There is a thriving black market for bikes in Bologna, mainly focused in the University District, particularly on Via Zamboni where any walk under the porticoes will be punctuated by thieves (and often so called ‘Punkabestia’ – punks with dogs on string) offering to sell stolen bikes by whispering or calling out ‘Bici Bici’. The police know that they are there but one would presume they know about the open drug dealing too and they do nothing about that, as a friend said to me recently ‘Law doesn’t really exist on Via Zamboni’.
For a long time this has been the only way to get a bike in Bologna, with such a thriving trade in stolen bikes it makes absolutely no sense to buy a new one as it will no doubt be stolen before long. Even a refurbished second hand bike in a shop costs at a minimum €70. The maximum price on the ‘mercato nero’ being €20…
When I came to Bologna I was keen not to buy into the vicious cycle which has developed. I got a leaflet listing all the bike shops and called each one asking if they had second-hand bikes for sale, very few did, but the two or so which did were again around the €80 mark and I couldn’t afford that, particularly knowing it would probably not last the month. I finally decided that I would have to get one from Zamboni when, as I sat calling all these bike shops in a sunny Piazza, a girl who had overheard me approached and asked what I was doing, ‘you need to be down on Zamboni’.
One thief offered me a bike but didn’t seem to have one to sell, he led me to a bike stand where he pointed to a still locked up bike, he was offering to steal it to order! Although I knew by this time that the bike I eventually bought would probably have been stolen this seemed like a step too far and I politely declined. The bike I ended up buying cost €20. I got ripped off even then, just as I was about to hand over the agreed €15 another ‘buyer’ came up and offered €20, I naively agreed to up match his bid only realising seconds afterwards that the they were working together. But it was the most BELLA red bici EVER and I was determined for it not to get stolen. I did well; it lasted until the day before I went home for Easter, unfortunately just 2 weeks after I bought a new very heavy-duty chain for €35.
After I bought my bike I discovered an initiative being used to try and combat the black market for bikes here. A couple of student groups, the ‘Comune de Bologna’ and the Quartiere San Vitale have been working together to set up an auction of used bikes to provide a legal and moral alternative to the black market trade. One of these auctions was held last week at the bottom of Zamboni, I think it’s a fantastic idea and very well organised. They explained at the beginning of the auction that the bikes being sold are provided by the rail network and are ones which have been left in an area where leaving bikes is not allowed. Any bike left in this area has a warning left on it for a week saying it will be taken away if not removed, if it is still there at the end of the week then they take it away leaving a note saying you have 3 months to claim it back. Any bikes left after this period has elapsed are then given to the bike auction. At the auction they have people from 'Piazza Grande' the italian Big Issue who will fix up the bike for a small fee.
This is not an auction in the traditional sense of the word, in order to provide a valid alternative to the thieves a maximum price is set on all the bikes of €15, therefore everyone is expected to bring some kind of identifying feature to mark them out, the more creative the better. The first person to win one was a man holding two pieces of paper, the first just saying ‘Unemployed’ and the second his CV ‘proving’ his unemployed status. The woman next to me got one, posing as a fish out of water…?! The person who decides who gets the bikes is the revered ‘Rita’ an Ann Robinson lookalike in her smart rail company uniform. I thought I would be granted out of pity as I wore the most embarrassing hat belonging to my housemate Corentin but it clearly wasn’t original enough as someone near me had the same one. There are never enough bikes to fill demand, this time they had 100 bikes and the compere estimated there were about 4-500 people. Nonetheless there was a great atmosphere and I will be along at the next one with a more original ‘identifier’ hoping to get lucky.
For a long time this has been the only way to get a bike in Bologna, with such a thriving trade in stolen bikes it makes absolutely no sense to buy a new one as it will no doubt be stolen before long. Even a refurbished second hand bike in a shop costs at a minimum €70. The maximum price on the ‘mercato nero’ being €20…
When I came to Bologna I was keen not to buy into the vicious cycle which has developed. I got a leaflet listing all the bike shops and called each one asking if they had second-hand bikes for sale, very few did, but the two or so which did were again around the €80 mark and I couldn’t afford that, particularly knowing it would probably not last the month. I finally decided that I would have to get one from Zamboni when, as I sat calling all these bike shops in a sunny Piazza, a girl who had overheard me approached and asked what I was doing, ‘you need to be down on Zamboni’.
One thief offered me a bike but didn’t seem to have one to sell, he led me to a bike stand where he pointed to a still locked up bike, he was offering to steal it to order! Although I knew by this time that the bike I eventually bought would probably have been stolen this seemed like a step too far and I politely declined. The bike I ended up buying cost €20. I got ripped off even then, just as I was about to hand over the agreed €15 another ‘buyer’ came up and offered €20, I naively agreed to up match his bid only realising seconds afterwards that the they were working together. But it was the most BELLA red bici EVER and I was determined for it not to get stolen. I did well; it lasted until the day before I went home for Easter, unfortunately just 2 weeks after I bought a new very heavy-duty chain for €35.
After I bought my bike I discovered an initiative being used to try and combat the black market for bikes here. A couple of student groups, the ‘Comune de Bologna’ and the Quartiere San Vitale have been working together to set up an auction of used bikes to provide a legal and moral alternative to the black market trade. One of these auctions was held last week at the bottom of Zamboni, I think it’s a fantastic idea and very well organised. They explained at the beginning of the auction that the bikes being sold are provided by the rail network and are ones which have been left in an area where leaving bikes is not allowed. Any bike left in this area has a warning left on it for a week saying it will be taken away if not removed, if it is still there at the end of the week then they take it away leaving a note saying you have 3 months to claim it back. Any bikes left after this period has elapsed are then given to the bike auction. At the auction they have people from 'Piazza Grande' the italian Big Issue who will fix up the bike for a small fee.
This is not an auction in the traditional sense of the word, in order to provide a valid alternative to the thieves a maximum price is set on all the bikes of €15, therefore everyone is expected to bring some kind of identifying feature to mark them out, the more creative the better. The first person to win one was a man holding two pieces of paper, the first just saying ‘Unemployed’ and the second his CV ‘proving’ his unemployed status. The woman next to me got one, posing as a fish out of water…?! The person who decides who gets the bikes is the revered ‘Rita’ an Ann Robinson lookalike in her smart rail company uniform. I thought I would be granted out of pity as I wore the most embarrassing hat belonging to my housemate Corentin but it clearly wasn’t original enough as someone near me had the same one. There are never enough bikes to fill demand, this time they had 100 bikes and the compere estimated there were about 4-500 people. Nonetheless there was a great atmosphere and I will be along at the next one with a more original ‘identifier’ hoping to get lucky.
1 comment:
Another great post - really informative and gives a great insight into Italy.
Thanks!
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