Getting "stuff" back

[anonymous-user]

Fortunately i live in a pretty lowish crime area but having just podded out a couple of hundred pound on a bike for the daughter i'm considering the best way to try and get it back if it goes missing.

I'm thinking a couple of inconspicuous marks on it somewhere then photographed with a time/date stamp in the garden or something similiar.

Also looking at registering this and the mobiles etc on this site https://www.immobilise.com/about.html or something similiar.

Does anyone have any experience of it or other suggestions ? I've heard of Smartwater etc but wondering about the best way to try and cover/recover "stuff" if unfortunately it should go missing.
Thanks.

[TurricanII]

You might put some identifying object (laminated phone number perhaps) into the seat post/frame/handle bar, but what hope is there of getting it back? There are a load of online stolen bike registers if ever the worst happens. All I can imagine doing is noting the serial number and making sure the bike is always left in as safe as possible locations with a thick chain.

[JulianHJ]

Some forces still offer a postcoding service. The easiest option is make a note of the frame number (photograph for example) and any modifications that will aid ID-ing it in the event it gets pinched. Buy a good D-lock too.

[jontie]

No idea if these are any use (or available in the UK) but i have been meaning to order a few and try them out.

http://www.thetileapp.com/

They are basically small GPS trackers, i'm sure they would be small enough to hide somewhere on a push bike.

Jontie

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the idea's so far,

I'd need that Tileapp on my head if it wasn't connected the amount of times I mislay stuff now looks like the new baggage tracking stuff sita/amadeus are using.

The local pcsos were supposed to be doing bike stamping in the town/village centre last week but didn't seem to show up, the guy in the bike shop told me it's unpopular nowadays with breaking the paint and associated problems but I was thinking of somehow etching my phone number under the frame but it may never get looked at/for by the 'right people' so I was looking for a back up idea.

The kid is only 10 so presently on a small combo lock and chain (the bike ) rather than big locks and keys to loose, I can just see it being 'dumped' while playing and the 'scrap man' driving past and having it away

[carpetsoiler]

We use Immobilise for our crime prevention stuff.

https://www.immobilise.com/index.php

Your local police service should offer Immobilise sessions. You can put pretty much anything with a serial number on it; if it's ever recovered and gets back into the system it's linked to you. Phones... bikes... cameras... probably draw the line at the oven, but the world is your oyster!

[dingg]

Forget about getting things back

just make sure they don't get pinched in the first place

once its gone, its gone

[Slidingpillar]

speedyguy said:

The local pcsos were supposed to be doing bike stamping in the town/village centre last week but didn't seem to show up, the guy in the bike shop told me it's unpopular nowadays with breaking the paint and associated problems but I was thinking of somehow etching my phone number under the frame but it may never get looked at/for by the 'right people' so I was looking for a back up idea.

I'm not going to guarantee no paint broken, but if you do it through sticky tape the paint has a better chance of not being broken. But as it's usual to place the mark on the underside of the bottom bracket, it'll never be in sight so if you need to locally paint doesn't really matter.

Same place, but another method, use a UV pen to write it on. The underside of the bottom bracket again as anyone investigating a cycle will look there.

[Who me ?]

One MP did come up with an idea on TV, about sticking a note in a plastic bag in the saddle tube with data on the owner. Post code ,etc. Then,if found ,and you think it's yours, it let's you prove it. First time I've heard an MP SAY SOMETHING SENSIBLE

[Ledaig]

Who me said:

One MP did come up with an idea on TV, about sticking a note in a plastic bag in the saddle tube with data on the owner. Post code ,etc. Then,if found ,and you think it's yours, it let's you prove it. First time I've heard an MP SAY SOMETHING SENSIBLE

Andrew Mitchell?

[Who me ?]

Possibly

[ilikestellaartoi]

[quote=Who me ?]One MP did come up with an idea on TV, about sticking a note in a plastic bag in the saddle tube with data on the owner. Post code ,etc. Then,if found ,and you think it's yours, it let's you prove it. First time I've heard an MP SAY SOMETHING SENSIBLE
[/quote]

Did this with my Jamis Dakota back in 1994, was stolen from Portsmouth Dockyard in 1996 and I never saw it again

[andygo]

We had a couple of Marin Mount Visions stolen from our locked garage a few years ago. I managed to get an identical model for my wife secondhand.

Having given the description and photos of them to the Police, my wife (whom he hadn't met) rode past the investigating 'detective' parked outside my house. Although he looked at my wife as she rode past, he didn't bat and eyelid.

So I would say unless the bike hands itself in to the Police station, you have very little chance of recovery.

[mel]

All the kids on the local sink estate are zooming around on hand painted bitzers, they start 'em young and they learn how to ring bikes before moving on, they will strip them, run a grinder over the frame number, then swap all the bits around amongst themselves, hand paint the frame and you'll never know. You may see "your" wheels on a different frame or visa versa but you'll never prove it and most certainly no uv pens or notes in seat posts will do any good, there're 10 year olds running push bike chop shops in garden sheds.

[zcacogp]

andygo said:

So I would say unless the bike hands itself in to the Police station, you have very little chance of recovery.

Given the effectiveness of my local police when I had my bike nicked last year, I'd agree with this. My opinions of the effectiveness of police are pretty much in line with those of many others, and tagging your kit is going to be eff-all good if the coppers don't actually bother to try and find the items in question.


Oli.

[jdw100]

mel said:

All the kids on the local sink estate are zooming around on hand painted bitzers, they start 'em young and they learn how to ring bikes before moving on, they will strip them, run a grinder over the frame number, then swap all the bits around amongst themselves, hand paint the frame and you'll never know. You may see "your" wheels on a different frame or visa versa but you'll never prove it and most certainly no uv pens or notes in seat posts will do any good, there're 10 year olds running push bike chop shops in garden sheds.

Seriously?

Bloody hell!

Where is this?

[ging84]

Who me said:

One MP did come up with an idea on TV, about sticking a note in a plastic bag in the saddle tube with data on the owner. Post code ,etc. Then,if found ,and you think it's yours, it let's you prove it. First time I've heard an MP SAY SOMETHING SENSIBLE

The sensible idea of putting people's addresses on their bike when they are obviously not at home and are at least an x minutes cycle ride away, or a much longer walk after a good half hour reporting the theft of the bike to the police.

What on earth is wrong with a serial number

[zcacogp]

jdw100 said:

mel said:

All the kids on the local sink estate are zooming around on hand painted bitzers, they start 'em young and they learn how to ring bikes before moving on, they will strip them, run a grinder over the frame number, then swap all the bits around amongst themselves, hand paint the frame and you'll never know. You may see "your" wheels on a different frame or visa versa but you'll never prove it and most certainly no uv pens or notes in seat posts will do any good, there're 10 year olds running push bike chop shops in garden sheds.

Seriously?

Bloody hell!

Where is this?

I have no doubt it happens in many, many areas of London, particularly South and East London.


Oli.

[CallorFold]

This maybe useful, although it comes at a considerably higher price than a standard bike lock;

"The £100 solar-powered smart lock that alerts you if a thief tries to steal your bike - and texts your family if you have an accident"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-263...

[Cyberprog]

jontie said:

No idea if these are any use (or available in the UK) but i have been meaning to order a few and try them out.

http://www.thetileapp.com/

They are basically small GPS trackers, i'm sure they would be small enough to hide somewhere on a push bike.

Jontie

Actually they're not GPS trackers. If you watch the video, they're basically a bluetooth device that interacts with an app via a cloud system. You're dependant on there being enough people out there using tile, that they form a mesh, and when you report your tile as lost, all the apps then add that to their "hot" tiles list, and if they see it, they tell the cloud where they are and that they saw your tile. That's all. So you then have to hope the tile doesn't move, and head to that location ASAP with your app, to track it down. Nifty idea for keys, but not great for bikes, phones, laptops... and if they pop it in a Faraday cage you're stuffed.