# Armstrong's ATOC TT Bike Stolen



## regan (Jun 17, 2004)

From Armstrong's Twitter:

"Whoa!! They just came to my room and said our truck was broken into and someone stole my time trial bike! Wtf?!? APB out to the twitterati."


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Some people are such scumbags.

At least that will be impossible to fence somewhere. Hopefully the their will get his.


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## 180 (Jan 10, 2009)

Someone will spot it pulling a fruit cart through Tijuana.


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## lalahsghost (Aug 27, 2007)

How could you keep something like that hidden for very long? Anyone with a brain would never let it see the light of day again.


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

Sacramento, what a classy place.


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## peter1 (Apr 10, 2002)

It is amazing how many teams have bikes "stolen" from their transporters. My guess is that most of them are inside jobs. Honestly, how hard is it to set a burglar alam? Especialy given that each team bike is probably worth 10k or so, and the TT bike probably 25k or more given that it's lances.

as for reselling the TT bike...remember when Munch's painting "The Scream" was stolen a few years back? Obviously it was never going to come up at auction, but some collector stashed it away to show his cronies. I imagine that will be the fate for Lance's bike...


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## desmo13 (Jun 28, 2006)

naaa, it wll show up on fiximytosis, or Fixedgeargallery. with risers, brooks saddle, top-tube pad and pink velocity deep-vee's


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

I find it very hard to believe that a team truck, carrying that much expensive equipment, not to mention irreplacable bikes, wouldn't have the mother of all alarm systems on it. One which paged you when it went off, not to mention was loud enough to wake the dead in a 5 mile radius. Either something doesn't add up here or someone just isn't being responsible.

I wouldn't leave my own bike, locked in the trunk of my car, outdoors at night.


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## 180 (Jan 10, 2009)

Mike T. said:


> I find it very hard to believe that a team truck, carrying that much expensive equipment, not to mention irreplacable bikes, wouldn't have the mother of all alarm systems on it. One which paged you when it went off, not to mention was loud enough to wake the dead in a 5 mile radius. Either something doesn't add up here or someone just isn't being responsible.
> 
> I wouldn't leave my own bike, locked in the trunk of my car, outdoors at night.


Yeah makes for some fun publicity for the Tour. Maybe Lance is gettin Punk'd.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

You heard it here first folks. I have it on good authority that it was Kimmage and Greg LeMond who punked Lance last night. Kimmage is going to be doing club 10's in Irelend on Lance's TT bike this summer.


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

The most important part of the story is the loss of the domestique's bikes, Morabito, Popovich, and Brajkovic's rides. They are crucial to Levi's success. Lance has plenty of time to throw together a bike for Solvang and he isn't the team leader, just a super domestique..


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## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

If you see this bike being ridden around town....

http://twitpic.com/1i8t1


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## cclaeys (Aug 6, 2008)

I'd ghost ride that biatch into a bus


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

Don Duende said:


> Sacramento, what a classy place.


So you are going to judge a whole city by a few dirtbags...nice.


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## deltasierra (Aug 9, 2008)

Karma?


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## PG_Gary (Jan 21, 2008)

Don Duende said:


> Sacramento, what a classy place.


Right, bikes are never stolen in Santa Rosa, Solvang, Savannah, Sioux Falls, Seattle, Santiago, Scotland or anywhere else in the world.


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## roadie92 (Jan 21, 2008)

Well lance has not had a good first 2 days of the tour of cal. His bike got stolen, on stage 2 he has had a crash and a flat tire.


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## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

roadie92 said:


> Well lance has not had a good first 2 days of the tour of cal. His bike got stolen, on stage 2 he has had a crash and a flat tire.


...and led the chase group and protected his leader and pushed on when 80% of peloton gave up.


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## WAZCO (Sep 16, 2004)

regan said:


> From Armstrong's Twitter:
> 
> "Whoa!! They just came to my room and said our truck was broken into and someone stole my time trial bike! Wtf?!? APB out to the twitterati."


It's like US stealing Firefox from Russia. Either Specialized or Cannondale are taking it to study the bike :wink5:


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

PG_Gary said:


> Right, bikes are never stolen in Santa Rosa, Solvang, Savannah, Sioux Falls, Seattle, Santiago, Scotland or anywhere else in the world.


Yeah, you are right. Heck, I was in Napa Valley to see the ATOC on Sunday and it was raining cats and dogs. So, instead of standing in the rain in Santa Rosa, I thought I would find a sports bar to watch Stage 1. Well, between Calistoga and Napa there was not a single bar with a TV that had the ATOC on. They all were watching NASCAR, what a classy place.


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

Of all the bikes to take, the dumb ass had to take the most recognizable one off bikes there. At least with the other bikes they could say that they went and bought the team bike or something when they pawn it off to some stooge on Craigslist.


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## PG_Gary (Jan 21, 2008)

Don Duende said:


> They all were watching NASCAR, what a classy place.


Right on again. One of the biggest races in all of auto racing versus a relatively minor tour. Hmm, which to chose if I'm the bar owner trying to attract business?

So now you've judged the capitol city and the main wine making region based on two experiences. I had a layover at Dallas-Fort Worth airport once. Maybe I could extrapolate my experience there and draw a conclusion for all of Texas?


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## lemonlime (Sep 24, 2003)

PG_Gary said:


> ...I had a layover at Dallas-Fort Worth airport once. Maybe I could extrapolate my experience there and draw a conclusion for all of Texas?


Yabbut you'd be closer to being right about Texas than Don is about Sacto.


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

PG_Gary said:


> Right on again. One of the biggest races in all of auto racing versus a relatively minor tour. Hmm, which to chose if I'm the bar owner trying to attract business?
> 
> So now you've judged the capitol city and the main wine making region based on two experiences. I had a layover at Dallas-Fort Worth airport once. Maybe I could extrapolate my experience there and draw a conclusion for all of Texas?



I guess it did not matter that race went right through the entire Napa County? Not a single bar had banners advertising "Hey, come in, we have NASCAR on all five big screens". Surprisingly, all the upscale bar and grills were showing NASCAR and we ended up going to a local dive and they switched one of the TV's to Versus. Ironically, all the patrons that started out watching NASCAR, switched over to watching the ToC ! Good Times !

Actually, been to Sac and Napa many, many times. Never been impressed with Sac (if they didn't put the Capitol there, it probably would not exist) and kind of shocked that trendy Napa was actually so hick. In Sacramento, only about 50,000 attended the prologue yesterday. Which in a town that size was pitiful for a FREE world class sporting event, featuring the return of one of America's most popular sporting personalities.
:mad2:


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## deltasierra (Aug 9, 2008)

Got a good laugh on another forum's first reply to a similar thread. All humor props to that OP. For those who missed that:


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## LO^OK (Feb 1, 2008)

*For sale...*

 Little used TTX 9.9 http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/bik/1036482091.html


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Bahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa... nice!


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## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

Don Duende said:


> I guess it did not matter that race went right through the entire Napa County? Not a single bar had banners advertising "Hey, come in, we have NASCAR on all five big screens". Surprisingly, all the upscale bar and grills were showing NASCAR and we ended up going to a local dive and they switched one of the TV's to Versus. Ironically, all the patrons that started out watching NASCAR, switched over to watching the ToC ! Good Times !
> 
> Actually, been to Sac and Napa many, many times. Never been impressed with Sac (if they didn't put the Capitol there, it probably would not exist) and kind of shocked that trendy Napa was actually so hick. In Sacramento, only about 50,000 attended the prologue yesterday. Which in a town that size was pitiful for a FREE world class sporting event, featuring the return of one of America's most popular sporting personalities.
> :mad2:


Be careful who you call "hick". For instance, go down to Salinas/Monterey/Carmel. Who has the big money? Think it is Clint Eastwood, Doris Day or other Hollywood types. Wrong. It's the farmers. Some of them own 10s of thousands of acres of salad makings. My father-in-law is a "hick" from Knights Landing, CA (north of Sacramento). He farms several thousand acres. At 80 he can't do much on a bike, but he can do a fair amount with a $500,000 piece of equipment.


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## bigmig19 (Jun 27, 2008)

Really? You all think the populance of the US is intimately aware of what a top notch TT bike looks like? I laughed when Lance said that. 99.99% of the people in this country do not know what LA's bike looks like, or even have the slightest appreciation of how much it costs. While they may not get much $ for it (because of said ignorance), I highly doubt hardly any customer will know "that bike" unless they try to sell it to a cyclophile. It aint the Heisman trophy. Pretty esoteric stuff by and large.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Considering they were hardly showing any racing on the TOC coverage, it only seems logical and reasonable that they would show the much bigger sporting event of the day instead. At least you could watch them race at Daytona. Also, within 10 miles of Napa is a NASCAR venue (Infineon Raceway), so it's not all wine and cheese up there.


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

I bet if I rolled into my area on that TT bike and asked how much people thought it cost they might say a few hundred.. 

People in my area freak when they're made aware my saddles $140.. let alone my bike is over $2400 now. 

I bet country wide 99% would be a good estimate..


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## bas (Jul 30, 2004)

AVAILABLE HERE

http://www.wcbias.com/2009/02/i-know-who-stole-lance-armstrongs-bike.html


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

Blue CheeseHead said:


> Be careful who you call "hick". For instance, go down to Salinas/Monterey/Carmel. Who has the big money? Think it is Clint Eastwood, Doris Day or other Hollywood types. Wrong. It's the farmers. Some of them own 10s of thousands of acres of salad makings. My father-in-law is a "hick" from Knights Landing, CA (north of Sacramento). He farms several thousand acres. At 80 he can't do much on a bike, but he can do a fair amount with a $500,000 piece of equipment.



Apologies to those who I have offended. Nothing wrong with being a "hick" as long as you are proud of it. In another post, I described that we ended up at a local dive (read: unpretentious and filled with locals) and it was the only place of many we tried, that were willing to tune in one TV to the ToC, which soon became the focus of the entire bar while NASCAR was ignored. The upscale bars and grills, filled with trendy tourists, eating fancy, over priced food, were all 100% committed to NASCAR on the TV. No chance to see the ToC. Certainly, money does not buy you class.

I am completely unimpressed with politicians in any state, therefore I generally don't like the vibe of capitol cities. Politicians are slimeballs. No doubt that California is an agricultural state, which is a large part of the state's history and a large part of their economic foundation. But believe me the locals were not filling the trebdy establishments. In fact the locals at the next table we befriended lamented the gentrification of the Napa Valley. Who knows? Maybe some of those farmers, we watched the race with, may go out and ride a bike this spring. No reason farmers and ranchers cannot enjoy cycling, it is way more addicting than NASCAR.


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

I heard they found Jani's bike, Don't know about the others


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## bmxhacksaw (Mar 26, 2008)

Who's Sac are you guys talking about?


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## Jaji (Nov 26, 2001)

Don Duende said:


> Apologies to those who I have offended. Nothing wrong with being a "hick" as long as you are proud of it. In another post, I described that we ended up at a local dive (read: unpretentious and filled with locals) and it was the only place of many we tried, that were willing to tune in one TV to the ToC, which soon became the focus of the entire bar while NASCAR was ignored. The upscale bars and grills, filled with trendy tourists, eating fancy, over priced food, were all 100% committed to NASCAR on the TV. No chance to see the ToC. Certainly, money does not buy you class.
> 
> I am completely unimpressed with politicians in any state, therefore I generally don't like the vibe of capitol cities. Politicians are slimeballs. No doubt that California is an agricultural state, which is a large part of the state's history and a large part of their economic foundation. But believe me the locals were not filling the trebdy establishments. In fact the locals at the next table we befriended lamented the gentrification of the Napa Valley. Who knows? Maybe some of those farmers, we watched the race with, may go out and ride a bike this spring. No reason farmers and ranchers cannot enjoy cycling, it is way more addicting than NASCAR.


you come off very ignorant, but confident. you throw comments out there expecting people to be offended, to get a rise outta them, just so you can spew your witty retorts. fun. you are not being pretentious at all (sarcastic).

so, you are right. sac is not classy, nor is napa. and they are hicks. nascar sucks too. so does gentrification. i agree with you on all points.


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## PG_Gary (Jan 21, 2008)

It looks like Lance's TT bike has been recovered. No word if it was found up on blocks.
Sacramento Bee: Lance Armstrong's stolen bicycle reportedly recovered


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## cydswipe (Mar 7, 2002)

Everyone relax, the bike was turned in at the police station in Sacramento. See cyclingnews.com for more.


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## Art853 (May 30, 2003)

Lives in Sacramento
connections to security
has massive debt issues
friends with Levi
hmmmmm


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## Jaji (Nov 26, 2001)

i guess someone turned it in to the cops. tried to pawn it off for not a whole lot of money apparently


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## TWD (Feb 9, 2004)

Well....the cops better get it dusted for Kimmage's prints and the Astana mechanics better to pull the fork off to make sure nobody hacksawed half way through the steerer.


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

I highly doubt that lance is dumb enough to ride that bike in the time trial. I would ride the backup bike simply because the guy that stole it could have went curb hopping and hucked a few potholes. Not worth the risk.


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## cbuchanan (Mar 6, 2006)

Still missing the wheels though, eh?

I agree, would not ride it considering that no one know what may have been done to it. Safer to ride the back up.


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## shibaman (May 2, 2008)

Armstrong got his bike back. 

http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=55027&catid=2:thumbsup:


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## cclaeys (Aug 6, 2008)

he will ride it and will probably win the TT, yet another miracle and victory for him against all that is evil. I was thinking today how fortunate/lucky that guy is - he has never really wrecked or f'd himself up too bad in an accident, someone watching over him I guess. I am no hater btw, just an observation. Some people seem to have a black cloud following them around, he is always in the sun - kind of like rooting against tiger woods, futile!


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## CDB (Oct 20, 2005)

*saddle swap?*

Is it me, or did the thief swap out the saddle for a thick, worn out gel model from a walmart clunker? Or is that what Lance is riding these days? Maybe that seat is the secret to his renewed virility?










vs. the pre-theft condition:


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## cclaeys (Aug 6, 2008)

musta been a pain in the a$$ trying to bolt on some 26" arayas to match that seat


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## wheezer (Sep 21, 2004)

Some day laborer had a pretty pimped out ride for his morning commute into watsonville. I bet those wheels look pretty dope on a $50 wal mart special.


edit: looks like lance will be riding the stolen TT bike after all:

http://www.velonews.com/article/88230/armstrong-leipheimer-will-be-a-minute-faster-in-the-tt


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

eek... still sounds risky. For a man that calculates everything he does I hope his mechanics and he have given that bike a total run through.


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