VegasTriker

I finally got around to reading the April issue of the University of Wisconsin Alumni Badger Voice magazine when I came across the headline, "UWPD Seizes 600 Bicycles, Most are Likely Stolen". You can read the article here: UWPD Seizes 600 Bicycles, Most are Likely Stolen | University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department Campus bike thefts are common across the US so good advice to a student going away this fall is to take a "beater bike" which works but is too ugly to be much interest to a bike thief. It is also a good reason to keep a record of the serial number on a bike and to report it to the police if it is stolen. Too bad the Madison police only keep records for two years as some of the bikes recovered may have been stolen up to a decade ago. I worked in a bike shop there years ago and we had a student spot his stolen bike in the window of the store. It was in for repairs. The new owner bought it at the Madison police auction for unclaimed stolen goods.

Dave Cutter

I am wondering........... if it might not be a good idea to epoxy a Bluetooth Location Device (tile) under the saddle?

gpburdell

So I'm wondering... why exactly would someone steal hundreds of bikes just to put them into storage? Isn't the point to turn them into cash by selling them or something?

That Tile thing, if it were to take off and become popular enough to be useful in recovery IMHO it'd also be well known enough enough by crooks that they'd look for and remove any Tiles they found on a bike they were stealing.

Grillparzer

Igor Kenk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deontologist

That has a very limited range. It's up to 100 feet. That's in the open, with no walls between you and your bike. Maybe useful if you park your bike and go into a restaurant and eat by the window next to your bike. Not so useful if you park your bike on campus and go around and do things.

Dave Cutter

No.... 100 feet between the chip and ANY chip/tile user. Those chips/tiles are somewhat new.... but I've already spotted them on a few key chains (which indicates the keys belong to a chip/tile user). I would guess a short ride down any city street would be all it would take to register an approximate location.

Deontologist

You're right, other Tile users can detect your Tile chip. Whether or not you can get your bike back that way is highly suspect. It would certainly require a fair bit of luck. Plus what happens when the thief riding the bike away goes out of range? That approximate location you had is useless. Okay, you know he went down 9th street about 40 minutes ago. Not very useful - you want a current location.

Otoh if you're going to drop 25 dollars for a Tile every year you might as well pony up for a cheap GPS unit off eBay. Those are about 20 dollars.

Dave Cutter

You're absolutely correct! The technology is still a bit too new... and less than perfect. Could a chip/tile be hidden and discovered on a bike... sure. Could a hidden chip/tile be hidden and NOT discovered.... yes.

However... once these technologies catch on a little more and become a little more "standardized/popular" they could be a layer of deterrent. And deterring theft... is the best that can ever be done. Exact location times make security camera searches MUCH easier. Ask me if a stolen bike pasted by my home "sometime Monday afternoon" and I can't help you. Want to see who was riding a bike past my home between 2:05 and 2:10... and I will take a minute and retrieve a picture for you (from my security cameras).

These tiles won't put an end to bike stealing. But it can't hurt.

Dave Cutter

If I used a tile/chip and you lived next door to me.... and you brought home a chipped/tiled bicycle.... the location would be reported back to the owners phone via the Internet/web. The location is world-wide.

gpburdell

And thats the thing - I'm assuming the app allows detection of any/all nearby Tiles, so a thief would easily know if the bike had one or not. Coupled with a fairly limited range of places to secrete one without destroying its range and it seems pretty easily defeated.

There's also the question of who you're seeking to deter. The pro that's seeking multi-thousand-dollar bikes isn't going to be deterred; may change pattern a little but I doubt will quit stealing expensive bikes. The opportunistic grab the bike and go sell it for $50 in fifteen minutes thief also wouldn't likely care. Now you would perhaps deter the market (buyers) for the opportunistic thief if you find the bike, so there's a benefit there. Still, those tiles will need substantial market adoption before they'll have any discernible effect. I could have a dozen Tile-tagged bikes sitting in my garage and there's nobody within range unless they're trespassing.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be wonderful if such a device were to become so commonplace as to make a real different. My point is to identify barriers that any such technology will have to overcome before it would have an appreciable effect. Maybe that way some inventor will work something out that benefits all of us.