Even a basic bicycle for traveling between work and home can be expensive, so it’s no surprise that bikes are a popular target for thieves. This post contains vital tips that will help you know how to protect your bike from being stolen.<\/p>\n
According to Cyclist UK, there were around 327,000 bike theft incidents reported in England and Wales between April 2015 and March 2016. Worldwide, more than a million bikes are stolen every year, and in most countries, only around 1% are ever recovered. Make no mistake; bike theft is a big business. So what are the best ways to help prevent your bike from being stolen? Whether it\u2019s at home or away, this guide should help you keep your bike more secure.<\/p>\n
When you’ve bought a new bike, it’s worth signing up to a national bicycle marking and registration scheme. This is basically an online database system approved by the police, where you can upload your bike’s model and frame number, as well as a photo of it. It’s free to register via websites, and you’ll be given a logbook to record any details in case you ever need to prove the bike belongs to you. Good websites include BikeRegister<\/a> or Immobilise<\/a> (in the UK) and National Bike Registry<\/a> or Garage 529<\/a> (in North America),<\/p>\n Police regularly check the database when retrieving stolen or found bikes. So if yours has been taken, you can highlight this on your online account. If the police then recover the bike, it should be easier for them to return it to you.<\/p>\n It’s also a good idea to mark your bike with an exclusive ID code so that it’s identifiable. Local police often mark bikes at special events \u2013 so keep checking their websites for details.<\/p>\n You can also buy a variety of kits from bike registry websites if you’d prefer to do it yourself. BikeRegister offers some useful steps on how to mark your bike, as demonstrated in this video, and then summed up below:<\/p>\n