London police auctions - how not to buy a bicycle at auction

Today I went on an adventure, to deepest, darkest, Zone 3. A while back a couple of my friends bought bikes at a police auction, and I spent an evening overhauling the brakes on one of them to make it roadworthy. It was an old ladies bike, roughly 1970's. It had cost £30.

That's as much as I knew about the auction - old bikes, sold as seen, bargains to be had.

So a couple of days ago I went for a Google, and found the auction house online. Over a cup of tea I browsed through the auction catalogue. There were about fifty bikes listed, with very little description, however one stood out. Lot 128 - Grey Carrera Gryphon bike.

Now about eighteen months ago someone broke into my garage, and thankfully only took one of the bikes. There were three to choose from; my wife's Viva Juliette, my SE Lager pub bike and my Carrera Gryphon. They all have sentimental ties, like all bikes, but the Gryphon was the bike I did LEJOG on. He was the favourite. He was of course the one that went.

So when I saw that lot part of me began to get excited - what if it was Rufus? Would we be reunited? Would my knowledge of all his squeaks, scratches and alterations be enough to prove he was mine? Eventually it got to the point that I had to go to the auction, I had to know either way.

The auction house is in Leytonstone, just around the corner from Leytonstone High Road station, in a converted railway arch. It all feels very Eastenders. The deal is that a couple of hours before the auction begins you can wander around and look at the lots. It was predominantly full of men, all looking a bit shifty. Sadly I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but this is a nice picture of the sign.

Immediately I spotted the bike, and my heart sank. Sadly the Gryphon was an older model. Never mind there were a couple of other bikes that I also liked the look of - lot 138 and 140.

The first was an old Raleigh, with a Reynolds steel frame and vintage stylings. I could easily sell that on, if I couldn't convince the wife I needed another old Raleigh. The second was a Jamis Beatnik, which was wrongly listed in the catalogue as a Jamas Pinnacle. I thought a bargain was to be had, and I love a bargain.

I went to the desk, signed some forms and got an auction number - 162. I then sat though the auction listening to the weird and wonderful things people by. Used trainers, six copies of Kung Fu Panda on DVD, underwear.

After about an hour the auction was up to my lots. There were now about two hundred people crammed into the auction room, and so cue the bidding on the bikes.

A sneaky shot of the catalogue and it's vague descriptions

The long and the short of it was that there was no bargains to be had. A Giant racer went for £350 despite being in dubious condition, an unbranded ladies bike cleared £150 even though you could get a brand new Pendleton for a similar price in the end of season sale, and the Gryphon went for £180 which, as it had no upgrades, was from 2008 and had worn components, is practically daylight robbery.

Don't forget, all of these prices are exclusive of a 35% fee which includes VAT and buyers tax.

Nevertheless it was a fun day out, if only to sample the interesting world of auctions. It was exciting and for a lot of the regulars clearly a social outing. If you are in the London area with a Thursday morning to spare then you should pop in. Don't expect bargains, but do expect some of the best people watching you can get in this town.

To find out more about the next auction, go here.