Hull: Do you know someone who is getting ready to go back to school?

If your child or someone you know is preparing to go back to school and will be travelling on a bike, make sure they have a great bicycle lock with them.

Here are our top 5 tips to keeping your bike safe from theft.

1. Think about where you leave your bike

Bicycle thieves are often opportunistic – they see a bike without a lock and just grab it. So always lock your bike when you leave it, even you can still see it, as it only takes seconds to steal. If possible lock you bike in a well lit area with plenty of passer’s by and ALWAYS to an immovable object.

2. Invest in the best lock

Invest in the best lock you can afford. What’s the point of spending a huge amount on a bicycle only to secure it with a cheap lock? It doesn’t make sense. When purchasing a lock, ensure you get the right Sold Secure rated lock dependent on your bicycle value. This will ensure that any specialist cycle insurance you take out is valid. You can purchase a Gold Rated Sold Secure bike lock from us here at Neighbourhood Network for just £11.50. These locks are subsidised by Humberside Police ensuring great quality and great value. You can order from our website here
https://www.nnetwork.org.uk/product/d-lock-bike-lock/

And remember to lock both the frame and the wheel, and take any accessories with you. If you have quick release wheels also note that these will require a separate lock.

3. Don’t leave accessories on it

Similar to a bird drawn to shiny foil, leaving your pride and joy locked up adorned with accessories, and looking the goods, unfortunately, will attract unwanted attention.

The obvious tip here is to remove as many of the accessories fitted to your bike as possible. Having lights, computers and other expensive goods hanging off your unattended bike are often easily removed in seconds making them both easy to take with you or be pinched when you’re quickly ducking into the cafe.

4. Protect Your Bike with an Anti-Theft GPS Bike Tracker

Bicycle theft tracking devices usually have a GPS chip built-in, and can be hidden into your bike handlebars. This is the perfect solution after a bike theft because as long as the thief doesn’t know how to disable it. The police will be able to track your bike in real time and arrest the person who stole it – recovering your bike in the process.

You may want to install a GPS tracking system on your bike, especially if you got a popular quick sale bikes, motorcycles, like Carrera racers, Boardman racers, and Ridgeback bikes, which are easily targeted by bike thieves. Popular GPS bike tracker, such as Sherlock, and Spybike, can be easily accessed on Amazon or any other online stores.

5. Register with Immobilise

You can register on a national database such as Immobilise.com for free. This means that if the worst did happen and your bike was stolen it will be easily identified once recovered and matched up to its rightful owners.

Immobilise can be used by members of the public and businesses to register their valued possessions or company assets, and exclusive to Immobilise all account holders registered items and ownership details are viewable on the Police national property database the NMPR.

This online checking service is used thousands of times each day by UK Police forces to trace owners of lost and stolen property.

Take a look at their website and register here
https://www.immobilise.com/