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Cracking piece. There is a potential solution. Register every bike frame with bikeregister.co.uk. Then make it mandatory for every online sales platform (Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace, ebay) to list the registration number, with autolookup for stolen models. Microdots in the frame make it impossible to renumber a frame.
I've spoken to Bik…
Cracking piece. There is a potential solution. Register every bike frame with BikeRegister.co.uk. Then make it mandatory for every online sales platform (Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace, ebay) to list the registration number, with autolookup for stolen models. Microdots in the frame make it impossible to renumber a frame.
I've spoken to BikeRegister and a number of other orgs about this - all doable. It's something that's been spoken about for yonks. The only obstacle is political will. The Dept of Transport were looking into it...five years ago. Still nothing.
Superb suggestion, just a minor correction (sorry!): the website is bikeregister.com not .co.uk
Oh yes that's the one! Thank you
Yes—this 100%. And some form of bill of sale/title that goes with it, so honest buyers and sellers have real paperwork that shows an item isn’t stolen goods.
Destroy these bastards’ market and you stop their evil actions!
How about a simple thing. I have a Specialised with SRAM electronic gears, which I have registered with SRAM. Surely, SRAM could allow me to track the bike through their apps if it is stolen.