Prevent bicycle theft

A few rules of conduct, a good lock and the creation of a bike passport will protect your bike from theft relatively reliably.

  • Create a bike passport and set it up in the police app under the "My Safe" function. This allows users to store the most important data (photos, brand, serial number, invoices, etc.) of their bike in a single place. In the case of a theft, the user has all the data at hand, which can be easily forwarded by email to the police officer when filing a report. Thus, no unnecessary time is wasted and the work of police officers is facilitated by a more complete file.
  • Always lock your bicycle to an object which is fixed to the ground. This will prevent your bike from being stolen along with the object.
  • A secure bicycle lock presents the thief with a greater task. More time as well as additional tools are needed to steal the bike, which usually already deters most bike thieves.
  • Do not park your bike in streets with low visibility. Thieves know the advantages of unobserved places.
  • At home, it is best to leave your bike locked up in your own cellar or in special, lockable bike boxes.

 

Bike care

If you use your bike a lot, you should maintain it at regular intervals. Moving parts must be lubricated and the wheel should be kept clean so that premature wear can be avoided. Your bike's chain and cassette need the most care, because these are most exposed to environmental influences. For cleaning the chain, take a dry cloth, through which you run the chain until no more grease remains on the cloth. Then you should also free the chain from chain oil and dirt. This is best done with a brush. Degreaser can also be used here. Finally, oil can be sparingly applied to the chain again. As soon as the chain can be heard when pedaling, the process should be repeated.

You can find more detailed care tips in the "Bicycle Check" flyer from the ADFC (Allgemeiner deutscher Fahrradclub).