In Pursuit: How our Bike Hunters Bust Bike Thieves

How does this all work? Simple. When you report your bike as stolen in the VanMoof app, we alert our ruthless Bike Hunters to track it down. Using the anti-theft tracking technology that’s built into every one of our bikes (and some well-honed Bike Hunting senses), the Hunters can pinpoint the stolen bike’s location and return it to its rightful owner. They work around the clock, with the sole mission of reuniting riders with their trusty ride in cities across the world. If they fail at recovering it for you within two weeks, the bike gets replaced with one that’s of the same (or better) age and condition. But don’t get us wrong, our Bike Hunters do not like to fail, and most bikes they go out hunting for are found and returned successfully. 70%, to be exact, but we’ll get on to that…

Taking bike theft into our own hands

Over the years, we’ve taken our anti-theft measures to new levels. And that has certainly come with its fair share of challenges. VanMoof Bike Hunters are now operating worldwide and they manage to recover an ever-increasing amount of all missing bikes within two weeks. When you take into account the twists and turns, dead ends, and sketchy situations that each and every one of our bike hunts lead us into, it’s not a bad track record. Our YouTube channel has exploded thanks to our Bike Hunters’ thrilling adventures – the best of which we release each month as a new Bike Hunt Special. But let’s not forget some of the classics like the epic Casablanca showdown, for instance.

VanMoof’s Head of Content Production and bike hunt veteran, Joeri Breebaart, knows the evolution of Bike Hunting all too well. "It's probably one of the most insane things we've done as a brand,” he laughs, “we track a whole area using coordinates. It can be super difficult because there are leads everywhere." And that’s not all. Our Bike Hunters now go a step further and actually help local authorities to crack down on large-scale theft organizations. Sometimes, these criminal networks sometimes can stretch far further than we thought possible. It’s an ever-evolving challenge, but one that we’re deeply committed to tackling.

The best part of the Hunt? Reuniting bikes with waiting riders

VanMoof e-bikes’ anti-theft tracking and integrated locking system are enough to baffle bike thieves. But we get it – it can be hard to leave your bike outside any old place and sleep easy. There’s nothing worse than having your bike stolen. But there’s nothing better than getting it back. And we’re more than prepared to cross borders to bring relief to our riders: "The coordinates can take us literally anywhere within a city," Joeri tells us, “When we're hot on the heels of a bike, sometimes we even have to follow it to a different country.”

As we continue on our journey to get better and better at getting bikes back, you can now claim a whole year of your three-year Peace of Mind Theft and/or Maintenance coverage entirely for free when you buy a VanMoof S3/X3. Don’t miss out, and keep your bike out of the hands of pesky thieves.

Keen to join one of our Bike Hunters? Sound off on our social channels and who knows, maybe next time we’ll be hunting with you!