GPS Tracking for Stolen Bikes

:-)

Okay, well after having the first one replaced due to a dodgy battery I'm pretty pleased with this thing.

It works as you'd hope, with enough sensitivity to notify you of someone moving your bike. I went to Oxford yesterday and left my bike locked at Paddington, turned the GPS on and about an hour later got the vibration alert. It was by now rush hour, so I reckoned it was someone locking up next to mine and jostling it. I checked the online tracking to see if it had wandered and could see, while it was having trouble getting a precise GPS lock, it was still at the station.

You can always make it less sensitive if you like. My bike was outside last night and the wind set it off.

Went to my friend's place the other night, didn't deactivate it on purpose, it followed me to the shop where I bought some deliciously cheap wine and then to his flat where we all watched Men in Tights and Blades of Glory. Seems to be better at getting a lock when stationary, possibly because my arse is in the way when riding. For the record, the points at the beginning and end are exactly where they should be, even though the ride up New Road is a bit off.

if you could just provide us with your bank account details your pin number and your mother maiden name i think we could steal your identity, as we know where you live where you lock your bike wehere you buy your whine where your friends live

oh and how was men in tights ? ... haven't seen that film in a while
i love those spoof movies

A-ha! But I didn't tell you which end point is me! So... you've got a 50% chance... There, censored it from the crims.

Men in Tights was genius. I can't quite believe I went so long without seeing it again. Blades of Glory also a wicked film.

"Nothing breaks up a team faster than...?"
"Herpes!"

What is the battery life like on these things?

Right. So there is now The BikeSpike on Kickstarter.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1054587410/the-bikespike

It will be really interesting to see how it does as it looks like the revenue stream is based on the data plan.

"Oooh that bottle cage looks nice, I'll be having that, just a couple of torqx screws. Hmm whats this plastic gubbinz? Pah, in the bin it goes ..."

Ah, apparently it'll have 'security' screws. Would also like to see some info about what the annual subscription fee is expected to be

hmmm,
depending on progress of the BS's funding, perhaps the BMA might make it onto KS too, offering a more streamlined, focused notification service,

anybody fancy being the brawn that actually makes a mini-version - smaller than this?!

ps. the BMA is still in the running for recognition from a surviving un-bonfired quango, testing pending, :-)

pps.

check out the BS team - its pretty impressive!

..features a Rockman!

ppps.

Wired article about the BS here,
http://www.wired.com/playbook/2013/03/bikespike-gps-tracker/

Bike spike is ridiculous because it's external.

Forget security screws (simple torx btw) simple percussive application with a leverage tool or slicing throught the unit with a bolt cutter will render it useless. (tools any theif will have to hand)

Anything of this kind has to be internal with the risk of getting caught whilst trying to locate and remove it outweighing the benefit of trying. Seat post, BB shell, headtube/steerer etc.

We will be releasing a Spybike seatpost tracker soon. Anyone who is interested in trialing the frist versions let us know.

http://www.integratedtrackers.com/GPSTrack/spybikeseatpost.jsp

^ This looks very promising, the best solution yet.
Yearly charging just adds to it.
I take it that you can use any seatpost as long as it's 27.2mm, 30mm or 31.6mm, right?
Will this be in the same price range as the TopCap tracker?

Fitting it into any old seatpost of the right size is the main question. If it can be, then it's perfect.

how much of a barrier is the bike frame to transmitting signals from these devices ?
the idea of burying something deep inside the frame appeals, the idea of having a £100 - £200 gadget attached to the bike that is relatively easy to remove worries me slightly
although this version is definately better than the previous light option
seat posts are one of the most commonly stolen items on a bike

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard of a cyclist mounting a sting operation by parking their bike with a low-level security lock and keeping a surveillance on it?
If you had a bike equipped with a gps tracker, and perhaps also had a spy camera situated in the area focusing on the bike, with live feed to a remote device (laptop/ iphone), something like that would be feasible.
Your thoughts?

you'd want a relatively low value bike, and you would want your compnents to be well secured I'd guess.

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard of a cyclist mounting a sting operation by parking their bike with a low-level security lock and keeping a surveillance on it?
If you had a bike equipped with a gps tracker, and perhaps also had a spy camera situated in the area focusing on the bike, with live feed to a remote device (laptop/ iphone), something like that would be feasible.
Your thoughts?

it's been mooted
a possee has been rounded up but then it was thought it might get a bit dangerous / illegal / litigious so we all retired to the park for some cold beers

Opinions please;

http://www.thetileapp.com/

Sounds like a winner, if one could fix it securely and secretly enough.

I doubt that would be a problem given size - but it only lasts a year (so is a recurring cost) and only locates within 50ft, or you're reliant on someone else who uses the system being nearby. Fatal flaws..?

Presumably technically it wouldn't be hard to engineer something with a gps chip and sim card in it that could enter a very low power state and only wake up when then sim was "called". Using a paygo sim or something would then keep costs to the data used when tracking...

I like the idea, but it needs massive take up to effective as a locator for stolen items. Perhaps if they can convince insurance companies to endorse it, it might reach critical mass. Also, the app is very dependent on if it's capable of running in the background in an 'always-on' mode.

Opinions please;

http://www.thetileapp.com/

Sounds like a winner, if one could fix it securely and secretly enough.

looks a little fluffy to me (!), amazed at the uptake - so many people must loose their keys (!!),

as to the bicycle-relevance, still reckon an all-encompassing #BicycleMovementAlert app and movement-detector would be far more useful to urban cyclists;

once these guys make a small-enough Accelerometer RFduino-shield it would be feasible for a practical-sized BMA to be built by a cyclist themselves without the need for any Kickstarter campaign, :-)

Has this been resolved yet? Where can I buy something that (1) works, (2) doesn't demand payments once bought & (3) is reliable?

unresolved for me (who's preference is to know about bicycle movement in advance of a theft);

to make smaller BMAs, need smaller 'off-the-shelf' components,

http://www.rfduino.com/ seem to be progressing with their delivery so could be a source of components one day,

as for other options, will log into Hackspace to ask those fellas soon..

Just seen this;
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/loccamini-loccaphone-the-world-s-smallest-and-most-sophisticated-gps-locators

Not entirely clear how this would be hidden within a bike, whilst keeping it functional.