Anyone experience of DNA+ (touted with Yellow Jersey policies)?

[Paul Wrighton]

Recently I took out a cycle insurance policy specifically for my Ebike, after enquiring to extend my household policy and making the unfortunate discovery that Ebikes are excluded!

Yellow Jersey won out as the provider, and when I took the policy they told me I would get a "free" DNA+ product for my bike. So I'm curious if anyone has experience of this?

Especially if they used it "in anger". Also if it entails a marking of the bike as deterrent what for that takes, a slight concern given the very pretty Ebike I'll be applying it to!

 

[Deleted member 33385]

It's a unique chemical signature - so what's stopping someone simply removing it along with all the underlying paint and respraying your bike? I'd question how stable the chemicals which make up the unique code are, against degradation from long term exposure to UV with sunlight. And if it is degraded by UV, maybe this is precisely what thieves would expose it to, in order to break it down rapidly using a very intense UV light source? Is DNA+ Yellow Jersey's "USP" (or gimmick) contrived to sell more insurance? Also make sure it doesn't react with your existing paintwork! Is this concoction of theirs acrylic based? Polyurethane? Would Yellow Jersey be willing to repair your bike's paintwork if it wrinkles, or ages it prematurely? Is your bike's paintwork insured from damage inflicted by Yellow Jersey's DNA+? Or would this require a third insurance policy?

 

[Ocsid]

To get the all important deterrent value you need the thief to know the bike and its components are "coded", so it loses a lot of its point if there is not one or more very evident warning stickers on the bike.
If like the product used on motorbikes and house contents it is not painted all over but put as pea sized dabs here and there. In the right light these can just be seen so use it on each component where it is not overly visible if that's a worry.
I doubt a thief will see much value in stealing a traceable bike if they then have to strip and repaint it and find a buyer willing to have such a repainted bike.
I have not done it, but thought about doing so and looked into it and had found some info online about it from various providers.
I doubt it would have survived as a product if it wrecked motorcycles, one of its main more common uses. Bikers are fastidious about our bike's appearance.

 

[Edward Elizabeth]

Google 'Smartwater', which was the original such product. That'll answer all your questions. In fact, I wouldn't use anything other than Smartwater, as theyre the only one who service the police nationally.

Once SW has been identified by means if the appropriate blacklight (Smartwater requires a specialist light at a specific frequency, normal UV light doesn't work), a rep from the firm comes out, takes a swab, takes that to the lab and that gets matched to a Smartwater account. Smartwater provide this service for free, so if it isn't Smartwater don't bother, because the dibble don't have the budget to call lots of difrerent companies at hundreds of pounds a time to swab you bike in the hope that the product is one of theirs. Of course, you could put a product sticker on the bike, but any half sharp scumbag will peel it off.

Once applied its all but invisible, almost like a slight water mark, extremely hard to see, so no worries there. Its non reactive. Its so heat resistant that there are cases where lead has been srolen, melted into ingots, and the Smartwater still fluoresced and was traceable. Sandpaper or wet and dry wont do it. Short of a bead blast and then dip the frame in acid it will still leave identifiable traces, so thoughts about the thief somehow getting it off are misguided Do everything - dab on the tyres, wheels, various points of the frame, seat underside, bars, cables, you name it. That way even if the bike gets broken for spares, or stripped and built up into various other bikes, you may not get your bike back but Johnny Sheetbag will still get fingered for handling stolen goods.

Used to use Smartwater for marking gear in my old game when i worked, and was trained to install the pyrotechnic smartwater kits, which was jolly good fun.

Interesting fact - every now and again Smartwater deliberately start rumours about how to get the product off. None of it works, but its all highly amusing and irritating for the villain. For example, one rumour had villains across the land rubbing their stolen goods with rags soaked in scotch whiskey, so if you hear silimar rumours you can take it with a pinch of salt.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

Short of a bead blast and then dip the frame in acid

I suppose if the payoff was large enough - and for some frames it is - thieves would certainly do that to sell on to countries where smartwater staff fear to tread, or don't usually.

Smartwater requires a specialist light at a specific frequency

Would it glow brightly enough from under a layer of paint?

scotch whiskey

Blend or single malt?

 

[Deleted member 33385]

I doubt a thief will see much value in stealing a traceable bike

I'm not sure that most thieves think all that much about how they'll sell them, they'd probably take it to someone who knows and then it'd either be thrown away or processed for resale? Maybe there are underworld bike experts and valuers operating a worldwide bike resale mafia or something, and if they're reading this: Omerta is assured.