6 ms·

Exploding bike seats? http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYlBT1d_GWo http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYlBT1d_GWo Seriously though, GPS receivers and GSM radios are a fe

Exploding bike seats? http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYlBT1d_GWo http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYlBT1d_GWo Seriously though, GPS receivers and GSM radios are a few dollars each these days. Seems like an easy thing to hide in the frame (of course a thief could still part out everything except the frame)

dpark 11y ago
The problem is then you need to remember to keep your bike's GPS tracker charged. Your bike isn't carrying a large capacity 12V battery the way your car is.
- marcoperaza 11y ago
  I wonder if you could do the same thing a car does, charge the battery with the engine.
  - dpark 11y ago
    For electric-assist bikes, the GPS tracking could be worthwhile. For other bikes, the complexity of the system seems not worth it. It's probably more cost effective to just insure the bike and not have a small generator, battery, GPS, and wires all over. For ultralight racing bikes, definitely not, but those are probably a minority even in cycling-friendly cities like Seattle.
  - ptaipale 11y ago
    Put the GPS tracker + battery in the headlight of a bike with hub dynamo... the tracker would work, you can activate it for just a few munutes a few times a day. But if the police does not care, it is not useful.
- tlrobinson 11y ago
  For this purpose you could just have the cellular module wake up every x minutes to check to see if it should begin tracking. Or use BLE and an accelerometer. If your phone isn't in range and the bike is moving then starting tracking. I haven't done the math but you could probably get away with recharging every 6 months or so.
  - anc84 11y ago
    That sounds like a great Kickstarter project. ;)
  - dpark 11y ago
    I have to be honest. I'm seriously doubting that math you didn't do. In my experience GPS murders small batteries. And putting large batteries on bikes seems like a nonstarter for bikes that aren't electric assist.
    - mikepurvis 11y ago
      But the GPS only needs to be active when the bike is a) moving, with b) the BLE phone connection absent. There are ultra low power motion sensor ICs that literally have a GPIO for "motion detected". Put that on the reset pin of your CC2541, and you'll be set for months of battery life.
      - dpark 11y ago
        I am still doubtful but frankly neither informed nor interested enough to debate it further. Maybe BLE is more impressive than I've been assuming.
        tlrobinson 11y ago
        There are a number of BLE beacons that last for a year on a single CR2302 battery. They only transmit for a fraction of a second at a time, then sleep for 2+ seconds.
      - Someone 11y ago
        You don't care where your bike went, you care where it is, and you want a way to get that data remotely. The GPS only needs to be on when you call your bike, and that's where the problem lies: you have to find a way to decrease power usage of the GSM part. Switching it on for a minute or so every hour if outside BLE range could help, but would make it harder to locate your bike fast. Maybe, it should start at a 100% duty cycle, and drop off over time? (Clock drift shouldn't be a problem. The device has GPS, so it has an accurate clock) And you need to filter that 'motion detected' thing, or your bike will keep resetting itself, even before it can check the BLE connection. Or is that something that the sensor ICs can do for you, too, nowadays?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- JustSomeNobody 11y ago
  I would only buy one that charged while I rode my bike.
- justinator 11y ago
  Here you go, http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=128 http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=128
- rorykoehler 11y ago
  You could hook it up with a dyno that attaches to the bottom bracket with the gps sitting in the down tube. Cycling would charge it. Also checkout lock8.me . They made a smart lock instead which makes a lot of sense.
jdblair 11y ago
I've thought a lot about this. The problem with hiding the tracker in the frame is the GPS and GSM antenna will be blocked by the metal tube. There would have to be a way to get the antenna out (maybe a special bottle cage, with the antenna leads going through the lugs?). It would work for carbon fiber, though, and those are the most expensive bikes.
- Audiophilip 11y ago
  >The problem with hiding the tracker in the frame is the GPS and GSM antenna will be blocked by the metal tube. Not true, there are multiple battle-tested solutions out there, like these: www.spybike.com
  - victorhooi 11y ago
    I have one of their products. It's not a bad product - but the company seems to have gone bust. They've stopped answering any emails, and the last news was that their Seat Post Tracker was meant to launch in 2012/2013: http://www.bike-eu.com/sales-trends/nieuws/2012/8/spybike-seatpost-tracker-10110639 http://www.bike-eu.com/sales-trends/nieuws/2012/8/spybike-se... Their current trackers are 3G only - and most countries are shutting down (or have already shut down) their 3G GSM networks. I'm definitely on the lookout for any replacements.
    - ptaipale 11y ago
      Their current trackers are 3G only - and most countries are shutting down (or have already shut down) their 3G GSM networks. What? Some operators are closing 3G networks, but not, I think, "most countries". Frequency allocation is moved to LTE, yes. But 3G modems fall back to 2G (GSM) which is'nt going away any time soon in most places (yes, there are exceptions), and 2G is quite enough to send location info.
      - victorhooi 11y ago
        Sorry, I meant 2G - e.g. in Australia, Telstra/Optus have already announced shut-down dates, the third network Vodafone hasn't, but they're expected to soon - which renders the device useless.
ptaipale 11y ago
Finding your bike is not helpful if the police is not interested. And they usually aren't where I live. Except if you're yourself willing to enforce your retrieval with violence... at which point the police will be interested if everything does not go easily.
- LanceH 11y ago
  I've heard of people meeting, trying "the fit" and just riding off.
- marincounty 11y ago
  I bet you live in the Bay Area? Specifically, the east bay? Near Berkeley? There's a two well known flea markets where bike thieves sell their stolen property. Even if you are at the flea market, with you bike's serial number in hand, the cops do not come out. A huge guy, who had his bike stolen once too many times advertises in CL. He will literally show up at the flea market, and take your bike back, after you show him the serial number. (Guys like this do not get enough props. He does it because it's just the right thing to do.) I have never used his services, but have had bikes stolen. I've literally given up. My bikes are now pretty much throwaway. If they are stolen, it's no big deal. I want to buy a motorcyle this summer, but theft is first feature on my mind. Would I prosecute a bike thief? If I felt they were professionals--yes. If, I thought it was a yuppie, who gets a rush out of stealing--yes. If it was a homeless person--no. I saw a great deterrent to bike theft at Target. Outside the store they had these little pods you put your bike in. You supply the lock. They take up too much room for most businesses though, but they look like you could stack them two units high?
  - cpeterso 11y ago
    Karin Cycle in Berkeley is a known fence for stolen bikes. The Yelp reviews are depressing, but clearly busting Karim Cycle is not economical for the Berkeley Police Department. http://yelp.com/biz/karim-cycle-berkeley-3 http://yelp.com/biz/karim-cycle-berkeley-3
  - walrus01 11y ago
    "A huge guy"...? New service like uber: "rent a 350 pound Samoan" VC money please!
WalterBright 11y ago
Wouldn't a metal frame act as a Faraday cage and block all radio waves?
- lostlogin 11y ago
  A cage needs to be earthed - the rubber tyres probably hinder this, however I'm not an electrical expert at any stretch.
  - WalterBright 11y ago
    > A cage needs to be earthed No, it just has to be around the object. Try wrapping your cellphone in aluminum foil. It won't receive or send anymore.

dpark 11y ago

The problem is then you need to remember to keep your bike's GPS tracker charged. Your bike isn't carrying a large capacity 12V battery the way your car is.

marcoperaza 11y ago
I wonder if you could do the same thing a car does, charge the battery with the engine.
- dpark 11y ago
  For electric-assist bikes, the GPS tracking could be worthwhile. For other bikes, the complexity of the system seems not worth it. It's probably more cost effective to just insure the bike and not have a small generator, battery, GPS, and wires all over. For ultralight racing bikes, definitely not, but those are probably a minority even in cycling-friendly cities like Seattle.
- ptaipale 11y ago
  Put the GPS tracker + battery in the headlight of a bike with hub dynamo... the tracker would work, you can activate it for just a few munutes a few times a day. But if the police does not care, it is not useful.
tlrobinson 11y ago
For this purpose you could just have the cellular module wake up every x minutes to check to see if it should begin tracking. Or use BLE and an accelerometer. If your phone isn't in range and the bike is moving then starting tracking. I haven't done the math but you could probably get away with recharging every 6 months or so.
- anc84 11y ago
  That sounds like a great Kickstarter project. ;)
- dpark 11y ago
  I have to be honest. I'm seriously doubting that math you didn't do. In my experience GPS murders small batteries. And putting large batteries on bikes seems like a nonstarter for bikes that aren't electric assist.
  - mikepurvis 11y ago
    But the GPS only needs to be active when the bike is a) moving, with b) the BLE phone connection absent. There are ultra low power motion sensor ICs that literally have a GPIO for "motion detected". Put that on the reset pin of your CC2541, and you'll be set for months of battery life.
    - dpark 11y ago
      I am still doubtful but frankly neither informed nor interested enough to debate it further. Maybe BLE is more impressive than I've been assuming.
      - tlrobinson 11y ago
        There are a number of BLE beacons that last for a year on a single CR2302 battery. They only transmit for a fraction of a second at a time, then sleep for 2+ seconds.
    - Someone 11y ago
      You don't care where your bike went, you care where it is, and you want a way to get that data remotely. The GPS only needs to be on when you call your bike, and that's where the problem lies: you have to find a way to decrease power usage of the GSM part. Switching it on for a minute or so every hour if outside BLE range could help, but would make it harder to locate your bike fast. Maybe, it should start at a 100% duty cycle, and drop off over time? (Clock drift shouldn't be a problem. The device has GPS, so it has an accurate clock) And you need to filter that 'motion detected' thing, or your bike will keep resetting itself, even before it can check the BLE connection. Or is that something that the sensor ICs can do for you, too, nowadays?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
JustSomeNobody 11y ago
I would only buy one that charged while I rode my bike.
justinator 11y ago
Here you go, http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=128 http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=128
rorykoehler 11y ago
You could hook it up with a dyno that attaches to the bottom bracket with the gps sitting in the down tube. Cycling would charge it. Also checkout lock8.me . They made a smart lock instead which makes a lot of sense.

jdblair 11y ago

I've thought a lot about this. The problem with hiding the tracker in the frame is the GPS and GSM antenna will be blocked by the metal tube. There would have to be a way to get the antenna out (maybe a special bottle cage, with the antenna leads going through the lugs?). It would work for carbon fiber, though, and those are the most expensive bikes.

Audiophilip 11y ago
>The problem with hiding the tracker in the frame is the GPS and GSM antenna will be blocked by the metal tube. Not true, there are multiple battle-tested solutions out there, like these: www.spybike.com
- victorhooi 11y ago
  I have one of their products. It's not a bad product - but the company seems to have gone bust. They've stopped answering any emails, and the last news was that their Seat Post Tracker was meant to launch in 2012/2013: http://www.bike-eu.com/sales-trends/nieuws/2012/8/spybike-seatpost-tracker-10110639 http://www.bike-eu.com/sales-trends/nieuws/2012/8/spybike-se... Their current trackers are 3G only - and most countries are shutting down (or have already shut down) their 3G GSM networks. I'm definitely on the lookout for any replacements.
  - ptaipale 11y ago
    Their current trackers are 3G only - and most countries are shutting down (or have already shut down) their 3G GSM networks. What? Some operators are closing 3G networks, but not, I think, "most countries". Frequency allocation is moved to LTE, yes. But 3G modems fall back to 2G (GSM) which is'nt going away any time soon in most places (yes, there are exceptions), and 2G is quite enough to send location info.
    - victorhooi 11y ago
      Sorry, I meant 2G - e.g. in Australia, Telstra/Optus have already announced shut-down dates, the third network Vodafone hasn't, but they're expected to soon - which renders the device useless.

ptaipale 11y ago

Finding your bike is not helpful if the police is not interested. And they usually aren't where I live. Except if you're yourself willing to enforce your retrieval with violence... at which point the police will be interested if everything does not go easily.

LanceH 11y ago
I've heard of people meeting, trying "the fit" and just riding off.
marincounty 11y ago
I bet you live in the Bay Area? Specifically, the east bay? Near Berkeley? There's a two well known flea markets where bike thieves sell their stolen property. Even if you are at the flea market, with you bike's serial number in hand, the cops do not come out. A huge guy, who had his bike stolen once too many times advertises in CL. He will literally show up at the flea market, and take your bike back, after you show him the serial number. (Guys like this do not get enough props. He does it because it's just the right thing to do.) I have never used his services, but have had bikes stolen. I've literally given up. My bikes are now pretty much throwaway. If they are stolen, it's no big deal. I want to buy a motorcyle this summer, but theft is first feature on my mind. Would I prosecute a bike thief? If I felt they were professionals--yes. If, I thought it was a yuppie, who gets a rush out of stealing--yes. If it was a homeless person--no. I saw a great deterrent to bike theft at Target. Outside the store they had these little pods you put your bike in. You supply the lock. They take up too much room for most businesses though, but they look like you could stack them two units high?
- cpeterso 11y ago
  Karin Cycle in Berkeley is a known fence for stolen bikes. The Yelp reviews are depressing, but clearly busting Karim Cycle is not economical for the Berkeley Police Department. http://yelp.com/biz/karim-cycle-berkeley-3 http://yelp.com/biz/karim-cycle-berkeley-3
- walrus01 11y ago
  "A huge guy"...? New service like uber: "rent a 350 pound Samoan" VC money please!

WalterBright 11y ago

Wouldn't a metal frame act as a Faraday cage and block all radio waves?

lostlogin 11y ago
A cage needs to be earthed - the rubber tyres probably hinder this, however I'm not an electrical expert at any stretch.
- WalterBright 11y ago
  > A cage needs to be earthed No, it just has to be around the object. Try wrapping your cellphone in aluminum foil. It won't receive or send anymore.