nickmaimone

You know, I was thinking, now they are making microchips for dogs, which dont cost very much at all.

They should come out with a tiny little piece, that you can slip down your seat tube or something to get it down inside your frame, unnoticable, and it basically isnt activated until you need it to be. Say your bike gets stolen, you call a hotline, they activate the chip, they track the chip, and whala , you know the exact location of your bike. Call the cops, let them know, have them escort you to the location to reclaim your bicycle and lock away the thiefs.

Does this sound a little too overboard? I dont think so, with the high rate of bicycle theft, I think it would be a brilliant way to track our bikes when they are stolen, and at the same time, arrest the thiefs. Maybe the chip could be in the form of a sticker, like the things they sometimes put on clothing, or cd's. You could just stick it to the inside wall of your frame, and wala, a descrete tracking device.


What you ya'll think of this.

Katrogen

Great idea if you can get it on the frame of the bike. Bad idea for saving tires, seat posts and other detachable devices.

jonbth

Microchips don't work like that. They can't be tracked via satellite. The range is usually only a few feet. It only helps identifying the owner of the dog or bike once it is found.

spinnaker

Yes this is correct. The only use for such a thing would be to identify the bike when found. I doubt if law enforcement or bike stores would want to invest in a scanner for this purpose.

Keith99

Actually Law enforcement might be very open to the idea. Oh not if it JUST was used for bikes, but it could be used for a huge numebr of items.

BUT thiefs would likely follow suit and soon have the scanners to check for chips and then deal with things. Of course once some models of bikes (and other items) were known to be chipped it would make any such item look stolen if there was no chip response.

MMACH 5

LoJack and OnStar both work in the way that you suggest. I haven't checked into it, but I don't think they make a bicycle version.

I can hear the commercial now...

OnStar: Hello, OnStar.

Customer: Please help me! I crashed my bike and the saddle is now cranked to the side.(weeping)

OnStar: Sir, are you injured?

Customer: No, but my bike...

OnStar: Sir, do you have a wrench?

Customer: No, I don't have any tools with me... I don't know what to do!

OnStar: OK, sir, I need you to stay calm and listen very closely. Is there a quick release lever on the seatpost?

Customer: (sniffles--sighs) Let me see... No, it's a binder bolt... (panicky) Help me, please!

OnStar: Sir, take a deep breath. I'm dispatching help now. I'll stay on the line until they get there.

Customer: Oh, bless you. Thank you so much.

2manybikes

It's being used in England. I don't know how wide spread it is. They go down the seat tube.

And for dogs in the USA. Placed under the skin.

webist

So, if the police find the lost bike - they take it to your vet?

cuda2k

MMACH5 -

linux_author

- radioactive isotopes...

- actually though, direction-finding is not out of the realm of possibility here... transmitters are small enough to be traced with the right equipment... but you'll need an Amateur Radio license from the FCC (no big deal - 35 question, multiple-guess test and you've got a license good for 10 years)

:-)

spinnaker

Just ask Lance if he would want to have radioactive isotopes under his seat. I think I would rather have my bike remain stolen!

chephy

Radioactive isotopes, big deal... They are in your smoke detector!

lrzipris

I'm surprised that no one has questioned the additional weight of a microchip or other such device.

2manybikes

They stopped engraving the serial numbers in the bottom of the dogs!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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DannoXYZ 

I just curl a business card and slip it all the way down the seat-tube. It's got a little note to the effect of "If this bike not brought in my me, it's stolen, call me".

spinnaker

Yes but I don't wear my smoke detector strapped to my crotch. Well not usually..................

spinnaker

That is a very good idea. But let's just hope the bad guys don't read the forum.


But I just wonder if this would work. First the mechanic would need to remove the seat tube, actually read the card and know that the person bringing in the bike is not "me" or confront the customer by asking him his name.

ajay677

Stick a business card in your handlebars, seatpost and seat tube.

MMACH 5

Be sure to laminate it, so it doesn't dissolve.

jeff williams

Here's one, drop a thinger in your seattube, make a sticker with your printer that says "Last looser who ripped my bike -lift and shake -his finger, put the bike down and f-off quick."

Laminate and tape to the toptube.