled on my homeowners policy, costs around $35 a year. Benefits...

1. State value coverage, both are covered for $2,500, I get a check for $2,500 no depreciation.

2. No deductible.

3. Covered for "all perils". This one is kinda tricky, but a homeowners policy usually covers personal property for stated risks. So for a bike theft and fire are stated risks. However it doesn't cover anything that isn't specifically stated, so say you crashed and broke your carbon frame, or say you lost your bike but it wasn't stolen (fell off a bike rack on the road), without a rider these things would most likely not be covered. The rider gives your item coverage for anything except what is specifically stated. So anything at all that could happen to a bike aside from the few things they list like nuclear war. 

So for me, I know for sure my homeowners would not cover a crash on my carbon bike, but with the rider it is covered. I call, they send a check for $2,500 with no deductible. Definitely worth the $35 a year.

Give your agent a call and see if they can get you set up.

Tip for the wise, many different items can be scheduled, for instance I have two bikes, my wife's valuable jewelry, my guns, and even our iPhones scheduled on our policy. The iPhone insurance is great, it runs about $35 a year per phone, much cheaper than insurance through the carrier and if the phone stops working, gets dropped, gets wet, anything... I get a check in the mail for $600 to go buy a new phone. Pretty sweet deal!

Thieves Suck!  

Cariggers used to be a good resource to watch for your stolen stuff.  You could search nationwide or just your state and not have to check each one individually.  Craigslist got a bug up their butt and decided that search engines like that can't repost their info.  Tried to say that the postings people put up were their intellectual property.

The camera is probably shutting the  barn door after the horse got out.  BUT, I have been meaning to at least install the motion sensor light to discourage any shinanigans at night. 

I also double/triple check to see the garage door is closed now.  Here's the catch with mine.  Somehow the laser that detects something under the door got knock out of allignment, so the door would close, then go back up on it's own.  I drove away watching it close, but it opened when I sped away.  Fixed it and the problem, but still wait for it to close and stay closed for a couple seconds.

This ultimately sucks the big one! Maybe it was mentioned earlier or you already know: check craigslist often and expand the search to adjacent regions. Typically grab and go thieves are not that sophisticated and probably not aware of what they have value-wise. Not likely to be a person into cycling/tri.

There was an earlier post/video of a guy who tracked down his bike on cl and got it back. Personally, I had a stereo stolen back in the mid '90s while in college. The knucklehead pawned it at a local resale shop and wrote his name on the ticket. No such thing as cl back then. Vigilance returned the purloined goods and sent the knucklehead to jail.

Just because the insurance company pays up, don't stop looking for your gear. You may be able to save someone else from a similar fate.

Here's what I know for sure.....if you lock your car and home AT ALL TIMES you have a much better chance of not being a victim.  Most thieves are creatures of opportunity.  Where I work heroin junkies are responsible for the overwhelming majority of thefts.....either from cars or from burglarizing homes/garages......I doubt I'd be overstating it to say that 80-90% of these thefts occur from unlocked vehicles or homes/garages.

As someone mentioned, have your local Police Dept. check the pawn shop databases....most states have laws that require pawn shops to keep records of not only what they take in, but who they get it from.  Those same laws require them to report to a central database.  You may not have access to the database, but the Police do.

MAKE your insurance company pay of you have "replacement cost" insurance.  When our home burned we lost everything....we had "replacement cost", but as you stated, you have to actually replace the items in order to get the full amount, otherwise they will give you a depreciated value.  If you don't actually replace the items, they will negotiate with you if you push the issue, but you have to PUSH.

Good luck.....sorry they got you.

Seriously?  I called my State Farm agent for a rider after I bought my tri bike.  Was told the bike had to be worth $3000 or more and the cost of the rider was 10% of the value annually (so minimum of $300/yr).  That is crazy to me.  If I could add for $35-40 I'd do it.