Bryan Hance started StolenBicycleRegistry.com in 2004 because he was tired of having bikes stolen. Seth Herr started the Bike Index in 2013 because he was a bike mechanic and wished there was an easy way to register bikes for his customers. They merged Bike Index and SBR in July of 2014 because it made perfect sense—Seth makes sure registration is effortless, and Bryan recovers stolen bikes.

How can you avoid being one of these statistics?

August 27, 2015 Portland, OR

• Stolen:2001 GT   Serial S00457993    Off Max train, Lloyd District , Owner fell asleep
• Stolen: Gray Pure Fix.    Serial. FF015AO6577.   Cable lock, Quatama Station Beaverton
• Stolen: 2014 Pure Fix.  Serial ff015ao6577.   Quatama Station
• Stolen 1979 Fuji. No serial.  Taken off front porch, N Winchell St
• Stolen: 2015 Motobecane. No serial. Franklin HS inside school doors
• Stolen: 2000 Specialized Expedition. Serial CB9A5672. From backyard N Gilbert
• Stolen: Fuji newest 2.0. Serial ICFJ9802918. N Vancouver and N Webster stolen from SECOND FLOOR BALCONY
• Stolen: 1977 Raleigh International. No serial. SW Harrison, not locked, stolen from balcony
• Stolen: 1980 Fuji. No serial.  N Winchell not locked
• Stolen: Fuji Ace 650. Serial ICFJ9F8742. N Vancouver & N Webster

Bike Index is a worldwide database, so anywhere your bike is taken to sell illegally it can be traced back to you, if it’s registered. Also helpful is a police report. Police, Cities, States, pawn shops and universities are all starting to use Bike Index for reported stolen bikes and when behavior leads to suspicions of theft.

Bryan suggests using only a U-Lock, between the front wheel and the frame ideally to some very heavy or immovable object. Keep it inside. Garages – especially ones unattached from the house – are not safe. If you do put it in a garage make sure the garage has a good lock and bikes are locked and secured to something. Report a stolen bike immediately and post the situation on the bikeindex.org website.

Get started by creating an account on Bike Index. The Bike Index makes stolen bikes harder to sell and easier to recover by making sure important information about your bike is there when you need it the most.

So far they’ve registered 53,971 bikes and recovered 2,527 stolen bikes.

The process is simple, secure, and free. Find out how it works. Learn more or register your bike now…

This article contains excerpts from: bikeindex.org