Is the Bike Register worth it??

[Mike_P]

Not around of any locally police marking bicycles since 2019. Had two bikes done before then but since getting my legal ebike in 2020 none.

 

[Bristolian]

When buying my current bike I asked the seller what the frame number was before I went to see it and checked it against the Bike Register to see if it was reported stolen. It wasn't and that was one factor in my decision to buy it. The day I took delivery I registered it and the marking kit arrived a few days later. It now has a tamper-proof sticker clearly visible on the top tube stating that it is registered and an indelible registration number stencilled on the underside of the tube. The bike register web site also has photos of the bike, including frame number and identifiable features.

Will it stop the bike being stolen? I doubt it but then again I don't expect the Sold Gold lock will either so I tend to keep it looking dishevelled and unwanted. Given a rack full of more desirable bikes without a bright red bike register sticker I hope mine would be more trouble than it's worth and scumbag-thief will pick one someone else's It's just one more tool in the security box

 

[Time Waster]

I hate to tell you but the stickers are removable just in little pieces that take a long time. If you're stencilling a registration number on the frame it'll be removable as well.

Ours were marked in a police popup in the village for free. The only reason I got out bikes registered, because it was free. My son's bike has one sticker underneath it out of sight. The second sticker for a more visible location is not on but we have it. I'll leave it to the son where he wants it or even if he does want it on. It'll not stop a thief who wants that bike anyway. It's possibly good to get a recovered bike back.

For free it's something else to possibly work out good in the end. I think things are worth doing but not if you pay for it. That's down to my experience of reporting a stolen bike. The police force's own security marking scheme I used was not even known about by other units within the force investigating and recording bike thefts. I do think it will only work if the police find your stolen bike and have the time to check it out to find it's legal owner.

BTW how do the police know that the last person registered as the owner of a bike on bike register is the legal owner? We've bought a used bike, it was registered on bike register. It we got it registered at the weekend ok but before that any police checking up on it would think the person we bought it off was the owner and perhaps try to return it to them. I hope that now it'll go back to the last person to register it, which is us.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I hate to tell you but the stickers are removable just in little pieces that take a long time. If you're stencilling a registration number on the frame it'll be removable as well.

Ours were marked in a police popup in the village for free. The only reason I got out bikes registered, because it was free. My son's bike has one sticker underneath it out of sight. The second sticker for a more visible location is not on but we have it. I'll leave it to the son where he wants it or even if he does want it on. It'll not stop a thief who wants that bike anyway. It's possibly good to get a recovered bike back.

For free it's something else to possibly work out good in the end. I think things are worth doing but not if you pay for it. That's down to my experience of reporting a stolen bike. The police force's own security marking scheme I used was not even known about by other units within the force investigating and recording bike thefts. I do think it will only work if the police find your stolen bike and have the time to check it out to find it's legal owner.

BTW how do the police know that the last person registered as the owner of a bike on bike register is the legal owner? We've bought a used bike, it was registered on bike register. It we got it registered at the weekend ok but before that any police checking up on it would think the person we bought it off was the owner and perhaps try to return it to them. I hope that now it'll go back to the last person to register it, which is us.

They can;t know
I can be certain of this because I didn't buy my bike
it was a replacement for another bike that has some problems so Raleigh were very good and just replaced it with a better one
(OK OK - a bike from a better range but last year's model that they would probably have had to sell to one of those companies online that sell out-of-date models)
so I do not have a valid receipt

although the LBS would confirm it was mine - I'm sure he remembers all the hassle at the time !!!

 

[Dadam]

I've got my bikes registered on the bike register website with photos and frame numbers but haven't got stickers or hidden markers on the bikes. I don't think there's a lot of deterrent on the visible stickers, and hidden markers are no use if I've got a register of the frame number with photos.

 

[Bristolian]

I hate to tell you but the stickers are removable just in little pieces that take a long time. If you're stencilling a registration number on the frame it'll be removable as well.

Sorry, I meant to say that the number is etched into the frame. It's the same chemical etching process that many businesses use to identify computer equipment.

You may be right about the sticker, I don't know, just going from the blurb on the web site. If it can be removed then at least it will take them time and, as with making the bike look unattractive, hopefully they'll just move on to the next one and leave mine alone.

Edit: I may be tempting fate but it's worked so far

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Sorry, I meant to say that the number is etched into the frame. It's the same chemical etching process that many businesses use to identify computer equipment.

You may be right about the sticker, I don't know, just going from the blurb on the web site. If it can be removed then at least it will take them time and, as with making the bike look unattractive, hopefully they'll just move on to the next one and leave mine alone.

That is the main idea
Of course it would require a thief that has enough brain to know what the sticker means

which means the proper professional ones and not the idiots that just take whatever is easy and sell it for very little

 

[Bristolian]

That is the main idea
Of course it would require a thief that has enough brain to know what the sticker means

which means the proper professional ones and not the idiots that just take whatever is easy and sell it for very little

There is no perfect solution except to leave the bike at home (and hope you don't get burgled). All you can do is tilt the odds in your favour.

 

[Oldhippy]

Pointless gimmick sadly.

 

[PaulSB]

These things are a good idea but in reality don't work. I recall new Marin bikes used to come fitted with a tracker. I had one stolen. Nothing happened and I couldn't trace the tracking company.

I wear an ID bracelet which gives access to my full medical history. As I have a couple of major issues this is important. Last June I was hit by a tractor at +/-35mph. In the ambulance I waved my wrist around:

Responder #1 "What's that?"
Responder #2 "No idea. Never seen one before."

The company claim NHS responders are trained to recognise these.

Keeping accurate bike details, identification etc. is a sensible, personal precaution. One shouldn't rely on a system that could disappear in a round of funding cuts.

 

[Time Waster]

That is the main idea
Of course it would require a thief that has enough brain to know what the sticker means

which means the proper professional ones and not the idiots that just take whatever is easy and sell it for very little

Or a thief and anyone selling it on to actually care about the sticker and markings. Do you think a bike thief would not be able to sell on a stickered or marked bike?

I knew guys who rode a bike into work having bought the bikes for very little from someone they knew. I even saw someone with a security sticker but when I mentioned it they said things like that's how it came or just didn't realise what that sticker was for. They just didn't know or care. They just got a bike for £20. Another said he got his new, paid proper money on it too. When pressed her paid something like £130 on it.

I always downplayed the cost of my bikes at that place, after one got nicked from work. To them I paid £300 for my new Brompton and they still thought it cost a lot!🤣

 

[Time Waster]

There is no perfect solution except to leave the bike at home (and hope you don't get burgled). All you can do is tilt the odds in your favour.

I was in my local bike shop once and they were talking bike theft. The manager told us about a guy they sold a £6k bike to. He got it nicked from his garage despite locking it up with added security on the garage doors too. Apparently the thieves saw him riding his bike and followed him home. Then one night they broke into the garage through the flat, felt roof. Once in that used the guy's own power tools to cut through the locks in their own time, then they just opened the garage door and rode the bike away. All the while they owner was fast asleep in the house.

Apparently the guy didn't get a payout from his insurer. He had followed the insurance advice and rating of locks but he'd anchored them to a ground anchor that was not approved. I think he'd bodged it a bit too me make it work better for him. Only the insurers saw that and didn't pay out. The manager of the store was laughing about it because the guy just went back to the store and bought his own replacement so the store got two big sales from him in a matter of months.

It be was then that the manager took some time to take me over to the locks and a box of leaflets about bike insurance that they would get a cut from if you took it up. He was really selling the line that you can never guarantee your bike is secure so better to accept it when you get a bike stolen and claim on the insurance you have on it instead. I think that advice is true despite it being a sales pitch by that branch manager.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I was in my local bike shop once and they were talking bike theft. The manager told us about a guy they sold a £6k bike to. He got it nicked from his garage despite locking it up with added security on the garage doors too. Apparently the thieves saw him riding his bike and followed him home. Then one night they broke into the garage through the flat, felt roof. Once in that used the guy's own power tools to cut through the locks in their own time, then they just opened the garage door and rode the bike away. All the while they owner was fast asleep in the house.

Apparently the guy didn't get a payout from his insurer. He had followed the insurance advice and rating of locks but he'd anchored them to a ground anchor that was not approved. I think he'd bodged it a bit too me make it work better for him. Only the insurers saw that and didn't pay out. The manager of the store was laughing about it because the guy just went back to the store and bought his own replacement so the store got two big sales from him in a matter of months.

It be was then that the manager took some time to take me over to the locks and a box of leaflets about bike insurance that they would get a cut from if you took it up. He was really selling the line that you can never guarantee your bike is secure so better to accept it when you get a bike stolen and claim on the insurance you have on it instead. I think that advice is true despite it being a sales pitch by that branch manager.

This was why I stopped using specific bike insurance
They specified the types of acceptable lock in great detail
and that it had to be attached to the ground under the bike shed using a ground anchor
They said nothing about what the ground anchor should be composed of but I was worried that they would suddenly decied there were specific things about it if I ever need to clim
it would actually have been difficult to see it anyway - and it was under then shed and was out of sight
but I reckon they would have said it was not good enough anyway!

Home insurnace are happy if it is just locked up out of sight!
(until it gets knicked - maybe??)

 

[PaulSB]

This was why I stopped using specific bike insurance
They specified the types of acceptable lock in great detail
and that it had to be attached to the ground under the bike shed using a ground anchor
They said nothing about what the ground anchor should be composed of but I was worried that they would suddenly decied there were specific things about it if I ever need to clim
it would actually have been difficult to see it anyway - and it was under then shed and was out of sight
but I reckon they would have said it was not good enough anyway!

Home insurnace are happy if it is just locked up out of sight!
(until it gets knicked - maybe??)

I've looked at bike specific insurance a number of times. The above is partly why I've never used this type of cover. I've reached the conclusion it's unaffordable and a rip off. My bikes are insured via my home contents policy and always have been. My personal guidelines on this are simple:

• Always use a known quality brand
• Does the policy clearly describe the bike cover and T&Cs
• Call the insurer to confirm I've understood the offer correctly

I usually pay around £350 for Buildings and Contents with my bikes fully covered. Last year M&S charged a £50 premium to increase the cover level beyond their standard policy. Very fair in my opinion. Following a major claim last July M&S increased my premium by £70pa. I paid without question as I'd experienced great service and M&S was still very good value.

Last July following a major RTC they paid out £7700 without hesitation on my claim. Then successfully claimed from the third party's insurers which strengthened my case that the third party was fully liable for the RTC. I was more than satisfied.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I've looked at bike specific insurance a number of times. The above is partly why I've never used this type of cover. I've reached the conclusion it's unaffordable and a rip off. My bikes are insured via my home contents policy and always have been. My personal guidelines on this are simple:

• Always use a known quality brand
• Does the policy clearly describe the bike cover and T&Cs
• Call the insurer to confirm I've understood the offer correctly

I usually pay around £350 for Buildings and Contents with my bikes fully covered. Last year M&S charged a £50 premium to increase the cover level beyond their standard policy. Very fair in my opinion. Following a major claim last July M&S increased my premium by £70pa. I paid without question as I'd experienced great service and M&S was still very good value.

Last July following a major RTC they paid out £7700 without hesitation on my claim. Then successfully claimed from the third party's insurers which strengthened my case that the third party was fully liable for the RTC. I was more than satisfied.

Good to hear of one paying up