Racing bike stolen in Castledawson

Police are appealing for help to find a racing bike that was reported stolen in Castledawson at the beginning of this week.
Stolen bikeStolen bike
Stolen bike

They said: "We are currently investigating the theft of a racing bicycle in the Castledawson area sometime between 6.30pm on Monday 30th January and 7.45am the following day.

"The bike we are looking for is pictured (above), it’s an Orbea Avant M30 racing bike, black/ charcoal grey in colour with a number of distinctive features.

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"If you have any information in relation to this please contact 101 with ref 164 of 31/01/17."

The have also shared a number of tips in relation to general fitness and Apps that allow people share the routes they are taking and times they area away - as "thieves are actively using this information to target homes and places of work".

Hints and tips from the PSNI:

- Strava, mapmyrun and similar fitness apps are great for tracking your cycle routes and runs but are you aware most people don’t take much notice of their security settings? As a result they are publishing their routes including their home and place of work on the internet. Great to show the world how fit you are but thieves are actively using this information to target homes and places of work. If you must publicly publish data then make sure to set up a privacy zone on the app.

- Putting pictures of your bikes and gear on forums or social media? Do you realise if taken on a phone, most photographs contain the time, date and exact location - including a map, of where the photo was taken? By doing so you are leaving a treasure map for thieves.

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- Do you use a bike rack on your car with your expensive bikes on display? Again thieves know what they are looking for. Be aware and don’t leave everything parked outside your house on display for hours on end, including the empty bike rack!

- Secure your shed/ garage/ home against easy access and take additional measures to chain the bike up where it is stored inside. Use a proper heavy duty chain and lock from a local bike store or hardware shop and not with the ‘three padlocks for a pound’ type.

- Additional measures like CCTV, recording serial numbers, BikeRegister and electronic barcoding should be considered.

- And finally, make sure its insured!

C Section have asked that you share the tips and help make it more difficult for thieves, as "a few minutes could save you thousands of pounds".