Bicycle security

Released: May 2, 2023 at 7:38 a.m.

Did you know as many as 1,000 bikes are reported stolen each year in Winnipeg?

While Winnipeg Police officers actively pursue bike thieves, bike theft prevention starts with the bike owner.

The harder you can make it for someone to steal your bike, the more likely a thief will move on to an easier target.

Register Your Bike:

Registering your bicycle with your local police division will greatly increase your chances of having your bicycle returned to you if it is lost or stolen.

Use our Online Bike Registry to register your bicycle(s).

In order to register your bicycle(s), you will require the serial number(s) and your credit card information. You will also be given the opportunity to upload up to three photos for each bicycle you register.

Cost is a one-time fee of $7.35 one-time fee, per bicycle.

With registration, if your stolen bicycle is located, you will be notified immediately and arrangements can be made for you to get your bicycle back.

Do

  • Keep your bike in a visible, well-lit high-traffic area.
  • Use secure parking facilities (bike shelters or indoor bike parking facilities).
  • Lock both wheels and the frame to the rack.
  • Secure your bike’s components or remove them; consider using regular bolts instead of quick releases (wheels that use a mechanism to allow the wheels to be removed quickly and without any tools).
  • Choose a strong lock and combine two different types of locks

Don't

  • Don’t lock your bike to objects that can be easily cut.
  • Don’t lock your bike to someone else’s bicycle.
  • Don’t lock your bike in the same place all the time.
  • Don’t place your lock near the ground where thieves can crush it.

How to lock up your bike:

U Lock

  • Place U-lock through both seat stays, the wheels and around a post or fixed object.
  • Try to fill as much of the space within the U as possible.
  • For extra security, place the U-lock shackle around a post, the bike frame and through your rear wheel. Loop a cable around your front wheel, bike frame and onto your U-lock shackle.

Cable

  • Wrap the cable through both wheels, around the bike frame and around a permanent post or fixed object.
  • Don’t place the lock against or near anything solid where it can be hammered.
  • Pair with another style of lock (i.e., U-lock or padlock).

Chain

  • Wrap the chain around the bike frame and a post or fixed object.
  • Use with another style of lock (i.e., U-lock or padlock).

Your local bike shop can provide more details on choosing the right lock.

Reporting a stolen bike

If your bicycle has been stolen, your first course of action should be to make a report by either:

Before making your report, have your bicycle’s serial number and any unique marks/engravings (distinguishable meaning unique to that individual bicycle, not a group of bicycles) that will aid in matching your report to the bicycles found.

Police

E-Watch

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