Study Shows 45% of Bike Theft Victims Give Up Cycling

The purpose of the study was to find out how bike theft affects the cycling behavior of its victims and many of its findings were a surprise. The study focused on North America and surveyed 1,821 victims.

The study found that pre-theft behavior was the greatest predictor of how someone would behave following the theft of their bike. Those who were more avid cyclists were most likely to replace their bike and continue riding, while occasional riders were more likely to give up cycling.

Other findings of the study included how 6 percent of the victims began riding more after suffering their theft. Unfortunately, 40 percent of victims transitioned to unsustainable modes of transportation (i.e., cars with internal combustion engines). Though some people stopped riding, 69 percent of the victims went on to replace their stolen bikes and 49 percent replaced their bike with a new model that was equal to or greater in value to the stolen bike.