Iain Treloar throws himself headfirst into retrieving a stolen bike from “a gun-licensed outlaw” in this piece for Escape. After responding to a Facebook Marketplace ad, Treloar drives to a gritty industrial suburb of Melbourne to meet “Jack” and embark on a terrifying ride that reveals the workings of a criminal mind. A knife-edge read with a twist ending.
A small sliver of this cohort that are just elderly and bewildered – I liberated another dusty old Cannondale from one such guy, and fixed it up for a mate to ride. But usually, there’s a combination of indicators that make clear that a bike has probably been stolen: the photos are usually out of focus and poorly framed, the details in the listing are limited, and the sellers often have recent accounts under fake names.
And whenever such a bike pops up, I look at them and wonder. I wonder where the bike came from, and how it ended up being sold for a fraction of its worth, and the desperation that led to it being stolen in the first place.
More picks on bikes
Revolutions
“Joël Kyaviro has overcome violence, poverty, and the Ebola crisis to become the best cyclist to emerge from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. How far can he go?”
The Yarddogs of Northwest Arkansas
“What is never discussed in all of this hand-wringing is the fact that those dogs and their owners likely far predate the people riding their bikes here.”
Personal Belgians
“To love cycling of all sports in 2025 requires a hard look at yourself, and perhaps some special pleading..”
The Alchemists
“They led a cycling revolution in Afghanistan where women were forbidden to ride. When the Taliban returned to power, their only hope was a harrowing escape to an uncertain future.”
Into the Wind
“There is a fine line between losing yourself and finding your deepest truths.”
The West Coast’s Fanciest Stolen Bikes Are Getting Trafficked by One Mastermind in Jalisco, Mexico
“A digital sleuth named Bryan Hance has spent the past four years obsessively uncovering a bicycle-theft pipeline of astonishing scale.”
