Bike Tracking

[Guest SportEvent]

Anybody know if you get a tracking device for bicycles? Like to ones from Tracker for your car. If not, it might be a good business to start?

[stewie911]

Thought about making my own a few months ago, but havn't got around doing it.

 

Maybe I should make a prototype

 

[Madala]

As you cell phone will probably go along with your bike take a look at this:-

 

http://periodic.phonelocator.mobi/

 

It is a free service and looks ideal. Will ry it out and report back.

 

 

 

[Guest SportEvent]

True, but still not perfect. Robbers now already know about the phone thing and will just throw the phone away. Loosing a R1000 phone is not to bad, but loosing a R30 000.00 Cycle is just crazy.

[Starry nights]

 

 

 

You can use the tracking devices we put on wildlife - some are now small enough to put in the bike so they can't be seen by the crooks. There are numerous makes but the one I use mostly comes from the New Zealand company SirTrack. They are happy to make custom designs for you, and are very reliable. You can google them.

 

 

aonyx2010-05-03 05:30:39

[Guest SportEvent]

Nice. Will contact them and see what I can get.

[stewie911]

http://periodic.phonelocator.mobi/ does not work with blackberry storm.

 

Just tried it. There are however similar programs available, but as mentioned it's not the ideal tracker.

 

[Williamhh]

Yup checked out some devices ... but all can be removed and too bulky to hide. Also available are RFID tags which can be stuck onto a bike like a label ... contains an ID chip ... but .. these need scanners to read. So back to square one.

 

The next step was a national bike registry ... www.nbrza.co.za ... so a few months ago we started registering bike's serial numbers against owner ID ... we are also listing Stolen bikes and Recovered Bikes ... its new but we have the intetest of law enforcement agencies and awesome support from the cycling community. Now we need cyclist support. 

 

If we can get to a point where all 2nd hand bikes offered for sale are Serial number checked then we may well put pressure on the stolen bike market .. hopefully taking away the motivation to snatch our bikes.

 

Last weekend 20 bikes were stolen from the Northern Farm Cycling Project ... in last 5 months we've had 6 bikejackings in and around the Chartwell area ...

[Starry nights]

Could one not be put into a bike's tube - or seat post? Some small enough to put on bats, birds etc? 

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[stewie911]

Don't know how you're going to access the tube(I assume you mean frame tube and not tyre tube).

 

Seatpost, or even stem would be a nice place to hide, but if it's metal it could interfere with gps signal. The device will also need to be recharged from time to time, so stem would be too much of a hassle.

 

Lets get high tech and build it into hubs, like a powertap. Then it can be recharged with magnetic induction.

 

[Tightfitt]

What about some sort of tracking device that fits to the spokes - similar to speed sensor magnet that then charges itself through kinetic energy.....

 

 

 

10c input from an accountant...

[Starry nights]

 

Don't know how you're going to access the tube(I assume you mean frame tube and not tyre tube).

 

Seatpost' date=' or even stem would be a nice place to hide, but if it's metal it could interfere with gps signal. The device will also need to be recharged from time to time, so stem would be too much of a hassle.

 

Lets get high tech and build it into hubs, like a powertap. Then it can be recharged with magnetic induction.

 

[/quote']

 

Yep - I meant the frame tube .  Could have the antenna out slightly under the seat or seatpost quick release? Maybe in the handlebar with the antenna attached to a bar end - I think I will try a used one when I next get one - and  play around with possibilities?  

 

[Williamhh]

All cool suggestions ... whatever we come up with needs to be affordable for ALL cyclists ... both recreational and commute. I know the insurance companies have also looked at various options ... the snags are same i.e. either too expensive, too bulky, needs scanners ...

 

I guess tech will evolve to give us a solution in time ... even then it may well give us the peace of mind that a stolen bike can be found ... in case of a violent bikejack however you still sit with a traumatized cyclist [6 in my area alone in last 5 months .. 2 in the last 2 weeks] ... ideal will be to come up with a deterent that will prevent the bikejack in the first place ... i.e. remove the value incentive for the jacker ... the jacked bike must be hard to sell and the jacker easy to get caught doing so.

 

The Registry's looong term goal is to lobby for safe riding areas [both from traffic and crime] ... this means lobbying the officials ... an action which is very much work in progress for the Regsitry right now. We now have the attention of SAPS and SARS [customs] ... but first things first ... will keep you posted.

 

 www.nbrza.co.za]

 

 

[Guest SportEvent]

So this must be possible. I read that these tracking devices used for animals can be very small in size and depending on the settings, the battery can last for around 2 years. Maybe the insurance can also help pay for such devices. Like if your bike is worth R60 000.00 they will pay in full to get the device installed. If your bike is R30 000.00 they will pay 50% of the device and so on, and so on, but will only payout if the bike is stolen and could not be recovered.

[Seepglad]

www.sportstrack.net

[Twombles]

Hi Guys,

As a fed up cyclist, I have been in contact with some of the tracking companies in South Africa, and the response that I have been getting seems promising. A couple of companies are working on a tracking device, they only need to get the battery pack small enough to be practical enough to use.

 

HOWEVER, apart from the subjective feedback that cyclists are giving, there are no real data available about where and when these crimes are taking place. A response from one of the companies was that they would like to create safe zones for cyclists, but they need input about where the crime is taking place.

I'd like to start an initiative where cyclists that have been targeted can plot the location on a map, including some information about the crime, for example time, nature and description of the bikes that were stolen.

 

If we can generate the data about crime, and provide data to the relevant policing or security authorities, we might be able to have a safer ride.

 

I need some input from you guys to see whether you think the initiative will work. I am bust setting up a website with a mapping tool, will cyclists make the effort to map the location that they were targeted at??

 

How many of the hubbers will make the effort?