bicycle tracking system
 

So I have never been completely comfortable leaving my bike outside while I am...anywhere really. Work, the grocery store, a friend's apartment, It just always seems like I am taking a chance of someone taking off with my bike. I had an idea, and was wondering if anyone would think this is a cool idea. If it were possible to design a GPS receiver to fit in the downtube of your bike, would you use something like that? The idea would be to be able to go online and view where your bike is at any time. If something like that existed, would you shell out some money to buy it? I am cross posting this in the electronics/gadgets forum.

Impractical. A GPS receiver in the downtube may not work as it wont get a good enough signal in a metal tube (not so for a carbon frame - but then I dont know the shielding characteristics of that). Also, the gps transmitter has to transmit in order for you to know where it is. Which means you need to hookup with some sort of wireless network provider. Would the end user be willing to pay a monthly subscription fee (like lo-jack) ?

U lock that puppy

It could work if you run an antenna out of some orifice, but then again, you could just go all out with locks and no one would bother.

If your bike is stolen, you probably don't really want to recover it. It won't be the same.

I am not really asking about the design...just exploring if there is any market out there. Thanks for the input! It does help a lot.

I think if it worked and didn't cost an arm and a leg, i think it would be somewhat appealing.

Personally, I wouldn't buy it. I'd rather put money and effort into preventing the theft.

Besides...who is going to track the stolen bike for you? The cops sure don't give a crap about stolen bikes.

Any compensation for helping with your market research project?

Then there is a power issue, I have a hard time keeping my lights running. So no market out there unless someone has a 5,000 dollar bike which is not going to want to add the weight.

Unfortunately no one would get any money until I turn a profit...right now I am just exploring some ideas in case the economy catches up with my day job :)

I remember reading somewhere about RFID tagging bikes and other stealable items.. you might not be able to track it that way, but the police/ maybe you? could pick it up with a scanner

As Said, to work it would need to be some kind of subscription service to a tracking network. I'm not willing to pay such subscription fees unless they are very cheap.
Or perhaps if something could be worked out where there is no fee until you report the bike stolen and the device is then 'activated'. A flat fee system like that would be acceptable to me...
But then theres the battery issue...I doubt you have enough of them.

How about recovering the stolen bike with the thief, so the thief will never be the same?

That would be good but around here they usually just ride the bike for a minute, then throw it in the river. I guess you could beat up the turtle that's sitting on it. :D

Something for pets? This one is in the UK, guess there would something similar for USA too.

http://www.easydevices.co.uk/pp/GPS_...T_TRACKER.html

If your bike is worth the type of protection that you're considering, you should probably consider buying a cheaper utility bike for trips to the store and such. You don't need a $3000 bike to go on shopping trips.

If I spent $3000 on a bike, I wouldn't have enough money left to go shopping...let alone buy a second bike.

:D

RFID tags are very small, so small they can be injected into pets. There also cheap costing just a few cents each when purchased in large bulk orders. They contain no batteries so they can be placed inside the frames carbon fiber during construction. For metal bike frames the RFID tag can be hidden under epoxy and paint. Tracking is possible and is becoming commonplace. New products have RFID tags embedded during production so that retailers can track the product from the cash register to the exit automatically logging it as sold. RFID tagged clothing allows the manufacturer and retailer to track there customers as they pass in and out of stores equipped with RFID scanners at the entrance and exit doors. You can see scanners located at large retailers at the doors. This also allows them to prosecute persons that shoplift and subsequently return to a retailer (any retailer, not just the store where the clothing was stolen) wearing the stolen clothing and be arrested. The tags are so small there almost impossible to find and destruction of the clothing is required to remove them. Returned items can be tracked as well. If the items RFID tag is not the same as the item being returned the retailer need not accept that item for return. Implementing RFID tags on bicycles would only cost a few cents. When the bike is sold the RFID tag is programed with the owners information. Anytime that bike is close to any RFID scanner it's tag information is sent and checked. If it's ever reported stolen a report is generated and sent to whoever it's registered with. Say your bike is stolen and it starts showing up regularly in the same places. You show your reports to the police and they wait for the stolen bike to ride by there scanner and Bingo! The thief is apprehended and your bike returned. Pawn Shops as well as bike shops would be able to spot stolen bikes as soon as they come in range of there scanner. Very soon thief's would pickup on the fact that selling or riding a stolen bike would be stupid.

Big Brother is Watching You

No thanks, that technology is not worth the tradeoff for me. I'll live with my locks, if the bike ever gets stolen I'll get over it.

I was just sent this information on an anti-theft RFID tag system in the UK.
Someone should start it here in the USA.
http://bicycling.suite101.com/articl...tags_for_bikes

http://images.suite101.com/601899_com_immobitag.jpg

How do you scan for a stolen bike? RFID has a pretty limited range (< 2meter) I thought