Monthly issue
UK Bike Theft Report, August 2026
Published 2026-09-04. Figures are fixed at publication and will not change.
In August 2026, 1 in 63 used bikes checked by frame number on Cyclesite came back flagged against a stolen-bike registry or a rider-filed theft report, across 2,453 distinct bikes.
The month in figures
- Distinct bikes checked
- 2,453
- 3,197 checks in total; a bike checked twice counts once
- Distinct bikes flagged
- 39
- Matched a stolen-bike registry or a rider-filed report
- Flag rate
- 1 in 63
- Bikes flagged over bikes checked
- People checking
- at least 1,398
- Only visitors who consented to analytics or signed in are counted
- Frames registered by owners
- 54
- Thefts reported by riders
- 12
Distinct bikes checked changed +46% against the previous month.
Cite this issue
Source: Cyclesite UK Bike Theft Report, August 2026. https://www.cyclesite.co.uk/uk-bike-theft-report/2026-08
Figures on this page are fixed. The live report at /uk-bike-theft-report updates continuously; cite an issue when the number must not move.
Methodology
- A check is one frame number submitted to the free Cyclesite stolen-bike checker during the calendar month, excluding cached re-reads and inputs that were not frame numbers.
- Bikes are counted by distinct frame number. The flag rate divides distinct flagged bikes by distinct checked bikes; it is never computed from check events.
- A flagged bike matched a stolen-bike registry or a theft report filed on Cyclesite. A clear result means no match was found in the sources consulted, which is not proof a bike was never stolen.
- The flag rate is published only when the month has at least 100 distinct bikes and at least 5 flagged; otherwise it is withheld.
- Makes come from the registry record for the frame, most often inferred from the serial number's manufacturer format, and are listed only with at least 10 bikes.
- Issues are written once and never recomputed. Corrections, if any, are published as a note, not as a changed number.
- National figures are official statistics for England and Wales, taken from the published crime tables and frozen into this issue at publication. The recorded and survey counts cover one period and the value figures a different, earlier one; both periods are stated beside the numbers. They describe the country, not Cyclesite traffic.
Press and data enquiries: press@cyclesite.co.uk