Condition of Bicycle / Distinguishing Features:
Small Women's bicycle - dark purple with outlined lettering in black+white - with large Wald twin basket (13.5 in x 6.25 in x 11 in) on back. Yellow "I [tomato] my farmer" bumper sticker aligned with long axis on top of top tube, and a small ~1.5 inch square Brown University DPS sticker on front fork, as well as the small square yellow sticker of "East Providence Cycles" atop the lower tube, near the lower end. These stickers may well be gone by now. Seatpost is secured with Allen bolt, not quick-release. Wheels are still quick-release. Cylindrical magnet on front wheel spoke and bracket on handlebars for speedometer; front-light bracket and (recently dented by unknown manner) black bell also on handlebars. (order: Left - bell - frontlight bracket - Center - speedometer bracket - Right) Black water-bottle carrier bolted to frame.
Very good condition - corners of front tires still have some hairs. All functionality (steering, gear mechanism, etc.) excellent; the chain shows small spots of rust upon close inspection, but it looks shiny from a distance. Steering cables have considerable give - can be pulled about an inch perpendicularly from tube.) Minor but noticeable scrapes of paint from sides of top (and bottom?) tubes. Numerous small fractures in the plastic sheathing of brake/steering cables near handlebars (location of maximum curvature and strain) - these fractures appear slightly brown due to incipient rust of cables.
The top picture shows the bicycle when I originally bought it; the bottom is a more recent photo since moving to Chicago (but before adding the bright yellow Farmers Market sticker).
Incident Description
Which type of area was your bike stolen from?:
How was the bike locked?:
Bike was locked only to itself, through one or both wheels.
How long was the bike locked in this location?:
up to 15.75 hours (5:45 PM Oct. 18 to ?? before 9:30 AM Oct. 19)
Incident Description:
The bicycle was locked to itself (through both wheels) by a large-diameter cable with a bag covering the seat around 5:45 PM Monday, Oct. 18, 2011. By 9:30 AM the next morning it was gone, as was the body of the lock (I did not check the dumpsters!! duh.), but two irregular pieces from the plastic casing of the lock mechanism were on the ground, as was the plastic bag that had been tied over the seat. Thus the lock seems to have been broken at the point of the locking mechanism.
The bicycle was not locked to any objects because 1) there were no convenient secure objects, and 2) this was in a fenced backyard with an automatically locked door. The fact that the lock was broken exactly at the scene suggests that it might not have been someone who lived there - they could easily have carried it into their apartment and broken/picked the lock in privacy. That said, the bicycle's location was sheltered from view of most of the other residents' porches by a fire escape, although it was in full view of back windows of another apartment complex.
