"My bike got stolen, what do I do? How to find my stolen bike?" These problems may keep rolling over in your mind when your bike is stolen. Usually, you would have tried calling the police or have posted stolen bike ads to find your stolen bike, but these ways are not enough. We have summarized another 7 effective ways to find your lost cycles as much as possible.
Here is the key information you need to know regarding how to find a stolen bike:
Check If Your Bike Is Stolen Before You Head to Find Your Stolen Bike
Yep, it is essential to make sure that your bike is actually stolen by bike thieves before you search for your cycle like a headless chicken.
Many bike owners think "my bike was stolen" just because they just forgot where they have parked their bicycles.
How to find out if a bike is stolen? How to locate a lost bike?
Follow the tips below:
• Check carefully the place where you have parked your bike.
• Ask the bicycle park stuff whether they have towed your bike.
• If you park your bike in a campus, ask the campus police if they have removed your bicycle.
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Top 7 Ways You Should Know to Find Your Stolen Bike
When your fancy Gary Fisher bike is stolen or lost, you will try every possible way to get it back. Take the below 7 effective ways. You can find your stolen bike or missing bicycle as soon as possible.
- Way 1. Use Security Camera Footage
- Way 2. Use Cycle GPS Devices
- Way 3. Check Craigslist
- Way 4. Go to Flea Markets
- Way 5. Register Your Stolen Bike
- Way 6. Try Your Social Media
- Way 7. Fill an Insurance Claim
Way 1. Use Security Camera Systems to Find Your Stolen Bike
When your bike was stolen, you can check the security camera footage to trace down your stolen bicycle or motorcycle.
With home security camera systems that stand guard 24/7, not a single bike thief can escape without being caught on the cameras.
If your bike got stolen in your home or community, check the security camera footage in your home, especially in your garage, gardens and sheds, and in your community.
So, you can see who stole your bike and the bike thieves’ general escape route. With clear images or videos of the bike thief, chances are high that you would find the missing bike soon.
Security camera systems play an important role in finding stolen bikes. Besides, these excellent "digital eyes" are also helpful to find stolen cars, as well as prevent car/bike theft.
And here is an example.
A bike theft stole a bike parked near a homeowner’s front door before dawn but he didn’t know that he was caught on a 5MP security camera – Reolink RLC-520A.
PoE IP Camera with Person/Vehicle Detection
5MP Super HD; Smart Motion Detection, Outdoor/Indoor Protection; 100ft Night Vision; Audio Recording; Time Lapse, Remote Access & Control.
When the homeowner shared the footage to social media, he gained clues about the culprit’s name and location. And the thief returned the bike soon.
Besides, if the bike theft took place in a busy area, you can ask nearby businesses if they have security camera systems that could have captured the thief on video.
You should notify the business owner immediately, and ask him or her to retain the footage from the security camera system. Some business owners only keep the video for 24 hours so if you wait too long, the footage might get erased.
A bike owner retrieved his GT Aggressor 2.0 (a mountain bike) by checking a supermarket's security camera systems. From the bike owners' advice, who have the same experience of losing their bikes, security camera systems are definitely a workable way to find your missing bike.
Way 2. Use Cycling GPS to Track down Your Stolen Bike
When your bike is stolen, you can trace it down with the GPS devices. A lot of bike aficionado would install GPS tracking devices to their motorcycles, mountain bikes or motocross bikes in case of bike theft.
If you are one of them, you will recover your missing bikes quickly since the GPS tracking device can help you locate your bike anywhere and anytime.
Also note that when your bike gets stolen, use the device to find your stolen bike immediately. Stolen bikes are often broken up for parts. If you track down your stolen bike after a certain time, the bike GPS tracking device may only lead you to the part in which you installed the device.
Way 3. Check Craigslist to Find Your Stolen Bike
One of the simplest and cheapest ways to find your stolen bike is through "Bike Stolen" Craigslist.
Usually, bike thieves steal bikes and put them on Craigslist, Kijiji, eBay, Gumtree, etc. for quick resells since they don't want to keep their "crime evidence" for too long.
If you find your stolen bike, don't meet the seller on your own. Instead, ask the police for help. They are experienced and professional to deal with these cases so they may help you get your bike back more quickly and safely.
Way 4. Go to Flea Markets, Pawn Shops and Used Bike Shops to Find Your Stolen Bike
Where to find your stolen bike in Chicago, Texas and other cities? Take a buddy along with you to the flea markets and pawn shops.
These places are massive collections of stolen bikes and bike parts. You can see almost all kinds of bikes there, including dirt bikes, pushbikes, road or off-road bikes, hybrid bikes, etc. Your stolen dirt bike could be there.
If you do find your stolen bike, call the cops. They'll tell you what to do next. Besides, call all the used bike shops in the area. Give them a picture of your stolen bike. If they recycle second-hand bikes, they will be on the lookout because they do not want to be the party to receiving stolen property.
Way 5. Register Your Bicycle When Your Bike Is Stolen
If your bike is stolen from the school campus, your apartment garage, or work premises, register your bike to the Bike Index with the serial number at once.
Bike registry is a workable way to stop bike theft and a useful method of recovering stolen bikes. Even though you didn't register your bike before it got stolen, you can do it now.
For only $0.99, the National Bike Registry will add your bike to the database for 6 months. For those valuable bikes, such as scooters, racing bikes, and electric specialty bikes, it is extremely important to register them. The benefit is that if the police find your stolen bike, they can search the list and give your bike back to you.
Way 6. Spread the Word with Your Social Media When Your Bike Was Stolen
When your bike is stolen, post a photo of your stolen bicycle on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. People would tend to share such information on their social media.
Set up Google Alerts with the information matching your stolen bike. If your stolen cycle turns out on sale on the Internet, you'll receive the instant alerts.
Way 7. Fill an Insurance Claim to Recover Stolen Bikes
Another way to find stolen bikes is to fill an insurance claim if you have purchased insurance for your bike.
To recover the missing bike, it is best to contact the insurance company right after you report to the police. They may require you to hand in a police report and the purchase receipt as evidence as well.
You can increase the possibility to find your stolen bike with the above top 7 ways. Below are some "Bike Is Stolen" hottest questions you may be interested in, including bike insurances, bike stolen statistics, etc.
"Bike Is Stolen" Hottest Questions (You're Invited to Add More!)
Check the quick questions to the "Bike Is Stolen" hottest questions below. If you have questions or ideas you want to share, please leave them in the comment below, we will feature your insights in this post!
Q 1. Is Bike Theft Covered by Renters Insurance?
Are bikes covered by home insurance? What is Renters Insurance and what does it cover?
A 1: Renters Insurance provides coverage for your stolen or damaged possessions. If your bike is stolen and you've had comprehensive Renters Insurance for your bicycle, you can get compensation from the insurance company.
Q 2. My Bike Is Stolen, Does It Matter Where I live?
A 2: Yes, it matters. If your bike is stolen in the below areas, you should take the above top 6 ways to find your stolen bike.
Q 3. Bike Stolen Statistics
A 3: According to the FBI's statistics, over 1.5 million bicycles are stolen each year, perhaps another 2 to 3 million going unreported annually in the US. Bike theft has become a serious crime and caused great economic loss. In the US, $350,000 is lost due to bike theft.
In the United Kingdom, about 300,000 bicycles got stolen each year.
1 in 5 cyclists will have their bikes stolen within the first 6 months of owning them.
ONLY 2.4% of stolen bikes can be recovered. That's why you need to learn some effective bike theft prevention tips to protect your bicycles from thieves.
There are 9 bike theft prevention tips you can try to secure your bike from thieves.
- Tip 1.Buy security cameras.
- Tip 2. Install a GPS device for your bicycle.
- Tip 3. Get the right bike locks like a U-lock.
- Tip 4. Don't leave your bike unlocked in unsecured places overnight.
- Tip 5. Park the bikes in crowded areas.
- Tip 6. Secure your garage from break-ins since you usually store your bikes, cars or other valuable items there.
- Tip 7. Buy insurance for your bike.
- Tip 8. Record the serial number of your bike.
- Tip 9. Keep the receipt after purchasing the bike.
If you have any ideas you want to share with us, please leave them in the comment below.