Your bike is gone.
Here is the next hour.
Six steps, in order. The first two matter most: register on Bike Index so anyone who finds your bike can contact you, then file a police report.
No account yet? Registering a stolen bike creates one. Registration is free, always.
Recovery record
The first 24 hours
Work top to bottom.
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1. Register it as stolen on Bike Index 3 min · free
This is the switch that turns everything else on. Your bike goes into a public registry that bike shops, police departments, pawn databases, and used-bike buyers check before they touch a secondhand frame.
If you have a serial number and photo of the bike it helps — but even a minimal registration with just the color and model recovers stolen bikes.
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2. File a police report 15 min
The case number is what lets an officer hand your bike back instead of impounding it, and every later step references it. Have the address and time it was taken and the serial number (if you have it).
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3. Add the police report number to Bike Index 1 min
A listing with the police report number, clear photos, and any identifying marks is one an officer can act on in minutes. Vague listings stall.
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4. Send out your alert 10 min
Your listing generates a shareable stolen bike alert built for social. Post it, send it to local riding groups and neighborhood pages, and consider a promoted alert to reach the blocks around the theft.
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5. Set up Google Alerts 5 min
Set up multiple Google Alerts with details matching your bike (make, model, distinctive components, color), so new listings and posts that mention it come to you.
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6. Tell the shops near you 20 min
Thieves bring stolen bikes in for repairs and parts. Shops that check Bike Index are how a large share of stolen bikes get recovered.
Why registering changes the odds
A stolen bike that nobody can identify is just a used bike. Registration makes yours identifiable to the people who handle used bikes all day.
A public record
Anyone can search a bike on Bike Index for free — bike shops, officers in the field, buyers before they hand over cash.
A volunteer network
Millions of riders plus ambassadors, shops, and law enforcement partners watch resale listings and flag chop shops.
Alerts that travel
Your listing gets shared to our social channels and promoted into feeds near the theft. Anyone who spots it can message you directly.
Put your bike in front of the neighborhood it was taken from
A promoted alert pushes your stolen bike listing into Facebook feeds in the area around the theft, plus our own social channels. It reaches people who are not looking for your bike but will recognize it locked to the wrong porch.
Bikes that came home
Recent recoveries, reported by their owners.
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Police found the thief's riding it around.Caught them and gave the bike back to me .
Gage Recovered 2026-10-08T19:00:00-0500
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Police officer recover the bike from the homeless person 3 years after the theft and was able to identify it thanks to the info I placed on the website. I am grateful!
Lydia Recovered 2026-10-07T11:00:00-0500
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BVT Bike Recovery group!
Julia Recovered 2026-10-07T08:00:00-0500
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Someone reached out after finding the bike, not far from where it was stolen, 2 months later. He had located me after searching the bike on Bike Index. So grateful! 🙏🏻
Kimberly Recovered 2026-10-07T04:00:00-0500
Questions people ask at 2am
Register anyway. Photos, a purchase receipt, shop service records or insurance paperwork can all identify a bike. Add whatever you have, and check with the shop that sold it — they often have the serial on file.
That is frequently the case. You can register it as stolen right now; there is no requirement that it was registered beforehand — many bikes are recovered that weren't registered until after they were stolen.
No. Call the police, give them your case number and a link to your Bike Index listing, and let them make contact. People have been hurt trying to take a bike back themselves.
The registry is international, and recoveries happen hundreds of miles from the theft. Your listing stays live and searchable until you mark the bike recovered.
Registering a bike, marking it stolen, and using the recovery tools are free. Bike Index is a nonprofit funded by donations, partner organizations, and optional promoted alerts.
Report bike theft issues
Seen a stolen bike for sale, or a chop shop? Let us know where. Reporting your own bike stolen? Register it instead.
If there is a stolen bike on Bike Index that you're reporting about, send a message on that stolen bike page instead.
Sign in to make a report.
Every hour it sits unregistered is an hour nobody can identify it.
Three minutes and no cost.