And the winning bidder could sell them back to their original owners if they so desired. Oh the irony…

If one of my bikes were being held by the shipper, I would file a case in small claims court. In California, the limit of damages is $10,000. A list of other states is here.

The thing about small claims court is that you represent yourself, the cost to file is fairly low. You can write your case in the vernacular. You can sue a corporation like the shipper and/or TriBikeTransport, and if the defendant does not show up to defend themself, the plaintiff can win a judgement. Now, winning your case doesn’t necessarily get your bike back, but a court ruling awarding you the lost value of your bike might get a higher priority in bankruptcy court when assets are being divided among claimants.

I’m a reporter, not a lawyer, so I’d be interested to hear what the lawyers or civil court judges think about this strategy.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

Collecting on a small claims court judgment can be very, very difficult.

Understood. However, does the existence of a court award, even one from small claims, help a person collect more in a bankruptcy? Bankruptcy courts assign priority to some types of claims over others. Employee back pay might rank higher than a bill for supplies for example. Where does a court judgment fall in the rankings?

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

The company that is holding the bikes as collateral isn't in bankruptcy.

You are mostly correct Sharon, except as Jim pointed out, it will probably not the the shipper going bankrupt. But you are correct in that if a 100 small claims are pursued, and eventually awarded, it will make the shippers life a nightmare. First of all he has to either defend or not, but in each case it will be a major headache. Defending a lot of those suits is time consuming, and if he has a lawyer, expensive. If he doesnt, he just loses and then judgements will be served on him..

And in the end there just wont be that much money to be gained from holding and trying to dispose of all these bikes. He probably missed his window for his best resolution, back when the company was still in place through WTC. The go fund me page was a flop, and of course not really legal as the company took it down.

As I said before, there have been lots of talks/negotiations going on behind the scenes, but of course folks here aren't satisfied unless they see an end to this whole thing. And that is when you all will know, when there is an actual resolution, and not before is my guess.

It is just as this gets older and older, the windows for the shipper are just going to close on him. He can't sell a single bike until he can prove ownership, and that is not really clear if that will happen. He has to fight the class action and other suits, and if he loses, may even get ordered to return the bikes. Imagine if he has to pay another $500+ dollars per bike to send them back to each person, that is another $100 grand he will lose.

And Brooks, I will take you $100 dollar bet too, the bikes will not be auctioned off....

Thanks for the positive perspective about this issue Monty. As one of the tri bikes in that shipping container is mine, do you think that I should plan on having my bike back to me in time to do a 70.3 in late May, or do you think that I should be investigating alternatives?

It's not that they aren't satisified, iti's to say that by default there were going to be talks behind the scense. You dont' need to be an insider to know that, and know that it was/is going to almost assuredly get ugly when no white knight swooped in to cover the costs like IM did earlier. So since that "inside info" hasn't been shared (and no resolution) this is now almost certainly going to end ugly + litigation, which = long game.

Small claims court for anyone who would have to travel to the local court is going to be expensive with travel costs even if they are in the right, and a class action suit is certainly a game of long term patience. The biggest takeway I get from your inside is that we are closer to an soltuion that is long term in nature than any real solution that is happening in the next week or 2.

ETA: By default if the bill is paid, the bikes are going to the owners asap after that. It just seems like it's past that stage and now behind the scenes talks to get a settlement and/or go to court. So yes of course it could be solved tomorrow if IM / USAT / insert person or company to pay the bill, comes through and pays the what ~$200k bill. That just seems less likely as what you suggested with the auction percentages.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

With no inside knowledge, I can say if I were you, I'd be bike shopping starting yesterday.........

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Have you tried contacting your home owners insurance or renters insurance? Credit cards you booked the service with? If not for a refund they might have some small insurance warranty related to purchases.

I wouldn't tell them any of the details about bikes being held for ransom, etc. I'd just say you booked the service, gave them your bike, and you have never gotten it back despite repeated inquiries.

Thanks for the positive perspective about this issue Monty. As one of the tri bikes in that shipping container is mine, do you think that I should plan on having my bike back to me in time to do a 70.3 in late May, or do you think that I should be investigating alternatives?//

You are really in a shitty position now, with not much control except some legal routes that will take a lot of time and effort. If it were me, I would be looking for a short term solution if I had a really expensive bike in that container. If I were about to upgrade, then I would of course just do that now. But because of the race stature(world champs) my guess is that most of the bikes were very high end. I know of a few that were not, so that is an easy decision for folks to just write them off.


I would look at used bikes, friends extra ones, things like that for the time being. I cannot tell you how this all ends, depends on the shipper in the short term, and the legal system in the long term. But I do know the shipper is trying to get all his money(over $400k now) from this one set of bikes. Now the bill for just your bikes was in the $70k+ range, a little more now with all the add ins. If he ever comes to his senses, then that will be the amount he looks to collect, and that could be doable on several fronts. He is holding your bikes hostage for all the unpaid Ironman races bills, and as far as I know, Ironman isn't paying those. They paid just enough to keep TBT in business to get bikes to and from the existing races that were still on the schedule and could not be stopped..Unfortunately USAT was not going to do the same for your bikes, they really dont have the money or feel that obligation like WTC did.


It is going to take more time now, so many of the earlier windows have closed for a quick and fair resolution. I urge everyone to be part of some lawsuit against the shipper, I dont believe he has the right to have just taken your bikes for someone else's failure. But maybe he does in some fashion, that is for the courts to decide. But small claims for many can be free and easy to do, and getting that judgement might help down the line. A 100+ $9999 judgements against the shipper might just get him to punt on the ironman losses and just focus on the actual ones from this particular shipment....


But guessing the mind of someone that has already shown he doesnt understand the landscape he inserted himself into, well is foolish. And we dont know what his lawyers are telling him too, no doubt the opposite of what you guys are being told by your lawyers..I wish you guys good luck in this, might actually come a time when Dan and I can help, either vocally or logistically.

Did anyone else read that and imagine two old guys pulling off the largest bike-heist of all time from a corrupt shipping robber baron? Which one of you is more like Burt Lancaster and the other Kirk Douglas? Could make a great movie.

Not sure how much TBT charged the Pontevedra athletes but at $70k for 180 bikes + all the on-land costs.... their margin was probably really really low which explains a lot.
I don't know the applicable laws and if there's any legal ground for that specific shipment to be claimed as collateral for the bigger $400k bills but one could hope they would settle if the bike owners got together for $300-400 each and cover most/all of the bills related to that shipment. Would still be very frustrating as an owner but better than having to buy a new bike.
I feel sorry for the athletes caught in this mess.

Monty, Thanks for your recommendation. I have been lusting after a new to me bike for a couple of years now. So, I canvased my local tri and cycling groups via Facebook over the weekend and wound up being extremely fortunate that a guy stepped forward to help me out immensely.

I'll bet you $100 it eventually goes to auction. Since you know everything that'll be an easy bet for you to win and know the outcome right?

You down for that?


And Brooks, I will take you $100 dollar bet too, the bikes will not be auctioned off....


Sometimes its just better to not hit that send button.... (-;

Really glad for all of the bike owners here, this was about the best outcome you could have all hoped for at this late stage. Will be interesting if the dollar amounts come out in the settlement. Did they just pay for the USAT bike shipment, or the whole enchilada on what was owed the shipper?