If you've had your gear stolen from your house or car, you know the feeling of helplessness and anger that follow.  I recently emailed Bryan Hance, the creator of StolenBicycleRegistry.com, who took those feelings and did something about it. 

"I started the SBR somewhere back in 2000 or 2001 after having my seventh or eighth bike stolen."  Bryan wrote.  He went on to describe the conditions which led to such rampent theft, "The combination of the large university, a horrible crystal meth problem hitting the city, and the year-round riding environment made it really, really prone to bike theft. So I had them stolen left and right - out of my house, out of my car, locked to racks, locked to trees, from buildings, from storage, etc."

At StolenBicycleRegistry.com you can log the details of your stolen bike into a central database (for FREE!).  The idea is to have people check the registry before they buy a used bicycle.  Right now, Bryan's registry gets about a thousand searches a month and the more people search, the more effective the registry becomes.  So, if you're buying a bike on Craigslist, please, please, check the serial number with SBR before you buy!  You can even search the registry from your mobile phone. 

Bryan has been at this for eight years and is now quite the expert.  StolenBicycleRegistry.com has become well known in the biking community and is responsible for reuniting dozens of owners with their bikes.  And the more people who know about it, the more successful it will become.  You can help spread the word by donating money to SBR for which you'll get a "Death to bike thieves" or a "I want my #@%!ing bike back" bumper sticker.  No joke, Bryan doesn't mess around. 

If you can't donate then blog, email, twitter, and digg to get the word out.  And if bikes aren't your thing, check out Bryan's other works StolenMotorcycleRegistry.com and StolenGuitarRegistry.com. 

I asked Bryan what people could do to prevent their bike from being stolen.  "... usually tell everybody to get the biggest, fattest, most ridiculous U-lock that they can buy. But even this only goes so far - I had people go though my U-locks in broad daylight with some sort of pry tool, but at least it gave them a decent fight. Barring that, make sure to keep their serial number and proof of ownership on file." 

Such simple advice....Go right now and write down all the serial numbers for everything you care about!  I just did it and it took me less than 15 minutes!

Bryan's registry websites are a great way to be proactive about finding your stolen property.  There are other free ways in which you can participate in the search as well.  I created the video below to show you how to monitor eBay.com and Craigslist.org for your stolen property.  Best viewed in full screen mode.