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Chances are, since I've told the council, the council is going to report it to either the police or the local highways agency who are responsible for the maintenance of the streets. The police will class it as found property. Usually the legalities are that if it isn't claimed within a set number of days (which they decide) it either goes to scrap, gets given to the person who reports it, or gets sold at a police auction. As for the highways agency, they'd probably do similar, but instead just impound it until someone claims it.
Basically, I've just said 'if nobody wants it, I'll have it'. Not excluding any of the above.
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Do you still have the key to the lock? From what I saw there are marks on the chain where people have tried cutting it.
But again, do you remember where exactly it is? Like even what borough? Just to make sure it's yours.
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If it is, would you be able to say where it is? Or did you not put it there? (PM from here I'd say)
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Streetview only goes to April 2018, it wasn't there then. My dad vaguely remembers it being there in 2019, it had a matching red front wheel. Other than that, there's no solid date attached to how long it's been there. I've rarely used the route it's on so I haven't been going past it regularly at all. Not enough to know enough datewise.
I also have plenty of bikes, as I said in the OP. It's not like I need another one. It would just be nice to 'recover a bike instead of having it destroyed', if you've been reading.
Not sure where the hostility's coming from. Again, I'll only touch it if the council says so. Otherwise it's staying there, and I'll forget about it. End of.
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I don't. If it really is abandoned, I want to recover a bike instead of having it destroyed, which is what most councils do when you report them.
It depends on what they say. If they don't literally say 'take it' then that's end of story.
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'What I really want to get out of this is to give the bike a good home, not have it for myself'
If they find the original owner, then great. They can have it by all means. Don't know about any of you, but I hate to see bikes like these rot in the elements.
I'm doing nothing with it, either. I am 'leaving it'. I've only taken pictures. If nobody cares about it any more (someone might, as you say - I knew this) then I do. I like saving stuff. I'm not showing off, not looking for recognition -
I was only asking, if the council asked me to take it, whether it would be worth fixing up in its current state. That's all. Heck, if they find the owner later on and I've already done it up, they can have it. One less dead bike, that's all it'd mean to me.
So please don't jump to conclusions.
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You're right, I've been thinking about that. I've seen ones of these with no brakes at all, of course on a fixie you don't really need brakes. Looks like it did have them at one point, the wheel's worn and the mounting hole on the frame is rusty. I went looking for the guides and again, you're right - there are none. There's just a single clip on the left side of the head tube, which looks about right for holding an outer cable.
From what I understand, having no brakes (back ones especially) means no cable to get wrapped flipping the bars for tricks.
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I doubt it. It's not impossible, but even if it hasn't been abandoned, I mentioned in the email to the council that I'd only have it if nobody claimed it, I even offered to keep it safe at home as-is until they deemed it ownerless. What I really want to get out of this is to give the bike a good home, not have it for myself. Chances are that if it was left much longer, the council (being a pretty eco-clean-mental one) would probably have it chucked in a skip, something I definitely don't want happening.
There are reasons to suggest it was abandoned, and reasons it mightn't. My dad said what could've happened is, it was chained up, the front wheel was stolen, and the person came back to it with the wheel missing. Instead of taking it home, they might've just left it there thinking it wasn't worth the hassle. It has Cateye light mounts front and rear, and a silicone coating underneath, the only things that suggest it was looked after at some stage.
There also isn't much evidence it came far. The frame's pretty clean without trace of mud or grit anywhere, which has to mean something, having 700cs and no mudguards. All that's on it is thick diesel-like soot all over the frame, similar to the stuff on the Underground, which probably came from the buses.
It's a very odd place for it to be, too. It's beside a pretty active bus stop and small park, hardly out of sight, which confuses me. It's in a built up area, my thinking is that if they locked it there just to pop to the shops or meet someone, they'd be back in time to collect it. I don't think the lockdowns would stop it moving, especially if the owner was only within walking distance.
A look on Google Streetview says it wasn't there at least until March 2018. But I'd still call a bike left in the same spot for over 2 years abandoned, at least worth telling the council about. The frame's paint is faded on the top with numerous rust spots, the seat's weathered, the tyre and seat are rotten. From my experience of fixing dumped/neglected bikes, that type of damage only comes with at least 6-12 months of the elements.
I hope you understand, sorry if I sounded like 'hey look what I found'.
I know it isn't mine, never said it was.
I am in no position to steal it nor do I intend to. I would only accept it with written permission.
I won't touch it or take it unless the council asks me to.
I haven't touched the lock. I just said there's visible evidence other people have.
My main interest is to return the bike to its owner, and if they don't want it, or anyone else for that matter, I'll hang on to it until the fact if the council/police/whoever say so. I wouldn't want my bike stolen any less than you would. You're thinking far too hard.
Would you say the same about a locked-up completely stripped bike frame, with nothing left? Plenty of those about, I'm sure they belong to someone. Bet there's a reason they left it there that long, too. I'm not saying anything that anyone's said so far is untrue, just my two cents.
It could've been any bike, I just thought it was a shame what state this one got in considering what it probably once was.
Just sounds like too many of you guys are trying to gatekeep. I was just asking an honest question. There's no crime or evil going on here. All I've done is email the council about a potentially abandoned bike, noting that if nobody wants it, I would be open to accept it with permission. Not own it. Not keep it. And definitely not steal it.
Edit: here's a solid answer.
https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2015/0438
'The removal of abandoned bikes is the responsibility of the Local Authority (i.e. the London borough), regardless of whether the road is part of the Transport for London Road Network or not.
They can be removed by the local authority under the provisions of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 (section 6) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/3
TfL has had occasion to remove abandoned bicycles in the course of moving or removing bike stands or guard rails. In these cases reasonable notice of intended removal of the stands is given and any attached bikes are taken into safe storage for a period of time. Owners are able to retrieve bicycles from storage during this period, after which they are destroyed or given to charity.'