Cycling UK Forum

531colin wrote: ↑21 Mar 2024, 9:01am I’m somewhat jaded by my experience of the police register of found/recovered stolen bikes.
A red Raleigh 21gear mountain bike might be filed under;
Red or Raleigh or mountain…..,,.

I use Bike Register (Cycling UK discount available). The stickers with a unique code number should be a theft deterrent but bike name, frame number and photo are part of the record. I've yet to discover how well the system works and hope it won't be necessary.

Yes, it's a community activity in partnership with the police to get people to find and record their bike frame numbers. It turns out that, along with writing a will, this seems to be one of the most put-offable until another day things out there, and next comes to mind the day after the bike was stolen. The activity also then gets the info onto Bike Register, and gives owners a free (to them) set of the unique stickers as mentioned above. I'm not sure how well the latter bit works either, but the first critical step is finding the frame number and recording it, ideally somewhere where the police can then look things up. They often find tens of stolen bikes in one location. and it is impossible to re-unite these with owners without the details being logged somewhere.

An event where all this gets done with support works. Asking people to find the number themselves is a huge barrier to getting it done, or to getting it done correctly. We've had several people who had previously proudly recorded BS6102 as their unique frame number, or their bike model / part numbers, and people are hazy on which are brands and which are models of bikes. A lot of cheap bikes feature a prominent Shimano brand on the stays, and so on.

Anyway, thanks again for the ideas, and for the answers to the original question.

531colin wrote: ↑19 Mar 2024, 4:59pm TO INVERT

1. Stand on the side of the bike where the chain is
2. Lean saddle against left leg/hip
3. Bend over bike, grasp fork and seatstay about mid-point.
4. Turn bike over towards you

Sorry, late in replying to this.

In principle you are correct Colin, but if you cannot lift the bike to turn it over as you describe, you're stuffed.
My idea for a heavy bike is to lie it down, then turn it over by the wheels, and all the while, the floor takes the strain.

a.twiddler wrote: ↑20 Mar 2024, 4:34pm

Airsporter1st wrote: ↑20 Mar 2024, 2:09pm A mirror on a stick?

That would work, but when it comes to reading letters and numbers they would be reversed. A prism on a stick?

I wouldn’t think it beyond the wit of the majority to read reversed numbers and/or letters. Probably a bigger problem if the serial number is obscured as in the previous photos.

Here's another idea nobody has mentioned: don't turn the bike over, don't use a mirror, don't use a camera - lie down on the ground and peer up at the bottom bracket. Use a pad or sheet to keep clean and comfortable. You have two hands free to clean dirt and move cables, for which you might need eye protection. You will need a light of some sort: head torch, hand torch or even better a battery-operated LED builders' lamp. [In April 2024 Bosch will release one of these in their green 18V power-for-all range. No, I don't work for them, just found a press release.] If you are going to be very thorough, you'll need a way to prevent people treading on the supine inspector's tender parts.