Doubtless an ongoing topic, but what's everyone's thoughts on cycle registration / marking / tagging? My daughter's bike was pockled from our back garden today (no great loss really, it was knackered on several fronts, but an annoying incident nonetheless) and it has focussed my attention on the best way to keep or recover a bike.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help
Bike registration / tagging etc
(19 posts)- Started 13 years ago by Its_Me_Knees
- Latest reply from steveo
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Posted 13 years ago #
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I have datatagged my mountain bike, and considered doing it to my tourer... dunno if it makes any difference tho :-/
Posted 13 years ago # -
I've got photos, serial numbers etc. of my bikes and lodged descriptions, values etc. with the Insurance company as I've taken separate cycle cover as the home contents insurance only covers up to £500 replacement value, putting 3 of them out of that category. I thought about datatag but didn't pursue the idea as I wasn't sure it would really help me to recover the bikes if they were stolen. Only 2 of them really ever get locked anywhere, the others live only in the house or within direct line of site of me. I'd be gutted to lose any of the 3 as they are "mine" and personalised and unique in their own special ways. I sort of hope this would help in recovering them if they were ever spotted up for sale, unless the enterprising ned wanted to completely re-cable, re-tape and re-saddle them.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Smudge: did you get your bike tagged through bikeregister.com, or some other way?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Theft comes up occasionally on here - not so sure about marking.
The Police used to Postcode bikes with letter/number punches but gave up when people complained about damage to the paint!
They were/(are?) using marker pens (visible under flourescent light) and chips (at cost). There have been/are various schemes with 'national databases'.
Whether many police forces check for any/all of these measures is another question.
Best to lock to something with a decent lock.
"According to the British Crime Survey over two thirds of all cycle thefts in the UK are from peoples homes. Despite this there has been little research into the circumstances surrounding these thefts." -
Developed from http://www.reinventingthebikeshed.com
Posted 13 years ago # -
@IMK, the commercial supplier "Datatag" sells kits of a transponder to glue inside your frame and marker warning/identification stickers, I believe it started out as a motorbike product during the eighties when the insurers were (allegedly) tacitly supporting bike theft by selling write offs way above their actual value (a seperate rant!).
They (datatag) keep a database with your details and the Police can get owners name/address if they come across a datatagged bike.
http://www.datatag.co.uk/
Google datatag + bicycle and you'll get loads of options.Posted 13 years ago # -
Found previous discussion.
L&BP uses BikeRegister.
Posted 13 years ago # -
In my previous experience (x 2) L&BP used the technique of giving you a crime number, telling you to contact your insurer* then pretending nothing had happened :-(
I'd be delighted to hear things have changed though (he said with faint hope...)
*(Hah! As if... there will be a loophole, they wont pay (unless of course you have security that weighs 3 times more than the bike and costs as much), and if you manage to force them it will be a token payment)
Posted 13 years ago # -
[+] Embed the video | Video Download Get the Flash Video Posted 13 years ago # -
Having talked to my local beat officers about bike theft, they tell me one of things they find frustrating is that when they do recover stolen bikes it is often impossible to return them to the owners, because, the bikes haven't been marked (or recorded on a database) and/or the theft hasn't reported.
While tagging your bike and reporting it, if it gets stolen, doesn't guaranty that you will get your bike back. Not tagging your bike and reporting it, if it gets stolen, does guaranty that you won't get your bike back...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Not tagging your bike and reporting it, if it gets stolen, does guaranty that you won't get your bike back...
Unless you've got the frame numbers recorded and lodged?
Posted 13 years ago # -
If you have the frame numbers recorded and lodged, you still need to report it stolen if there is any chance of getting it back...
Or you could register it with a database like immobilise.com
Posted 13 years ago # -
"Having talked to my local beat officers about bike theft, they tell me one of things they find frustrating is that when they do recover stolen bikes it is often impossible to return them to the owners, because, the bikes haven't been marked (or recorded on a database) and/or the theft hasn't reported."
My impression of the police is that (not surprisingly) there is no real corporate interest in bike thefts.
There have been various local initiatives by individual officers and ones by Crime Prevention Panels - there was even an open evening at Fettes a while ago (there may have been others since).
I tried to find some useful info on the L&B site - couldn't see anything for lost property opening hours - but I think it's still M-F 9-5.
Of course if you have a bike it makes sense to record its details and report if it gets stolen.
As for 'returning to owners' I wonder how much 'detective work' the police do. Presumably some of the bikes are fairly new and bought in Edinburgh. Bike shops record sales and usually frame numbers - do the police ever ask bike shops (name on frame) for the name of the first owner?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Here in Newington, the Police have actually caught a few bike thieves (and at least on fence), and they have said that if the bikes haven't been reported stolen or aren't registered on a database. The bikes are held for a few months, and if not claimed, are then sold at auction.
I don't think much effort goes in to 'detective work' for 'returning to owners', it is more up to the owner to be proactive...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I read this with interest. My bike was stolen on my leaving drinks in Cambridge last year. I hadn't even finished paying for it (through Cyle to Work Scheme)...
I reported it - mainly for the crime ref number, and it was replaced by the same model through house hold insurance which I'd ensured covered bike theft from away from the home.
I used to have my bikes stamped at the LPS but when I moved to Edinburgh (for the first time) in 1994, I had a bike stolen but the police looked at me blankly when I went to St leonards to have it stamped.
I've now got notes of our frame S/N and have insurance still.
Posted 13 years ago # -
The Datatag website appears to only work part time. Some of the links like 'find my local bike shop' doesn't work.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I've got a dinky little qr code on my bike thanks to mybikenumber.com
Probably as much use as a chocolate teapot, but it's free and hey, every little deterrent helps.
(No laughing at the back about the chances of my bike being nicked :) )
Posted 13 years ago # -
Stick a CCE QR code beside and ask who ever finds the code to put a post one here...
Posted 13 years ago #
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