Read moreBurglars and bike thieves will always be looking to offload their loot on sites like Gumtree and eBay. We urge the public to take precautions when purchasing a cycle from social media sites. Always ask for proof of purchase and meet in a public place.
Securing Your Bike
If you’ve just got a new bike it’s really important that you take some of the below tips to heart with most new bikes being stolen within 2 years and a vast majority of those never being recovered there is a very real chance that if you don’t take action your bike will end up on the front page of this website or others like it. Record your bikes details So you’ve just got your new bike, it’s nice and shiny and it’s sunny outside, time to go for ride? Stop! There are a few vital details you can record that dramatically increase the chances of recovering your bike should it ever be stolen. Read more about recording your bikes details Lock your bike… PROPERLY! Welcome to the arms race! Unfortunately no lock on the market can resist a determined bike thief so the object of locking your bike properly is simply to make the thief look elsewhere for easier pray. Get the right lock See those cable locks? walk right past them and go for a Dlock which are much harder to defeat without the use of power tools. I personally recommend the Kryptonite New Yorker, which comes with a anti-theft guarantee. Location, location, location Try to find dedicated bike racks in busy areas that are covered by CCTV, the more bikes using it the better. Use your lock correctly If you don’t use your lock correctly you may as well have not bothered. Ensure that you at the very least include a major part of the frame, try to include one wheel as well, and if you...
Registering Your Bike
With most new bike sold being stolen within 24 months, it’s really important to take down a few essential details of your bike that will drastically improve the odds of your bike being returned should the worst happen. The minimum of details you should take are Make and Model of Bike Frame Number (usually found near your pedals, often on the bottom of the frame). Any scratches, marks or parts that makes your bike unique If possible take a photo as well There are several services (listed below), which assist you with taking all the relevant details. Alternatively if you wish to do it yourself, you can just write down the details or simply email the details to yourself for safe keeping. Immobilise Immobilise is a property register, widely adopted by police forces in the UK. Whilst it’s business practices are morally questionable, it’s wide adoption means that it’s well worth using to register your bike. BikeShepherd (seems inactive now) Bike Shepherd< is a easy to use bicycle specific register, whilst it hasn't been adopted by any police forces. It was at the time of writing the only bicycle register that also publicizes your bike should it go missing (excluding ourselves). BikeRegister For various reasons I can’t go into, I don’t recommend Bike Register to...
Nominate us for a BikeBiz Award
I’ve been operating Stolen-Bikes.co.uk (and its sister site findthatbike.co.uk) for just over a year and in that time I’ve seen many bikes returned to their rightful owners (and hopefully many more to come, if yours is recovered please let me know the story as I’m always happy to hear them). I’m not a multimillion pound company, just a bike theft victim who holds a grudge, so I’m even happier with the results that I’ve been told about (although I’m not finished sticking it to bike thieves just yet). I’m sending this email out because I’m currently competing for a top Bicycle Industry Award, I believe that it would be a massive boost for the websites and also help me talk with retailers and manufacturers about why they should take bike crime seriously and what they can do to help combat bike theft once and for all. To this end you can help me win the award! To nominate the Stolen Bikes UK for this award all you need to do is email bikeawards@intentmedia.co.uk with one or two sentences explaining why you think we should win it. Nominations need to be in by July 2nd. This is a massive industry award, so I’ll be up against huge brands, every nomination counts! I’m competing in the BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA category (the only one that’s really relevant), please include this in your email as well as a link to our website so they know who your nominating. Okay but what exactly have you done with social media? I setup stolen bikes last year in May after my own bicycle was...An appeal to local bike shop owners
Please, please…. please stop selling cheap chain/cable locks! In a recent June issue of a magazine aimed at the UK bike industry (shall remain nameless) I was horrified to see that these locks continue to be sold despite not being fit for purpose no matter how you look at it (there not even suitable as cafe locks). Seriously, these locks just leave cyclists feeling that their bike is safe outside when in reality as the below video demonstrates they may as well not have bothered using it. With one cable lock holding up for a grand total of 1 second under the strain of a £3 pair of pliers. Now here are some reasons you should care… You can use the opportunity to upsell a better (Sold Secure Gold Rated) lock Police forces usually suggest cyclists look to spend at least £40 or 20% of the value of their bike on a decent Dlock If you sold a cyclist a cheap cable lock that gets broken, then they will associate the negative experience with your shop Your helping solve a problem that effects 415,000 cyclists every single year Many bike theft victims give up cycling, meaning one less potential customer in your area It’s important to remember that cyclists come to local bike shops often for the better service and advice, by selling these locks that aren’t fit for purpose your undermining that sentiment and missing a chance to give out some excellent security advice that results in you selling a more expensive lock....
Police forces fail to investigate up to 90% of bicycle thefts (Press Release)
Figures released under Freedom of Information laws reveal scale of the problem Victims turn to Stolen-bikes.co.uk for help locating their missing bicycles Thousands of bicycle thefts reported to the police are not being investigated because officers believe they are unlikely to be solved. New figures have revealed that tens of thousands of bicycle thefts are ‘screened out’ as soon as the report has been filed, to save resources. One force revealed that it marked as many as nine in ten of such cases as ‘not for further investigation’. Those neglected include cases where the bike owner has already identified incriminating CCTV footage, or found adverts which offer the stolen bicycle for sale. Sajna Talukdar, a project manager at the Home Office, was one such victim. Her bike, which she had bought for a series of charity fundraising races, was stolen from outside her home in east London in April. She said: “I can’t express how distressing the experience has been, especially the police’s lack of action. “My bike was never investigated and even when I was able to locate the CCTV cameras for police to look through, the police did nothing. They have not called me back and nor has victim support contacted me. “Even the notes taken did not reflect the further details I gave about the monitoring device installed, the various markings/stickers on the bike and unique transfer marks from my red side wall and damage on one pedal.” She has since been forced to withdraw from several races. Figures released under the freedom of information act reveal Sajna’s experience to be far from unusual. Her local force, the...
£2.5k Stolen Bike Recovered
Below is the short version of an email I received from a very happy cyclist, it’s always good to get these emails as much of what I do comes out of my own pocket. Hello John, Just thought I’d let you know that I’ve recovered my ‘Sunday best’ race bike with the help of your site. To cut a long story short: I had a Cannondale Supersix road bike stolen from a metal bike shed on 11th April worth ~£2.5k with upgraded wheels etc. Reported it stolen etc to the police. Google’d ‘how to get a stolen bike back’ followed some of the really helpful suggestions including using your website. Spotted it on ebay last Friday after receiving the email from your site. Knew it was mine instantly as it had non-standard tyres and wheels etc. Called the police back and found the sellers address etc from the internet. The police executed a search warrant and recovered my bike!! Really made my week. I collect it back off the police this week. Have a look at the attached email for more details. Just wanted to say thanks and to let you know that your website works and really user friendly! Thanks again, If you do get your bike recovered please don’t hesitate to email your story to john@stolen-bikes.co.uk, even if it wasn’t one of my sites that helped...
SpyBike GPS Tracker
When I first started this website I spotted a GPS tracker from Integrated Trackers that simple fits in your head tube and tracks your bikes position when it’s activated. What follows is a short review of the first generation SpyBike and how it works… First Impressions When I first got the SpyBike through the post, I was pretty impressed. It came with a SIM card and charger so saved me a trip to the shops. The SpyBike was fairly easy to fit, which involved removing your original headset cap and replace it with the SpyBike. General Use… So after configuring the device (a simple process involving send some texts to the SpyBike), it was time to take my bike for a spin. First off you place a magnetic fob on the device which turns the movement sensor on, when a thief steals the bike you’ll get a text message alerting you to the movement and you can then go online to track your bike. After taking the SpyBike for a little spin, below was the result… The blue line is my actual route and the red line the route the GPS said I took. The distance between them isn’t a small enough for me to go banging on a door asking for my bike back but it does give me a general idea of the area I should be looking. Other Features To be perfectly honest I do not believe that the GPS tracker is what makes this device useful, it’s far more useful to receive a text message alert when your bike senses a vibration and that is...
How to avoid buying a stolen bike
Unfortunately in the UK bike theft is at epidemic levels, a bike is stolen every 67 seconds, as a consequence to this it is important that you know how to avoid buying a stolen bike. Below are just some general rules and steps to take Look at the bike and the price, look at other adverts selling the same bike does the price seem unusually low? Is there no/little description or is it simply copied from a website, adverts posted by bike thieves tend to be deliberately brief (gives a victim less details to match to their bike) or simply a copy and paste from a website. Expect real pictures, in this day and age who doesn’t have access to a phone or camera to upload actual pictures of the bike? Thieves may also copy pictures from websites, so it’s well worth googling the make and model and making sure the pictures aren’t simply taken from someone elses advert. Ask for the frame number, a frame number works like a registration plate for a bike. Enter this into Check That Bike and you shouldn’t get any results. Check for stolen bikes in the area, google the model of the bike, the area the advert was posted and the word “stolen”. For example an advert for a Specialized Langster in Leicester, I would google “stolen Langster Leicester” Ask for ID, if you’re handing over cash for a bike make sure to get some ID, proof of address or at the very least a (valid) work email address. For obvious reasons bike thieves won’t want to give this information up. Ask...
Some Statistics For You
We’ve gone over the latest Home Office statistics and found some pretty interesting things that smash some common thoughts about bike theft. Here’s a run down, but for the full infographic click here. I Lock my bike with a secure lock when I’m out, so I’m safe Nope, 69% of bike thefts happen at home I don’t leave my bike somewhere unsafe at night Most bike thefts actually happen during the afternoon and evening, not at night My bikes not very expensive, so I’m safe Specialized, Treks and Giants account for most bike thefts, and they certainly aren’t especially high end bikes But it’s not going to happen to me A bike is stolen every 67 seconds, the threat of bike theft is very real Despite the risk of bike theft, only 36% of cyclists have recorded their frame number. The main thing that helps Police get your bike back. So how does this change anything? With most bikes getting stolen from the home, it’s just as important to properly secure your bike when you get home as when you leave it on the street. If we examine the figures further your bike is most at risk in a shared semi-private area of the home, which includes sheds, garages and corridors. Anchor points are difficult to come by in these places so a normal Dlock won’t cut it, if you store your bike within ear shot you may want to consider purchasing a cheap alarmed padlock (to use with your Dlock). Failing that securing where you store your bike, can stop thieves getting near it in the first place....