Last night someone took an allen key to my bike and relieved me of my forks, wheel and brake. It's not covered by insurance and the anger I felt last night probably shouldn't be voiced on this forum…

A month ago a mate of mine had his trusty old Lava Dome stolen that he'd ridden all the way from Alaska to Argentina. No insurance payout could have mended the heart ache he was feeling from that.

And a while before that another mate of mine had his Brompton stolen. Some might say he deserved that, being a Brompton rider 'n all…

Anyways, a pub conversation led us think someone needs to do something about this since the police don't seem that bothered.

Anyone think there's mileage in the bike community trying to set something up? I'm thinking a central website where people can post pictures of their stolen bikes (or parts). Second hand dealers etc could then visit the site to check what they're being flogged weren't stolen, maybe even singletrack could do the same for stuff posted on these forum, then ebay, the list goes on.

I know there's probably loads of reasons why this is a rubbish idea – but let me know your thoughts…

i think it's a great idea if correctly managed. Pretty big if. Who knows you could get to the bottom of the age old question- WTF do stolen bikes end up.

good idea, and would get lots of hits too so you will become fantastically rich in the process! 😉

reckon it'd need all of the online forums to get behind it and then somehow have to tackle the old 'Local Bike Shop' that probably inadvertently fences off the gear too.

I can tell you for a start that a load of stolen bieks end up in Brick Lane. If you ever want to get yourself worked up into an angry frenzy visit Brick Lane on the weekend. There is a yard which is rammed full of bikes which I am pretty confident do not belong to the guys selling them!

maybe even singletrack could do the same for stuff posted on these forum, then ebay

Who's going to check every item though, considering how many things get uploaded. Nice idea, virtually impossible to implement IMO.

I had by beloved bike stolen earlier this year, along with my wife's bike – both were on the roof of the car outside my home, so let that be a warning to you if you do not secure them when you are travelling.

Two weeks later I passed my wife's bike on my way to work not a mile away from home riden by a grandad who had bought it from 'two blokes at the pub'. I had to let him ride off after stopping him and asking him a few questions, because I couldn't prove the bike was mine as it was a completely standard halfords model – seems unlikely thay many would be knocking about in the same town in virtually unridden condition given it was a 3 yr old womens specific bike. Annoyingly, had it been my bike I would have known it instantly because everything except the frame had been swapped over the 6 or 7 years I'd riden it !

If you've had a bike stolen by an opportunist (not very well secured, etc) keep your eyes open locally – the thieves aren't very clever, they will steal them and sell them on in their back yard, so to speak.

It's the only group of people I would advocate lining up and shooting, no trial.

Spotted a stolen bike on a flyer in Hebden this morning – http://twitpic.com/rtow9

Recovered it from a stoned dickhead outside Tod Post Office this afternoon – http://twitpic.com/rtoxr

Bike left at Blazing Saddles, and apparently I've a bottle of something nice waiting for me 🙂

good work brant….btw i would pay money to see a site like that (that actually worked) get set up

turns out the police do have something http://www.bikeregister.com/ anyone here ever actually registered on it?

yep i have, not had to use it yet though

mmmm….it's not actually run by the police by the look of it…so you give them all the details of your expensive bike, where it is kept etc and pay them….not sure about that !!!

I'm thinking a central website where people can post pictures of their stolen bikes (or parts).

got something set up like that in brizzle
http://www.stolenbristolbikes.com/

http://www.bikeregister.com

also this which is free
http://www.immobilise.com/

I'm available

I'm soooooo tempted sometimes (when I'm feeling all vigilante like) to set up a nice little honeypot trap where I live… lock up my lovely (and cherished!) Enduro SL in plain site, park a white van next to it and lie in wait inside… then when the inevitable little scroats turn up… you know the rest… oh yes, it would be satisfactory, yes it would indeed 😈

Did you see my post about Cheshire police recovering some 300 stolen bikes from the Chester area? We work a lot with North wales police, they do take it seriously. You would be suprised how much work is actually going on behind the scenes currently.

psychle, there is (or was) a youtube video of just such a trap set with a motorbike, they gave the scrote a right kicking and a hitting. With baseball bats.

I think if I was feeling imaginative I'd go in for a bit of psychological torture… nothing that'll hurt, just scare the **** bejesus out of them… Batman like in fact 🙂

Bikeregister – I've registered two bikes with them – one in 1998 and the other in 2003. They are definitely a legitimate company, nowadays part of Selectamark
I feel the frame markings alone are worthwhile deterrent and I would definitely recommend them although I have no knowledge of their recovery rates – neither bike has been stolen!

(Mr MC posting)

http://www.immobilise.com is supported/used by numerous british forces, and can be used to register any product that is identifiable. Its a spin-off of the national mobile phone register, and in some custody suites any phone brought in by a detainee is automatically checked againt the NMPR, so immobilise should have more exposure than bikeregister amongst the police.

Immobilise also do a competitor to datatag, but you can register any "identifier" on their database; frame number, datatag/immobitag number, frame etching etc etc.

Crime recording databases are held at force level, so if your £4K bike is recorded as nicked in Swindon (wiltshire) and is taken to nearby Faringdon (Thames Valley) a bobby has no chance of finding out if its stolen unless youve registered it somewhere and they are diligent enough to check it. I'm not on immobilise's payroll but I am a copper who has his bikes registered on immobilise (As well as my laptop, digital camera etc), as well as fitted with immobitags (bought cheaper from wiggle with vouchers than they do direct).

hey Mr Munqe-chick you wanna get yourself down to bristol on thursday as avon & somerset plod are giving away the immobitags for free, why dosen't your force give them away?