We're Bike Index. Haven't heard of us? Well, it probably won't be too long before you do. With almost 150,000 users, over 600 partner organizations, a quarter of a million bicycles registered, and over $7 million in stolen bikes recovered, we're the most widely used bicycle registration service in the U.S.
Bike Index started in 2013 when two cyclists passionate about registering bicycles and recovering stolen bicycles merged their services. Today, we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the aim of registering and recovering as many bikes as we can to eliminate bicycle theft.
We've recovered over $7 million in stolen bicycles through the Bike Index platform and we are thrilled to recover even more though deeper work with independent bicycle retailers in 2019. We have developed three-click integrations with Lightspeed Retail and Ascend point-of-sale systems. With 5 minutes of effort, one time, independent bicycle retailers can register all new bike sales automatically.
Bike Index actually works. In Bend, OR through collaboration with police, city government and bicycle retailers we collectively reduced bike theft by 60 percent in just one year. Through our partnerships and our active online community on Twitter and Facebook, we have recovered over 5,300 stolen bicycles.
"For the last 2 or 3 years, when we sell a new bike we take the time to start a new Bike Index account at the register for our customer,” said Henry Abel of Pine Mountain Sports, a bike shop and Ascend retailer in Bend, OR. "We're working to run bike thieves out of our town, and the best way to do it is to not make it easy for them."
“Bicycle registration is the first step in reducing bike theft and the best place to do that is at the point of sale, before bikes even leave the door,” said Bike Index Executive Director, Craig Dalton. “Registration, combined with a robust recovery system, active volunteer community, law enforcement, and automated social media theft reports give victims a fighting chance to recover their bikes.”
Our goal is to empower cyclists to get their bikes back, whether that's through educating them on how not toget their bike stolen in the first place, providing them a platform to crowdsource tips on their bike's whereabouts, giving pawn shops a searchable database through LeadsOnline, or giving law enforcement efficient communication tools.
In addition to our work with bicycle retailers, Bike Index provides services to cities, law enforcement, and universities looking to manage bicycles on their streets and in their communities. Bike Index is rapidly growing its partner base with the aim of becoming the standard in bicycle registration across the U.S. and the globe.
More information can be found at www.bikeindex.org
