This blog post explains how to navigate the 'ConstruBike archives' Google Doc maintained by Bike Index.

If this is the first thing you are reading of this matter, stop, go read these first, then come back

Article 1: WIRED article

Article 2: ConstruBikes - the 10,000 ft view

The ConstruBike archives are 8 years of captured Facebook posts - mostly ads for bikes. Bike Index started archiving ConstruBike posts in 2020, so the most 'robust' years captured are 2020-2024. We captured these ads and data to help bike theft victims search for their stolen bikes - and to raise awareness of the size and scope of the grey/blackmarket for stolen bikes on Facebook.

The bike ads and posts ConstruBike posted 2020-2024 are compiled (and linked to screenshots) in a Google Doc here:

Link to Public Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Matk-vTa3vmpvXAy8NvQuxhNt222ZtVNA_mGXWONNaw/edit#gid=0

Navigating the Google Doc:

This document has headers showing the following fields:

• Post date
• Bike yes/no (since there were non-bike posts)
• Listed sale price (in pesos)
• Is the post a repost (yes/no)
• Manufacturer
• Model
• Size
• Color
• Various notes
• Listing text

Want to look for your stolen bike?

The Google Doc is searchable. In Google docs, you can search by hitting Control-F and entering your search term into the box that appears in the upper right corner:

Search terms, when found, are highlighted in green in the sheet:

So: if you had a "Pinarello Marvel" stolen, search for "Pinarello" or "Marvel" and keep advancing (via the search arrow) to further hits in the document.

Each date is linked to a folder containing images of the Construbike posts. You can click the date, then the link, to see the folder of captured images and then view those individual images.

Bike Index Thanks Those Who Assisted With This Project

Bike Index sends its thanks to the countless victims, volunteers, bike hunters, and law enforcement folks who assisted with this project. We hope it sheds light on this issue and helps other victims find their stolen bikes in these sales archives. May this project hopefully nudge Facebook to stop sucking so much and letting black market operators get rich selling stolen bikes on their platform.

Please Help Support Our Work:

This investigation took a large amount of time and resources. This was a 4 year effort involving countless unpaid hours of work, collaboration, and analysis. You can support Bike Index investigator Bryan Hance directly, via Venmo, at @bhance - and/or you can support Bike Index by clicking here and donating.

-Bike Index