Some things to do when you get your bike.....!!

[kemmo]

A mate of mine had his Norco Hardtail stolen from Uni & it appeared in a nearby bike shop, with the person who stole it, trying to sell it.
This was all on video & when my mate approached the cops (usless buggers they are) they said that unless he had the serial numbers of the frame & forks etc they were unable to do anything about it, even though he could describe certain items that you normally wouldnt know, like different brand springs in the forks etc & thus he has lost a very expensive bike.
Unfortunately it is too late for a lot of Farkiners, but the best thing anyone can do, no mater how anal it seems, is write down the serial numbers and securely save them somewhere, just in case.
Due to this recent fact, the local bike shop I use, records all serial numbers, names & addresses for sales, wether new or used bikes.
Hopefully this might help someone in the future.
Very sorry for those of you who are on the wrong side of this.

 

[Daver]

The first thing i do when i get a bike or change a part is to do a whole exel spreadsheet with the specs and serial numbers of each item, from the frame to the rear mech and pedals. I update it with each part and have up to date photos in case the worst happens.

 

[shreko]

a colour foto helps 2 with the serial # when u try to get it back

 

[kemmo]

The first thing i do when i get a bike or change a part is to do a whole exel spreadsheet with the specs and serial numbers of each item, from the frame to the rear mech and pedals. I update it with each part and have up to date photos in case the worst happens.

Daver
I'm glad I'm not the only nutter that a spread sheet of all the bitz & pieces that make up my bikes. I have a fleet of 4 fairly nice "toys", 2 of mine & 1 each for my kids.
Thanks

 

[kemmo]

a colour foto helps 2 with the serial # when u try to get it back

shreko,
Excellent idea, I never thaught of photographing the finer details of my rigs,
Will keep it in mind.
Thanks

 

[steamfrog]

Should

Should we start a national bike register. I can set up the site.

 

[dmwill]

Indeed, record you serial # straight away. When I got my new bike, the serial was printed on the recipt and also inside the manual. I'm surprised not every bike shop doesn't do that...Car manfacturers/dealers do!

 

[DeSloth]

Should we start a national bike register. I can set up the site.

Simple, yet complicated....

America has one, mabye it would be possible to find out how it was set up. Perhaps gun registration could be a model or sorts?

Government backing, or at least encouragement, might be benificial?

Everyone would need to know about it, from those with high-end bikes to K-mart specials. Once they are aware of it's existence, people would then have to actually use in order to deter any theft.

What would be the process for 2nd hand gear? 5 people might end up trying to register the same item over its lifetime.

Could bike stores be encouraged to use it to the benifit of their customers?

Would it deal with frames only - or use some kind of code for each valuable part? CRA - - - - - - (unique alpha-numberic code) on all cranks for example? Who would stamp / engrave this code and how could one tell if it is genuine?

Who would maintain and host the database?

How would people go about checking if the crap they're trying to purchase is legit?


I'd really like to see this happen, but there's a few unanswered questions...

 

[danv]

What would be the process for 2nd hand gear? 5 people might end up trying to register the same item over its lifetime.

Would it deal with frames only - or use some kind of code for each valuable part? CRA - - - - - - (unique alpha-numberic code) on all cranks for example? Who would stamp / engrave this code and how could one tell if it is genuine?


How would people go about checking if the crap they're trying to purchase is legit?


I'd really like to see this happen, but there's a few unanswered questions...

All those problems could be solved through a well designed database and information system.

Does anyone think it could be somehow made commercially viable? I mean, is there anyway you could make money of it?
Maybe advertising on the site; fees for registering something stolen, and for checking if something's been registered.

IMO we should have national databases for all items of value.

 

[apsilon]

IMO for it to be of any value you not only need the details of the parts but the owners details as well. That raises the issue of the database falling into the wrong hands which will provide a potential thief with a shopping list of parts and where they can find them.

 

[steamfrog]

Ok

Well since it's quiet here at work I'm going to mock up some screens of how I see it working.. stay tuned Ill post a link soon.

 

[99_FGT]

America's Bike register is a commercially viable venture from what I understand. Daver raises some interesting points as well.
If I have the only one of its type in Australia, what is to stop someone from asking for the details of my bike. Then they would also have all the particulars of my bike and we would be back to square one.
Security is a big issue, but if you want people to use it it needs to be as cheap as possible (ie free) to get it out there. Maybe some government backing would be good - $20 for each bike tracked down through the system! We live in hope.

 

[steamfrog]

Ok

I see it as a free service but with advertising to pay for the cost of hosting.
users would have to create a username /password and the site is secure,running a mysql database. i also see an optin for users to be able toupload photos of their bikes.

I can create the site no worries.

going to buy. http://ausbikeregister.com

screen shots soon.. working on the format now.

 

[steamfrog]

Mock up here

OK did a really rough site mock up.. I see it as something like this..
This is a NON working copy just the general navigation, I will make it look better.. Anyone see any features that i missed?

http://steamfrog.com/ABR/

Comments?

 

[parallax]

OK did a really rough site mock up.. I see it as something like this..
This is a NON working copy just the general navigation, I will make it look better.. Anyone see any features that i missed?

http://steamfrog.com/ABR/

Comments?

VERY nice!! The spec list thingy should have more areas to place your items.

The site should have a both a register and search function. A person intending to buy a bike can search the site for a serial number, and the results should bring up a box with a limited bit of information, ie: Stolen or not and owners contact. That way anyone who happens to come across a person selling stolen bikes, they can alert the rightful owner.

I think it should be free, but sell some space for advertising to pay for the hosting. Fucking brilliant idea guys, looks like it's finally coming into fruition.

 

[DeSloth]

All those problems could be solved through a well designed database and information system.

Does anyone think it could be somehow made commercially viable? I mean, is there anyway you could make money of it?
Maybe advertising on the site; fees for registering something stolen, and for checking if something's been registered.

IMO we should have national databases for all items of value.

Yeah I have done some (limited) system design. Just pointing out it's not cut and dried when it comes to actually implementing the thing - a large part of the reason it hasn't been done already.

It would be so very good if it could be made to work though.

Top work Steamfrong, perhaps put some feelers out and see how many people really want such a thing off the ground and look for some backing?

Pretty sure there is already a national register for valuable items too...

 

[Terminatermule]

hosting I could help with

If you guys ever get this thing off the ground (heres hoping) I will provide hosting for it. I run a FreeBSD server with Apache2 with MOD SSL and of course MySQL. It is also running a mockup secure cert to allow encryption. If you guys get to the pont of having a database ready to trial, give me a hoy and I will knock up a subdomain for you to put it under.

Cheers Glenn

 

[luke.b]

this is a great idea

people should only be able to register stolen bikes, that way there won't we as many people playing funnybuggers with the site.

 

[peto]

serial numbers

Hi guys all of your ideas sound great so good luck with them.
I am going to take the idea of printing the serial number of the frame and forks on to receipts in the bike shop in which I work. We currently record and file this info with the customer info but I think it's a good think to add to the receipt.
The involvement of bike shops in this subject will be critical in getting any thing up and going.

 

[donthucktoflat]

steamfrog, with the "selling your bike" bit. i think that should be on a separate page within the user's account. like a user CP if you will. also, the "email new owner about this site" bit needs to be changed to a dropdown menu saying yes or no, i assume. apart from that, good navigation, good idea and i can't wait for it to happen