Get your bike security tagged for free

Hey guys,

The LAPD (or London cycle task force for anyone who hasn't see AliG the movie) are doing another round of free bike marking sessions. They basically shove a sticker under the bike that can't be removed with anything less than a blowtorch. Might be useful for stamping out bike theft...

11-Sep 10am to 4pm Chiswick Common near Turnham Green, W4
19-Sep 11am to 5pm Wanstead Festival, Christchurch Green, High Street, E11
21-24 September All day Fresher’s Fair, Queen Mary’s University, on Mile End Road E1
22-23 September 4pm to 7pm Battersea Park, Battersea Park Road, London SW11 4ND
23-Sep 8am to 1pm Narrow Way junction with Mare Street, Hackney (inside St Johns Church Yard)
8-10 October All day Cycle Show Earls Court, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Warwick Road, London, SW5 9TA

I'm maintaining a list of Bike marking sessions on London Cyclist and updating it when I can.

When you say 'under the bike' where exactly is the sticker placed? Externally or internally? Reason I ask is because if it's inside a tube like seat-tube for example I have ball-bearings in my seat and seat-post allen bolts so taking them out involves acetone and is a pain in the arse. Cheers.

I have one on my Colnago... Underside of downtube, near the BB shell...

Can we choose the colour of the sticker? I have very carefully colour co-ordinated my look you see.

Will do this at the Cycle Show. Thanks for letting us know.

Thanx for the info mate. I'll get my housemate to do it as well.

Peas

Definitely gonna get this done...

worth doing, thanks.

What if you sell the bike - do you transfer the code to a new owner? How does this make your bike anymore secure than knowing the frame number, or etching your postcode onto the BB?

Makes a fucking mess of carbon frames I've heard.

I have one on my Colnago... Underside of downtube, near the BB shell...

Could you post a photo?

What if you sell the bike - do you transfer the code to a new owner? How does this make your bike anymore secure than knowing the frame number, or etching your postcode onto the BB?

I asked this when I got mine done the other day. You're supposed to register the bike on the Immobilise website with the number, plus despcription and photos. When the police pull over a cyclist for running a red light or whatever, they flip the bike over, run a check and you pop up as the registered owner. If the rider isn't you he has some explaining to do.

If you sell the bike you can just unregister it from your name and the buyer has the option of re-registering in their own name.

I asked this when I got mine done the other day. You're supposed to register the bike on the Immobilise website with the number, plus despcription and photos. When the police pull over a cyclist for running a red light or whatever, they flip the bike over, run a check and you pop up as the registered owner. If the rider isn't you he has some explaining to do.

If you sell the bike you can just unregister it from your name and the buyer has the option of re-registering in their own name.

I have registered my bike on the Immobilise website even though I must admit I am very skeptical about it. I have been riding around London for years now and I have never been pulled by police and I have never seen the polic pulling anybody for running a red light or for looking a suspicious thief... I dont know but I always thought that police have much more important things to do than stopping cyclists..

I was thinking about this yesterday as I saw a yoot on a De Rosa, round the corner (Peckham) from where I'd previously seen another yoot on a Colnago master.
It may be wrong to assume, but I seriously doubt they'd worked very hard and saved to get that bike they've been dreaming about all these years.
Are the PoPo savvy enough to think of this?

Just remembered I'm moving to Oz so this will be a pointless exercise for me. Shame.

Went along to the Wanstead Festival today, got my bike marked on the frame - it's some weird paint that bonds/eats into the bike paint so you can't scratch it off. Kinda unimpressed with the police guy there though - stuck the barcode sticker onto my handlebar stem instead of the frame, and claimed my frame number had been scratched off (it's on the top of the BB not underneath), then said they didn't need it on the form. Just couldn't be bothered to do it properly, which is annoying. They were getting ready to pack up at 3 when the event didn't finish til 5.

I hope i get an email form Immobilise soon, so i can add my own frame number... Also the barcode sticker doesn't even seem to have a very waterproof finish?! I relocated it to the frame, will probably stick some clear tape over it or something. Still, glad i went.