Database proves its worth as 600 stolen bikes returned to owners. Here’s an update, and how to register your bike and keep safe on the cycle paths…
Registering bicycles seems to be key to reducing Bogotá’s plague of bicycle thefts, according to the capital’s security secretariat which this week reported the recovery of 847 bikes so far in 2025, the majority traced back to their owners through the Registro Bici Bogotá platform.
The registration database allows stolen bikes to be recuperated at police check points around the city, where cycle serial numbers and descriptions are checked against ownership details, and in raids on shops reselling bikes.
According to a report in El Tiempo, police arrested 280 persons accused of fencing stolen bikes so far in 2025. Organized bike gangs have also been targeted, such as the seven members of the Los Coyotes gang arrested last week after a spate of attacks
The registration system is being supported by a “Secure Routes” task force with 170 uniformed police cycle-patrolling the bike routes, and police motorbikes now patrol the roads commonly used by sports cyclists on weekends.
A great cycling city?
Of course, bike theft is still a problem for the city, with 2,733 cases reported since January, an average of 15 per day. But that’s a reduction of 32% on the same six months last year, and a quarter of the thefts recorded for the first semester of 2020.
That pandemic year was a low point for the capital with 10,694 bike thefts recorded and five murders linked to aggressive muggings of cyclists, and an increase in the use of knives and guns to attack riders, partly driven by the sudden increase in demand for bicycles used by delivery riders.
Perhaps with good reason an article that year in the UK’s Guardian termed Bogotá the “Cycling Capital of Death”. And just last year the New York Times reported on the city’s “robberies and assaults of cyclists that have left many riders on edge”.
That was bad news for a capital that long burnished its reputation as a cycle-friendly city, with current mayor, Carlos Galán declaring Bogotá “the bike capital of the world”.
Those contradictions perhaps sum up cycling in Bogotá; it may be getting safer, but it is still not safe.
Reducing risks
Based on official information and the bike forums, the following can reduce risks for cyclists in Bogota.
Register your bike: uploading your bike data to the Registro Bici Bogotá platform makes it easier to denounce a theft and increases the chances of a stolen cycle being returned, but it also acts as a collective measure by reducing the market for stolen goods. In fact, in the capital signing up to the platform has been mandatory since 2022 and today the Secretaria de Seguridad estimates that 41% of the 1,135,000 bikes circulating in the city are logged.
See the graphic above on how to register your cycles. Note that you can transfer the ownership, allowing for safe transactions of second-hand bikes, and there are links for making an official report if your bike is stolen, and you can register with your passport number if you are a foreign resident without a cedula ID card.
You can also register your bike in person at the Centros Locales de Movilidad.
Buy a cheap looking bike and an expensive lock: like with cellphones, gangs have learned to spot expensive loot and target brands with a high resale value. In Bogotá you can buy bikes for US$250 or less, so for everyday cycling go down-market. Gangs carry bolt cutters, so it pays to invest in a good bike lock, either a D lock or a thick wire. If you buy a second-hand bike, make sure it is already registered and transferred to your name. Keep your bike a bit muddy.
Lock your bike in the garage: bikes often go missing from communal areas or garages in blocks of flats, so also secure it when back in base.
Know the bike theft hotspots: bike thefts occur over the 600 kilometers (373 miles) of dedicated ciclorutas, often around bridges and underpasses.
According to a Bogotá councilor Diana Diago, bike crime hotspots are Chapinero, Usaquén y Los Mártires, particularly Chapinero Central, La Capuchina in Santa Fe, Ricaurte and Paloquemao in Los Mártires, and the western areas of Santa Bárbara in Usaquén.
High risk hours are just before sunrise, and after 8pm. Thefts also take place on Ciclovia’s, the main roads turned over the bike traffic on Sundays and festivos, usually early in the morning, and on the popular hill climbs in the eastern hills.
Tips for sports cyclists: ride in a team, and consider using GPS tracking such as Rastrack if you have a valuable bike. Choose routes with police presence at popular times, such as the weekend hill climbs to Los Patios and El Verjón In the eastern hills.
Keep your riding plans private by not posting routes on social media or GPS apps such as Strava or Garmin, which organized gangs use to target high value bikes. Some riding groups hire a motorcycle escort from companies like Two Bikes.
Never resist a robbery: around 30% of bike thefts are confrontational with a threat of physical attack, with riders pushed off their bikes, and in some cases assaulted for personal possessions such as money, cell phones and bags. In these events attackers are armed with guns or knives and past tragedies show they are prepared to use lethal force.
If you have your bike stolen: you can link to an official page to report thefts from the Registro Bici Bogotá page, and upload details from your account. If the bike is found the police will contact you from your details on the website. Note that unregistered bicycles recovered from criminals are stored in the police station in Modelia, on the west of the city (Carrera 81 #24d-75), you can search for your bike there and reclaim it if you have the purchase receipt.