London Met free security marking events

Given the security consciousness of the riders on here, and the horror stories on the Stolen Bikes thread, I thought this might be of interest:

http://content.met.police.uk/Article/Cycle-marking-events/1400005859885/1400005859885

• Thursday 11th October 2012 - 4-7pm - London Bridge junction with Tooley Street, SE1 - outside Evans Cycles
  
• Thursday 11th October 2012 - 3-7pm - East Central Cycles Exmouth Market EC1R 4QL
  
• Thursday 18th October 2012 - 7.45-10am - Manor House junction with Seven Sisters Road, N4
  
• Thursday 25th October 2012 - 4-7pm - Manor House junction with Seven Sisters Road, N4
  
• Monday 29th October 2012 - 4-7pm - Mitcham BMX Club, Acacia Road, CR4
  
• Wednesday 31st October 2012 - 7.30-10.30am - Wellington Arch, W1J
  
  
  

Police have told me that even when they recover stolen/suspect bikes, they often can't trace the owner. Best case, this means the bike is sold off, worst case, they can't charge the thief and he may even get the bike back again.

Besides, anything that makes your bike less attractive to thieves has to be good!

'London Met' makes it sound as if you're talking about the university. :)

Eh - an unplanned bike-less state would certainly be a learning experience :)

enter code hereJust wondered if anyone has had a bike marked? Am thinking getting this done myself and wondered what they actually mark the bicycle with?

UV paint a sticker that can't be removed?
How visible are the markings?

Would it be sacrilege to mark a Colnago ?

They use an acid to etch a number into the frame on the underside of the downtube. The numbers are then a very visible blue or black. They also give you a big red sticker to go on the top tube (or somewhere visible) so that thieves know it is marked.

And, yes, there are different acid/etch types for different frame materials, I've had 3 frames marked. One steel, one Alu and one carbon.

The idea is that etch goes deep enough that it would be obvious if someone had tried to sand/grind it out.

Personally I wouldn't mark my Colnago (90's Master with Art Deco paintwork) but that's because it's got the Gilco pinched tubing. (Plus I'm looking to sell it.)

I passed a free bike marking tent in Angel a while back. I said I wasn't keen on the marking on my down tube so we flipped it over, and the officer did the deed on the underside of the bb. I said I wasn't keen on sticking a sticker on my frame either, same officer said to stick it on my lock. Job done.

Sticker doesn't really deter thief, just inform them to ensure that they removed the number that was etched on the downtube.

I don't think the sticker will deter every thief (it's meaningless for people who mangle the frame to twist-break a D-lock and sell the remaining components), but I'm sure it deters some thieves whose MO is selling on complete bikes with minimal chance of being found (a ground out section on the downtube would make me very suspicious if I were the buyer).

It can't hurt and it's free.
I got a free hi-viz ankle strap as well which I use on my bag.

seemed the most relevant thread to bump...

Does anyone know if the Met always use Bike Register for these? I had my Croix de Fer stamped outside Finsbury Park station a while ago, and am sure I registered it all online, but there's nothing on bikeregister.com

Are there any other databases I could check, or a way of checking the number that's stamped on the frame?

This page suggests that MiCycle and Evans offer some sort of free bike marking/register:
https://www.haringey.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/travel/cycling#cycle_security

Could be old info though

cheers, it's a bit old as Evans in Crouch End is shut now. First I'll see if I can make out the number on the frame and get in touch with Bike Register.