Stolen Riese & Muller cargo bike recovered using BikeFinder tracker and app
Carl has a family cargo bike that he uses as a replacement for a car. Despite a chain lock, it was stolen at a hospital parking area in the middle of the day. Read more about the incident and how it was recovered amongst other stolen goods.
This is Carl’s story:
“We sold our car in favor of a cargo bike 2 years ago. We bought a Riese & Muller Load 75 Vario Family cargo bike. It is perfect for transporting everything because it has a tent over the cargo box. It’s a really good cargo bike at a retail price of approximately 125,000 NOK.
We use it several times a day. Since we don’t have a car, an electric cargo bike is essential for us, who live in the city with small children. We use it for nursery drop-offs, commuting to and from work, shopping trips and transporting music equipment for concerts.
We heard about BikeFinder when purchasing the bike in 2022. We chose BikeFinder because it offered better insurance rates for expensive electric bikes compared to other insurance companies. Additionally, it is nice to use the app to find the bike if you forget where it is parked or if someone else needs to pick it up from its parking location.
Stolen in broad daylight
The day it got stolen, my partner cycled to work, to the hospital, as usual and locked the bike in the dedicated bike parking area. The bike was secured with a chain lock from Abus and locked to a bike rack. When she finished work, she came out and saw that the bike was gone. There was just a small metal piece from the lock that had been cut and left behind. It was likely cut through with an angle grinder.
We immediately checked the BikeFinder app and saw that there had been movement around lunchtime, but there were only a few registered positions in the area. We searched the surroundings in case it was hidden somewhere but couldn’t find it. We then registered the theft in the BikeFinder app.
The day after the theft, I spoke with someone at BikeFinder and got instructions on how to use the tracking mode to find the bike. First, we didn’t see any new registered positions, but later in the day, I suddenly saw several new positions. Suddenly, continuous updates showed the bike was moving quickly down the highway. I contacted the police, who said they couldn’t do anything as long as the bike was moving. But they asked me to keep an eye on it and check if it stopped. Once I had clarity on the bikes location, I could call them again.
After a while, the app showed that the bike had stopped at a house in Kolbotn. I called a colleague who lives nearby, who gladly went on a reconnaissance mission. He found a hidden and dilapidated house with several vans parked outside, along with a lot of junk and tarps covering what looked like everything from cars to engines and bikes. I contacted the police once more, who requested screenshots from the BikeFinder app and said they would call back once they had an update. After some nerve-wracking minutes, the police returned my call to report they had located the bike. They had also arrested three individuals and discovered numerous other stolen items on the property. The bike was subsequently stored at a facility, where I was able to collect it a few days later.
Unfortunately, we were informed that the case against the three arrested individuals was dismissed due to lack of evidence.
BikeFinder was very helpful over the phone with instructions on how to proceed to find the bike. I spoke with them several times and felt that they did everything they could to help me. I also felt confident that if the bike had not been recovered, there would be no problem getting a new one through insurance.”
“Unfortunately theft statistics show that bike parking areas in hospitals, universities and schools are some of the the most frequent places thieves are active. If you have a bike of of value, we recommend to watch out when parking on the street, your work place or public authority parking. Like in Carl’s story, a lock is often not a big hurdle for thieves.”
– BikeFinder Team
