According to Project 529, the creator of the world’s biggest bike registry, over two million bikes are stolen each year in North America—meaning every 30 seconds, someone’s ride goes missing.
Kelowna RCMP constable Solana Pare was on AM1150's Early Edition talking about bike theft and what you can do to prevent it.
She says the number one thing you can do is record the serial number.
“That will be on the frame of your bicycle in between your pedals, if you flip it upside down you will see it there. It may also be on your actual receipt from wherever you purchased your bicycle from. Some businesses also keep that serial number on file. That way in a situation where you’ve lost the receipt and, god forbid, you did not record the serial number of your bicycle you can call the business and they may have it for you.”
Pare says keeping updated photos and recording the serial number are your best bet at having your bike returned if it is stolen and recovered.
She says on a daily basis, police are unable to return recovered bikes because the serial number has not been reported as stolen.
“An easy way to keep this information stored and readily available in the case that you need it, is to use a public bicycle registration, such as Project 529, and you can register it to you and in the event that your bike is stolen you can mark that it was stolen, it will send an alert to all the other Project 529 users and it will send an alert to their smartphones.”
Additionally, Pare says multiple forms of security will make it less desirable to steal.
“If you have a high value item, you secure it using something that is equivalent. So, using a very high quality lock and using even two of them to secure you bicycle. You can secure your bike frame to the bike rack using one lock and then use a chain for the wheel.”
Pare says bikes are often stolen when they are left unlocked or with a low quality lock in a car port or garage and from there the thief will notice it, cut the lock and help themselves.