Bike Theft Deterrence Initiative

Why did I start this?!

Cyclists who have just had their bikes stolen, Usually are not psychologically ready to spend a lot on a new bike which is another sitting duck for the thieves. So most of the victims either stop using bicycles for a while or replace it with a used bicycle. About two year ago, I also had my bike stolen. I was not surprised, But I was mad at the thief because I had to take a bus instead of my beautiful bike. I wanted to replace my bike as soon as possible; So I went to a flea market and bought a used bike...

In a few days I realized that maybe I have contributed to bike crimes by buying a bike from strangers, how could i make sure that the bike was not stolen? Should I have interrogated the bike seller or should I have judged him based on his look???

Non of those were the solution; So I started to think to the problem and search for a solution. The results of that research sparked the idea of Cyclingboom's community.

I strongly believe that this project could make a difference and that's why I spent months of my time to develop a system for bike theft deterrence, along with lots of other features for cycling community.

Now I am here and I need your help to make it happen!

Thank you in advanced for your contribution.

What Is This Initiative About?

We don’t know the exact number of bicycle thefts, yet unofficial statistics are showing tens of millions of bike crimes/year  happening all over the world.

In Cycling Boom, we think that the solution to bike thefts is not bigger, heavier and stronger chains, locks and whatsoever...

Our conclusion is that the only way to deter bike thefts is to increase the risk of the crime and also eliminate the market for those stolen bikes.

Analyzing the crime, it is obvious that we have a flaw in our perception about it.

Its being naive to think that the bike crimes happen solely because of the existence of thieves. Its clear that most bike crimes happen because there is a market for stolen bicycles.

So For every bike crime there are at least 2 victims, the one who got a bike stolen and the one who is buying a stolen bike as a used bike.

In this pattern one gets a bike stolen, then he or she goes to a flea market or online store and buys a used-bike that is probably stolen from a another peer,  and This makes a chain and a paradigm that is infinitely repeated.We believe that cyclists wouldn’t buy stolen bikes providing that there is an easy way to distinguish them.

Our plan at Cycling Boom is providing an easy way to identify stolen bikes.  Along with a free registry system we offer a free metal bicycle tag made of engraved stainless steel for everyone  and also under-priced premium designs for those who want to support initiative. This enables us to register our bikes and makes it easier to track the status of the bikes in an online universal bicycle registry system.

By convention these tags  would be installed on the top tube or head tube, which is the most visible place on the bike.

Consequently we ask bicycle owners to enter the basic specification of the bike into our online database. It enables cyclists to report bicycle theft whenever it happens without loss of data and it also makes it possible for police and people who are looking for used bicycles to have a tool to check the status of the bikes by knowing the serial number.

We encourage everyone to check this serial number if they ever wanted to buy a second-hand bike.

What We Need

To Make this initiative self sustainable, we need to reduce the production costs and that is not an easy task, if we outsource engraving jobs. So we would need the production Facilities to reduce the prices and supply more and more cyclists with free and premium tags.

It is also important to redesign the alpha version of the website and be ready to expand the service for more people while maintaining the service in a high standard.

What You Get(Perks)

You have a Heart of gold!!! Most of our perks are made of steel though! Yet we Hope You would like them :)

A little Gift For all contributors

Thank you for considering Bike Theft Deterrence for Contribution...As The first treat, all the contributors would receive a free stainless steel tag and a  small Piece of bicycle inspired object such as KeyHolder, Tiny Bicycle, Cb 2012 Bracelet ...(we would not repeat writing this in perk section. It Is already included in all the perks)

Free Stainless steel Bicycle Tags For Everyone

Free Bike Inspired Objects

 Bicycle Tag (C-Series)

Bicycle tags enables you to register a bicycle in our database even if your bicycle doesn't have a frame serial #, and it also includes a reference to the website Address, so other cyclist would know how to contact the owner.

 Bicycle Tag (B-Series)

A Bicycle tag In form of Head badge; Ideal for sleek bicycles and chic people...

 Bicycle Tags (A-Series)

To Deter Theft From your Bike, Cb Tag|A-series Consists of 5 Piece of stainless steel tags to be attached on different parts of the bicycle such as fork, wheels, Saddle, etc...

 Bicycle Tags (Family Kit)

Other Incentives

Cb Earrings

Wheel Necklace

GearRing

Wheel Earring

gEarrings

T Shirts

Shipping quotes

Economy Mail: $3.00

 for thin  products such as tags, Necklace; Also for non-assembled products. (e.g The Earring and the ear hooks come separately in case that you choose this shipment method)

Priority Mail: $5.00

Express Mail: $10.00

Mini-Box Economy Worldwide: $10.00

(for Larger and Assembled products such as GearRings, T shirts)

MiniBox Track Worldwide: $15.00

The Impact Of Cyclingboom

Unfortunately, bike crimes has influenced our cycling habits in a very bad way. Many people avoid riding their bike to work as they are afraid  their beautiful bike might get stolen. Some people use cheap and rusty bicycles to avoid a big loss in case of crime, but both situations spoil our experience of riding a bike in urban environment.

In our desired future cities, no one would stop riding bicycles because of fear for rider's safety or bikes security.

We pursue to have a positive influence in the new upcoming cycling Boom age and Bike Theft Deterrence Initiative is just a part of the job we are planning to do.

We are planning other initiatives such as Peer to peer bike sharing program and the main goal is striving toward making cities as a better and safer place for the cyclists and their bicycles.

There Is Always A Way You Can Help

Mass adoption is so important to get the best results, so if you like this project you can join us in this tough battle against bike criminals and help by:

Spreading the word: Tell your cyclist friends about this project and let them know about signs of stolen bikes.

Organize cycling events: Handling and shipping orders requires a lot of work if done separately for every cyclist, If you could organize an event and place one order on behalf of all the group members, that would be a great help to us while the group members also save the shipping expenses.

You own a bicycle shop? Supply your costumers with free and premium tags and help us in distributing the product.

You own a bike and don’t use it frequently? You could list it in our P2P Bike sharing platform and lend it to a peer traveler cyclist for a couple of days.