Small bike tracking devices - anyone use any?

[velotrack]

Tangent to the bike robbery/theft thread - anyone use a small, fits in or on a probably pricier road/mtb, tracking device that would allow for easy recovery in case of theft?

Seems like a peace of mind investment more than anything else but seems to be a pretty un-used kind of product from what I’m reading... ps - not interested in that other thread’s politics, just want to see what people are using if anything

[fiamme red]

Recent article: https://www.cyclingnews.com/features...-gps-trackers/.

[Dead Man]

very interested to know what options there are these days. hadnt had a bike stolen since i was a kid till last summer.... being able to pull out my phone and zero in on my missing bike, fastpitch junior bat in hand, would be epic

last i researched the topic a few years ago, seemed like the options were limited and had too many limitations to be relied on .. but tech is surely improving

[skiezo]

One of my LBS uses them for test rides. Since he has been using them he had both bikes recovered by the local PD. He just does not tell the tester about the small gps tracker in the seat post.

[joosttx]

I have Tiles in all my bikes. Batteries last a couple of years but they are not the perfect solution because the only way they can be located is if a person is using tile on their phone is near them.

What I like about them is....

1) cheap
2) low weight
3) super small form factor (I use the tile stickers)
4) low maintenance (long battery life

[d_douglas]

Seems like a good idea. My dogs girlfriend wears a tracker collar and I inevitably get a text from them when Moka shows up at my door for a play date (3 doors away). Lovers...

It’s pretty cool that they can track her anywhere from this tiny box on her collar - that could be hidden on a bike quite easily.

[NHAero]

What brand? Please say more about the tile and the phone, I don't yet understand what you said. Thanks

[Old School]

Originally Posted by NHAero

What brand? Please say more about the tile and the phone, I don't yet understand what you said. Thanks

"Tile" IS the brand name. thetileapp.com

About the phones, a "tile" is stuck or hidden on your bike, but it has no GPS. It broadcast a signal that is picked up by cell phones.

Theoretically, you could wander around, and wait until you see a segnal from your bike.

If a large enough group of logged onto "the Tile APP' on their phones, any of them will see your bike, which is putting out a signal, now characterized by the app, that is a stolen tile.

A larger and larger group, all logged in, have an even better chance of finding your tile (and the bike it is stuck to)

[NHAero]

If the thief has a cell phone and it's on, you can see where your bike is? How fine grained is the location?

Originally Posted by Old School

"Tile" IS the brand name. thetileapp.com

About the phones, a "tile" is stuck or hidden on your bike, but it has no GPS. It broadcast a signal that is picked up by cell phones.

Theoretically, you could wander around, and wait until you see a segnal from your bike.

If a large enough group of logged onto "the Tile APP' on their phones, any of them will see your bike, which is putting out a signal, now characterized by the app, that is a stolen tile.

A larger and larger group, all logged in, have an even better chance of finding your tile (and the bike it is stuck to)

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by NHAero

If the thief has a cell phone and it's on, you can see where your bike is? How fine grained is the location?

Only if that person has the Tile app, and it's open.

Tile uses crowdsourcing information to locate stuff...you'd hope that the thief would be in a crowd of people where one or more had the Tile app...

A better use for Tile is "where are my car keys...", assuming they're in the house.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by NHAero

If the thief has a cell phone and it's on, you can see where your bike is? How fine grained is the location?

Yes, if thief’s has the tile app open on his/her phone.

Typically it works like this:
Your bike gets stolen.

You mark your bike stolen on the tile app

Every time a phone which has the tile app open comes into Bluetooth range of your bike Tile servers will send you the location Of that phone when it received the Bluetooth ping.

It’s as granular as a phones location service is.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

Only if that person has the Tile app, and it's open.

Tile uses crowdsourcing information to locate stuff...you'd hope that the thief would be in a crowd of people where one or more had the Tile app...

A better use for Tile is "where are my car keys...", assuming they're in the house.

Agreed much better for losing your keys or wallet in your house.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

being able to pull out my phone and zero in on my missing bike, fastpitch junior bat in hand, would be epic

LOL! We can hang

[notlance]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Seems like a good idea. My dogs girlfriend wears a tracker collar

Is your dog a play-ah or are you in trouble after this post?.