GPS Tracking for Stolen Bikes

for an external ariel what about incorporating it into a bottle cage, you could make a hollow screw and run the ariel through the middle of it and it would not be obvious that there is an ariel if its wrapped around or a part of the bottle cage. you could also use the same idea to fit a power adapter

Hi, we now have an integrated tracker that fits in the bicycle stem called Spybike which is cheaper than Spylamp (GBP80 + VAT). Still working on reducing the prices...I am wondering, would people prefer to pay full price upfront and then find their own SIM card. Or buy the tracker for cheaper (say GBP40) and pay a monthly fee. ie 3-4 pounds per month for SIM+tracking? We are looking at offering both models
www.integratedtrackers.com

Depends how well it works... did you ever manage to get one to clefty for review? That would be a very good place to start.

Harley just dropped me a mail to say that one was on its way.
I never received the original spylamp, but bought one anyway - and it seems to perform fairly well (it lives on my brompton) Life has got in the way of a proper review, but once I get the spybike one, I'll post a review of both.

anything with a monthly fee would put me off immediately
i hate the feeling of not actually owning the thing i have paid out my hard cash for

the website and info look very good and the device looks great

what do you offer in the way of the tracking ? the location of the stolen bike ? a hand held beep beep machine so you can track the bike ?

would it be possible for you to show a dummy bike theft / track and reunion with owner in website form to give us an idea of how it would work in practice ?

This will be part of my review (maybe not in website form - but I'm tempted to film it). The tracking is GPS based, and basically sends you a text message with GPS co-ordinates - that link into Gmaps, if the motion sensor is triggered. My Spylamp has a PAYG sim in it, and I can send it text messages asking it where it is, or setting the alarm on.

I would also be against the monthly fee thing for the same reasons Dicki mentioned.

can i steal your bike clefty, then you can see how well it works and video the bust as it happens

So Ive just had my third Brompton stolen (yes, yes...magnet, not a fg or ss...sigh, forgive me...)....

And I now have a replacement that I really, really dont want to have to put together again. Any updates or feedback on the GPS tracking? Has anyone used one successfully?

Keen to know...and like the idea very much.

Thanks
Emrys

Hi, we now have an integrated tracker that fits in the bicycle stem called Spybike which is cheaper than Spylamp (GBP80 + VAT). Still working on reducing the prices...I am wondering, would people prefer to pay full price upfront and then find their own SIM card. Or buy the tracker for cheaper (say GBP40) and pay a monthly fee. ie 3-4 pounds per month for SIM+tracking? We are looking at offering both models
www.integratedtrackers.com

I like the idea, but the SpyBike is out of the question for those using a quill stem.

I also think that the SpyLamp is a bit dodgy. The thief might just remove the light for one reason or another.

Why not release a unit as a standalone? That way people can put it wherever they like and in a manner that will suit their bike. I'd probably just tape it under my saddle with some black electrical tape and make it look really low key. Or maybe find a way of fixing it into the seat tube.

I like the idea too and I think the 3-4 pounds model is more relevant for your service, but that's just my POV.

Harley just dropped me a mail to say that one was on its way.
I never received the original spylamp, but bought one anyway - and it seems to perform fairly well (it lives on my brompton) Life has got in the way of a proper review, but once I get the spybike one, I'll post a review of both.

any news with the review you were to write?
I'm asking because I'm trying to get in touch with this company to redistribute and I can't get any reply back. Do they still exist? Are the products working as advertised?

Wow! Well that was disappointing visiting this topic for the first time, reading 4 years of comments to discover that there's still not a single, tested working model. I mean one that takes more than 2 seconds to rip off and throw far away... I might just come up with something and get dirty rich.

Hi Mijan. Yes we still exist :) Please drop us an email if you are keen to distribute Spybike GPS trackers.

hey guys,

Related to this thread, is the idea of a bicycle movement alert, which would give a cyclist notification of when their bicycle is moving (ideally pre-theft!), giving them the chance to intervene/'negotiate' with any potential thief (or chase them!); this is one idea to solve the problem of bicycle theft.

Nesta have sought competition entries for this problem as announced to the forum via this thread,

h .

Hi. Our Spybike bicycle tracker has this notification feature built into it. You arm it when you lock your bicycle up. Then if someone moves it, it notifies you by SMS, and then it also starts GPS tracking your bicycle for you too. Cheesy demo video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEeQCe2F_1I&feature=player_embedded

Has anyone actually tested this yet?

I'll take one on the condition if within six months I return the unit or have my bike stolen and not recovered you'll give me a full refund.

Hi, here are some London thieves getting tracked with a stolen bicycle check out this video. Its shot for a Hungarian TV show called Thiefbusters so click the subtitles link at the bottom. They set up a bait bike with Spybike on it in Kings Cross then wait until its stolen and taken to a Hackney flat in the middle of the night. They call the police but ultimately go and get the bike back themselves (these guys a pretty hardcore, maybe we dont recommend you do this at home). Enjoy...

http://youtu.be/obqEJVsWq8o

Loads more busts in Hungary here :

http://www.youtube.com/user/tolvajkergetok?feature=watch

Spylamp2 is out now as well (improved 2nd gen version) : http://www.integratedtrackers.com/GPSTrack/spylamp2.jsp

interesting story about bicycle theft in East London; might be a little harsh on the London Met though (due to a seeming one-sided presentation)

Just to say I've bought one of these (I'm pretty impulsive), got it set up today and will report back in a while.

Maybe I'll 'forget' to turn it off next time I ride and see how far I get before I receive the text alert.

Regarding hiding it away, I think you could pare it down to just the PCB and battery, but not sure it'd fit down a standard steel tube, or whether it'd work very well without hacking some kind of aerial. Maybe you could separate the battery at the same time and connect it via wires instead to make it slightly smaller.

Which one? The lamp or the seatpost tracker?

Interested to know how you get on.

shame you have to leave the light on the bike surely if the bike is reasonably locked theifs will just take the light and bang goes £87 and your alarm ?

or do they offer a inside the seat tube type ?

Seatpost, the one which is in a lamp. I've a quill stem like so many bods on here, so the better hidden stem one ain't an option.

Don't tell the thieves, but I've bunged it up under my saddle behind the black plastic bag I use when it rains.

The light looks a pretty average type, the kind people leave unmolested on their bikes quite a lot. It's got security screws, so maybe the idea is opportunist thieves try and take it, get stuck with the screws and meanwhile you've been alerted by text. If they want the bike, they'll jiggle it while getting the lock off and again, you'll know about it.

I never normally leave my bike more than a few hundred yards away from wherever I am, so this text alert thing is a big plus for me.

So first observation is that the accelerometer that tells you when it's being wobbled doesn't work when it's on its back. I.e. when the red lens is facing upwards. If I remember correctly these things have a blob of mercury in them, which moves around, but they all have dead zones.

This is only a problem as this orientation was the easiest way to have it up under the saddle. I'll try a different way, perhaps by taking the red lens off, and see how it goes.

"these things have a blob of mercury"

isn't that a [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt_switch"]tilt-switch[/ame]?

as i understand it, an Accelerometer is a lot more complex and can give a lot more feedback - requiring more complex interpretation,

this is a great example of an Accelerometer being used with a mobile phone app,

http://kokes.net/imufootball/imufootball.htm

(such an idea could obviously be applied to a bicycle + app !!)

((which would be present in the greatest possible version of a BMA!!!))

Of course, you're right. Nothing so sexy as an accelerometer. Last time I used a tilt switch I fried it when I wired it up wrong.