# How can I avoid buying a stolen used bike? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-avoid-buying-a-stolen-used-bike/653475 "2013-03-20T18:26:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-avoid-buying-a-stolen-used-bike/653475/1 "2013-03-20T18:26:50Z")
My (junky old) bike was recently stolen, so I’m looking to replace it. I have a nice road bike that I keep secured; I just want something cheap I can ride in street shoes for a few miles to to the grocery store and not worry about it being a high theft target. Ideally, I’d like to not support bicycle thieves, and I get the impression that there’s a _lot_ of stolen bikes around. One thing I noticed on craigslist is that several posts mention that their bike’s tires need air. Not that they need to be replaced, but that they need to be pumped full of air. This immediately twigged my stolen-bike spidey-sense. After all, if you owned and rode this bike, surely you had a bike pump, right? I guess it could also be tubes that are totally shot, and the person trying to hide that fact. What else should I look for? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-avoid-buying-a-stolen-used-bike/653475/2 "2013-03-20T19:11:15Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > One thing I noticed on craigslist is that several posts mention that their bike’s tires need air. Not that they need to be replaced, but that they need to be pumped full of air. This immediately twigged my stolen-bike spidey-sense. After all, if you owned and rode this bike, surely you had a bike pump, right? I’d think the total opposite. _If_ I were stealing bikes, I’d try & move them out quickly. Lack of air probably means it hasn’t been riden in a while; ergo, not stolen. You don’t need to own a pump, but you can ride to a bike shop (or gas station) to get air in the tires if you’re out riding. Offer to buy it at the police station. This isn’t that uncommon to make sure your cash isn’t jacked & again, if I were selling stolen goods, this is probably not the place I’d want to do it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-avoid-buying-a-stolen-used-bike/653475/3 "2013-03-20T19:24:13Z")
Yeah, lack of air means the bike’s been sitting for a while. If you buy a used bike there’s always the chance that it’s stolen unless the seller has a receipt from buying it new. And your caution isn’t going to deter any bike thieves anyway, stolen bikes are usually kept or moved among friends. If it’s an expensive bike there may be a police report if it’s stolen, so you could check with the local police if you can grab a serial number or something, but if the seller bought it used he won’t be interested in cooperating. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-avoid-buying-a-stolen-used-bike/653475/4 "2013-03-20T19:24:28Z")
Buy from a reputable used bike shop.