psychle: Incorporate it into a seatpost? Or into a stem?

Seatpost = take out and throw away so no more tracking.

Stem = very difficult as most steam has no space for a device the size of "USB memory" to insert.

😕

Stem = very difficult as most steam has no space for a device the size of "USB memory" to insert.

You could make it hollow though? Might not work with a 50mm job, but maybe 90-120mm stems would have enough space?

Could still be removed of course, but a little bit harder to do than a seatpost at least…

psychle: You could make it hollow though? Might not work with a 50mm job, but maybe 90-120mm stems would have enough space?

Could still be removed of course, but a little bit harder to do than a seatpost at least…

Safety issue there I am afraid as making the stem hollow (drill etc) might weaken its functionality. Stem manufacturer will never have that.

Inside the frame is the best and he also suggested the wheel … told him the wheel could be off in seconds.

Is 'lye' the right word/spelling btw??

In believe it's ye olde Englishe way of spelling it ……. 'lie' is the more common way of spelling it these days.

It was probably SFB's "welcome to the middle ages" comment, what made you want to hark back to those simpler times – when there weren't any bike thieves about 💡

i think it speaks well of cyclists in general that we haven't organised our own 'sting' operations.

– leave a nice bike locked somewhere known for bike theft, retreat to a comfy observation point, and wait with half a dozen of your grumpiest friends, and have a quiet word* with anyone attempting to take the bait.

(*super-soakers loaded with p!55 as a suggestion…)

Safety issue there I am afraid as making the stem hollow (drill etc) might weaken its functionality. Stem manufacturer will never have that.

Most of the stems I have are hollow…

I've thought about this a fair bit, and there is a way of making a nicked bike remotely identifiable, but it's not GPS, and it's not a great solution.

That idea about Gumtree forcing sellers to enter a frame number is a good one.

ok now ive slept on it and calmed down a little hopefully I can be a little less rant like today, I'm still pretty pissed off though!

Although I think all the talk of GPS etc. is nice to think about as an option and gets you thinking, it still wouldn't prevent bike theft only aid recovery by which time your bike will most likely have been sprayed some hideous colour and have been wrecked in some way.

I think with the money spent on a complicated GPS tracking device you could probably buy some titanium super lock that would take a circular saw to get off. Thinking about it my lock, being able to be cut off with bolt cutters was never going to be enough, next time even with a lesser commuter bike I will be looking for something that would take a hell of a lot of effort to get off, not just a bolt cutter snip that can be done in seconds. Even though I would love to be able to catch the theives, I think someone made a good point that cars are no longer stolen as often anymore because they are just to much effort to steal (and sell).

I am surprised however that there isn't more very very strong lightweight (ish) locks out there, I mean really what use is a d-lock or cable lock these days? Maybe something that completely locks the bikes parts from moving may be better? (but also locks it to a secure point aswel of course).

There I told you much more relaxed today! Thats not to say I still wouldn't enjoy performing an american history x style curb stomp on the little pr1ck 😈

SfB, it's nice and easy for you to say 'it's just a bike', from your high vantage point, but then, you don't much give a toss about bikes, they're just a means to an end, a devise to get you into the hills. Other people, however, take a dim view of any personal property being stolen, no matter what the value. It's the fact that it's their money, that they worked hard for, to spend on a little luxury item that has been taken by some miserable scumbag who's attitude is 'they've got something I want, I can't be arsed to work for it, so I gonna take it 'cos I's disadvantaged, innit. The gov'mint told me I was, so they owe it me'. I'd be more than happy to get mediaeval in their arses; in the Bible it says "thou shalt not steal", and "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", a sentiment I agree with.

The 'tracker' devices in cars don't have 'clearline of sight' nor need the batteries changing very often, had one in a car for a couple of years without anything needing to be done. No idea how big the car units are, but they do work well.

My dog looks after security in the house while I'm at work 😈

I am surprised however that there isn't more very very strong lightweight (ish) locks out there, I mean really what use is a d-lock or cable lock these days? Maybe something that completely locks the bikes parts from moving may be better? (but also locks it to a secure point aswel of course).

Well my New York lock was barely marked (tho' they did manage to partially crop through one of the railings it was attached to. Still looking for a replacement for the Abus Steel-o-flex though.

There is so many bike thefts going on with bike shops being broken into and so many threads on here. What can you do, you cant take matter into your own hands (be done for GBH or ABH) and if you do the scum get away with it. Had 3 bikes nicked in Bristol and twice there was cctv and people about in broad daylight but no action was taken. I don't leave my bike anywhere despite having a kyptonite evolution d-lock and a 19mm link chain which cost me £70 and that is proved to be bolt cropper proof. But still no chance.

mamadirt have a look at almax series 3 or 4 they do really good chains. 16 or 19mm links and have been tested by mahoosive bolt croopers and they bent them

Cheers Simon!

The 'tracker' devices in cars don't have 'clearline of sight' nor need the batteries changing very often, had one in a car for a couple of years without anything needing to be done. No idea how big the car units are, but they do work well.

Yes it does, it has clear line of sight to the GPS satellite (the antenna is mounted inside the car, not behind the metal bodywork). Much the same as you can put your GPS unit in your pocket and it still work, but you cant put it in a tin in your pocket, and if you put it in an open tin it'll only get 1 or 2 satellites as you've collimated its view of the world. The bodywork is a faraday cage, radio transmissions CANNOT pass through without a route out. They then use GPRS data transmission (possibly 3G these days) over the normal mobile phone network to transmit the GPS data back to the tracking server. (give me £5 and a little time and I'll build you a pocket sized portable device that totally mashes the tracking signal and renders it useless) – basically if you tell me it's there I'll block it, if you don't it's not a deterrent (but at least you might catch the sods)

Also no, the tracker doesn't require a battery change because most of the time it's being charged by a 100kW generator under the bonnet and it's about the size of a box of eggs, so it's got plenty of room for a high capacity battery pack 🙂

There's no way you'd get a GPS tracker and GPS transmission unit into a bike, the power requirements and antenna requirements are impossible. OK not impossible but highly flawed. It's possible to get a GPS receiver into a bike, and possibly either a radio low-range radio transmitter or stretch to a GPRS transmitter, but again it'd require a reasonable battery pack – technically I can see that as small as a pack of chewing gum, but I'm not convinced it wouold work effectively unless it could be placed in such a location as to allow the GPS signal good reception and the GPRS antenna good reception and transmission. That would require it to be on a surface of the bike. Stem top-cap maybe. Integrated into the saddle. Not buried in the tubing. This means they're identifiable and very very easily removable. If not removable, they'd be easily blocked – tinfoil over the antenna and the whole system isn't worth the paper these words are printed on.

Forcing frame numbers on adverts is not infalible either, I put the wrong frame number on – only the guy going to buy will know if it's different when he gets there. But it's a start.

Many bikes are datatag'd, but it'd only help when picked up, it's not a deterrent.