Bike Index Registry – St. Louis Pilot

The Bike Index was started in Chicago in 2013 by a group of bike shop employees and bicycle lovers frustrated by the prevalence of bike theft. They regularly saw people trying to sell stolen bikes, and would search for the bikes online—but it was too difficult to find definitive information about them because too few people save their serial numbers.

So they built the Bike Index platform, a voluntary, easy to use registration system that will eventually house bike serial numbers from across the nation. The team launched a successful Kickstarter to hire a full time programmer and connect with pilot cities.

After a year of work, the Bike Index now does what no other registry does: it provides a way to verify used bike sales, offers a comprehensive search, and reaches bicyclists who don’t know that registration is possible.

Trailnet applied for St. Louis to be a pilot city after discussions with Mayor Slay and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The Bike Index was impressed by the level of cooperation and selected St. Louis as the first pilot. From founder Seth Herr, “The fine leaders at Trailnet have made the process of connecting with the city as smooth as a finely-tuned bicycle.”

Trailnet is now an official Bike Index Partner which allows you to register your bike for free: