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Stolen bikes

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 3:53 am
by spawny
Hello great community,

i have come to ask for your all powerful wisdom. We are a gang of mountain bike riders, and recently someone has been stealing our bikes. We need to protect them, so i thought of a GPS chip inside the bike, however i don't think it is possible.

You guys here seems to be very active and updated community in this field, so i was wondering if some members will please give me a hint or a direction, where to start researching on my own.

Thanks and great forum btw :dance:

Re: Stolen bikes

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:24 pm
by MichaelN
Definitely feasible - there are a number of products that do what you're after already (eg SpyBike, BikeSpike). If you want something cheaper, there are generic GPS tracking devices that you may be able to use eg: http://dx.com/p/portable-gps-gsm-gprs-p ... rey-199123

If you really want to DIY, you could either cobble something together using Arduino with GPRS / GPS modules, or make a custom PCB (smaller). You're unlikely so save money though.

Re: Stolen bikes

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 5:41 pm
by stevech
But! You have to pay the monthly cellular fee. Some US carriers have low volume telemetry data plans, at a few $ per month. More usually, the service is bundled with the purchased product (e.g., first year)

Re: Stolen bikes

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:06 pm
by MichaelN
stevech wrote:But! You have to pay the monthly cellular fee.(e.g., first year)
Really? In Australia there are $0 /month cellular plans where you just pay for data / calls / messages. As long as you're not constantly tracking (no point when the bike isn't stolen), the cost would be next-to-nothing...

Re: Stolen bikes

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 1:17 am
by spawny
Thank you guys for giving me another dimension on things. This GPS tracker is an option, however it seems to be too big to fit in the seat post tube. I will check the other devices specifically for bikes and write back.

Thanks for your kind responses, very helpful ! :violin: