On the other hand, in case you don’t know your frame number in this situation, your chances are almost zero.
That may seem “mah” now, but at the moment your bike is actually gone, you’d do anything to have such chances – believe our own experience here. With the combined power of us and police, you actually have almost 33% chance you will get your bike back. If you recorded your frame number, we can help you recover it and report it to police. Not something to be proud of, right?Īside of avoiding fine s and possible legal trouble? Right, imagine you end up on the wrong end of the chain, and your bikes gets stolen (just like over 500,000 bikes do in the Netherlands each year – your chances are good). Without even intended to hurt anyone, you are practically funding thieves who are stealing other people’s bikes and supporting the whole rotten system. For example in the Netherlands it will leave you with €200+ fine and a criminal record at the least. And if that is true, your bike may get you in some serious trouble. If it’s missing (or even visibly scratched off), the most probable reason is the bike’s violent history – chances are your bike was stolen in the past and you are riding someone else’s bike. Every bike can be quite easily recognised by its unique number.Īlright, that’s nice, but why does it matter so much? Think of it as a licence plate number of a car (or even more precisely, an engine number, since licence plates can be changed easily). (Even if some bikes seem they don’t have any at the first glance, usually you can find the number somewhere well hidden, sometimes on even more than one spot). About 95% of bikes cruising Dutch roads have a unique frame number when manufactured – and so does yours. Let us explain why.įrame numbers are exclusive identifiers of each bike.
Indeed, we see a lot of importance in the frame numbers. Both are completely legitimate questions you have there. Why do you (and everyone) keep asking about my frame number?Īnd why do you always add that annoying note how “really important” it is? Everything you always wanted to know about frame numbers and were afraid to ask! Find out what is frame number, where to find and what is it good for.