Online marketplaces such as Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp may make it easy to clear out the clutter, but they come with a serious darkside: they are a haven for selling stolen property, especially stolen bikes. We’ve been trying to get online marketplaces to take action on this for years (even gathering over 50,000 signatures on a petition to Craigslist… Read more →
Bike Theft Victim Do’s and Don’ts We hope you never have to deal with having your bike stolen but if you do, here are some tips: DO… Report the crime to police either in person, online or via the non-emergency number, obtain a crime reference number and contact your insurer. Fire up the 529 Garage, find (or register) your bike… Read more →
Dear Annie, My girlfriend is constantly on my back because I’m using a cable lock on my bike and haven’t bothered to register it. The bike is a complete piece of junk that I paid $50 for at a garage sale. It gets me to class and around campus and that’s it. Why should I buy a lock more expensive… Read more →
Dear Annie, I don’t understand why there is a 7 character code on 529 Shields. Seems very 20th century. Why not join the 21st century and use QR codes to make the bike more easily scannable? Everyone has smartphones today! – Computers read a code kleaner CRACK, QR, or quick response codes have been around since the early 90’s. From a… Read more →
Dear Annie, I reported my bike stolen with 529 a few weeks ago. I got an e-mail in response from 529 telling me to file a police report. My police department only takes reports by phone and I gave up after being on hold for over 10 minutes. Why should we bother to report it to police when they obviously… Read more →
Dear Annie, I feel like registration the 529 Shield is a good idea for my bike, but in doing some research it seems that a lot of advocacy groups have actively fought against bike licensing? Some even say that adding a sticker like that gives the police additional grounds to pull you over or hassle you – like bell or… Read more →
The 529 team kicked off the 2014 event tour season with one doozy of a festival. We brought our bike theft-prevention brigade down to the world renowned Sea Otter Classic. With around 75,000 cycling enthusiasts in attendance, we talked to a lot of folks, registered a lot of bikes, and hooked up seven awesome participants with some slick new bike… Read more →
