10 steps to recover your stolen bike – Bike Shepherd

You can file a police report here. If you have the serial number of the bike (found on the bottom of the bike, where the pedal stems join the bike frame), file a police report. Fill in as much info as you can (photo, proof of ownership if available (sales receipt, registration details, unique features) and as many identifying details as possible. If you don’t have the serial number, register the bike anyway, with all details and photos.

on BikeShepherd.org, the global bike registration and recovery. It’s free to register, list a stolen bike and Stolen Bike Alerts will be sent out to the owner, followers on Facebook and Twitter, local authorities, bike clubs, and bike shops.

Check to see if your bike was insured, your insurance company needs to be informed immediately. Give them all the details as you would the police.Check to see if your bike was insured, your insurance company needs to be informed immediately. Give them all the details as you would the police.

If you were using a specialist lock, such as a Kryptonite lock and your bike was stolen, you may be eligible for the Kryptonite Anti-Theft Protection Offer. You will need to mail your notice of theft within 7 days to Kryptonite so don’t delay. For more information go to www.kryptonitelock.com and click on Customer Service.

If you don’t already have one, sign up for an eBay account and create a saved search on the make and model of the bike (example: Cannondale, Six) which will provide you with automatic daily emails for any new bikes posted that match your make/model (Cannondale, Six). That way you can keep an eye on eBay. If you see your bike on eBay, report this to the police.

Gumtree sells lots of bikes. Some are stolen. They have operations in the US, Australia, Canada and lots of other places. Wherever you are, set up an email alert for new listings of bikes being sold. Use the make and model to create a more select search. For instance, in the UK you can set up this alert: http://www.gumtree.com/cgi-bin/subscribe.pl?show=UK Or in Sydney it’s http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/

If you’ve seen your bike on Gumtree report it to the police immediately so they can contact Gumtree to retrieve seller information and trace the bike. Gumtree may even use your bike listing as a trap to catch the bike thief.

For users in the US, Craiglist has a number of auto-search tools – one in particular is a mobile alerts site, www.4info.com/browse/craigslist/. Sign up for an account and create a craigslist alert, listing the make/model of the bike you had stolen to be searched. When new items are posted in the For Sale > Bikes category, any matches to your bike will be sent to your phone. At this point you should contact the police and ask for their help in getting your bike back. If you can prove ownership they will be more receptive to helping you. Don’t accuse the seller of stealing your bike. He’ll just get rid of it.

In Canada: Try the online classified site Kijiji

In Singapore: Singapore Expats classifieds.singaporeexpats.com/ or Singapore Classified Online www.singaporeclassifiedonline.com

Go to My Stolen Bike and find your stolen bike details using the search, then click on the Twitter and Facebook icons. Your friends will automatically be alerted with all details of the bike and where it was stolen. Make sure you upload a picture.

Call on local bike shops with a picture and details of your bike. They are happy to help. If you’re bike is unique, like a time-trial, single speed, tri-bike, cross bike or racing bike, list it with specific bike clubs websites and forums. A specialist tri-bike was found this way, after only 20 minutes of posting on a tri-athlete forum!