I know they now offer GPS tracking devices for animals, cars and children but was wondering if anyone knows or have tried used anything and applying it to bicycles?

I am thinking of something like this (http://www.spygearco.com/WorldsSmallestGPSTrackingDevice-PE.htm) but cheaper and placing it in the seat tube or handlebars or something in the event a bicycle should get stolen.

I'm moving this to Electronics, Lighting and Gadgets, as this is not a SSFG specific issue.

On topic: I think placing a GPS receiver inside a metal object will effectively stop it from receiving satellite signals. Also, GPS uses a lot of power. You'd need to feed it via dynohub or something similar to keep it going for any length of time.

--J, a Forum Mod

Hi Juha, good call and thanks for the move. Some GPS devices though (like those for cars) can transmit even within metal, garages, etc., but then again I don't know so much about it hence my asking the forum. :)

Do a Google search on "bait bikes". Some municipal police forces have been using GPS equipped bikes to track down bike thieves.

A better solution for bike theft and recovery would be for manufacturers to epoxy an RFID tag into every frame they produce. RFID tags do not require a battery and there so small they are commonly injected under the skin of pets and even people. A manufacturer could easily embed it so it would be extremely difficult to find and remove and if it were removed that immediately signals anyone trying to read the RFID that it's stolen. Carbon Fiber frames would allow the RFID to be molded into the frame so the only way to remove it would be destruction of the frame. RFID readers are becoming common at the doors of retailers. They read every RFID tag entering or exiting the store. It's become common for expensive clothing manufacturers to embed RFID tags in every article of clothing they sell. If a shop lifter steals an RFID tagged item and gets it out of the store without paying for it the reader will sound an alarm and log the item as stolen. If the item is ever picked up by any reader it's flagged as stolen so the person with that item can be picked up and prosecuted for receiving stolen goods at the very least. Most stolen bicycles will be taken to a bike shop by the thief in an attempt to sell it. As soon as the thief enters a bike shop or any retailer with an RFID system the shop or retailer will know the bike is stolen, who the real owner of the bike is, and can have the thief arrested and the bike returned to it's rightful owner.

Cost more then most bikes.

... RFID tag ...


Yeah, injecting into seats, under bar tape, in cables, shifters, on rims.
Steal a bike and you need to replace all this stuff, or a cop scanning a bike rack in 5 years time will find it as stolen.

RFID won't work. It's really no different to visible identification marks like serial numbers. In order for it to work everybody has to buy into the system.

Manufactures need to start marking parts.
Owners need to keep track of what marks there parts have.
Someone needs to maintain a database of stolen parts and allow it to be accessed.
Police and people who handle bikes need to check marks against the database.

Compared to a GPS style system where really only the owner needs to buy into the system. That's the big attraction to the system because it doesn't rely on a large number of people that don't really care you bike got stolen. It allows the owner who does care to locate and have a hand in recovering the stolen property.

Years ago I watched a program where they locked a nice bike to a telephone pole and waited with cameras. The bike had some kind of transponder installed in it. A thief was filmed cutting the lock and then taking it and it was piled onto a truck with a zillion other stolen bikes and then they followed the truck and found it was being exported to third world countries. Don't remember much more about the show,