If you've got a bike, you need a lock. Whether you are just wanting to deter…
If you’re looking for a stealthy solution to hiding an Apple AirTag on your mountain bike, BikeTag is one of the more secure.
Find out how we found that out…
- Brand: BikeTag
- Product: BikeTag Trail
- From: biketag.co
- Price: £25.00
- Tested: by Amanda for 4 months
There are plenty of fitments available for hiding an AirTag on a bike. Bottle cage mounts, top caps, light mounts, even reflectors can house the 32mm tag. All these options are stealthy, but a practised bike thief will remove any mounts and accessories almost immediately.
Bike Security
In my mind there are two types of bike thieves. The opportunist, who will sell a bike worth thousands for a few hundred quid just to make a quick sale, and the well-oiled operations that make a living off stealing bikes. In the first instance, your bike stays built. In the second, it is likely to be stripped down and sold as parts, at which point your BikeTag would no longer be with the frame. From personal experience, my fork was worth more than the frame when I had my bike stolen, and a fork is much more generic therefore quite likely to be sold.
Taking a look at the BikeTag, we have a plug for the bottom of a 1.5in tapered fork that is secured in place by tightening the bolt and expanding the plug in the process. This creates a weather-sealed housing for an AirTag in your fork.
Now let me tell you how secure the BikeTag is. They are provided with a security bolt, which is a T20 with a pin in the centre, requiring a T20b bit to use it (which is provided). If you are organised, you will find a safe place for this bit. If you are me, you will immediately lose it. So that’s how I found out how secure the BikeTag is – I fitted it to my test bike, and now I need to buy a new T20b tool to remove it (sorry Vitus, that’s why you don’t have your bike back!)
Why use AirTags?
If you aren’t an iPhone user, you probably won’t use an AirTag. AirTags work by relying on iPhones users. If any iPhone comes within a ~25m range of a tag it will detect it and update the location on Apple FindMy. This range is reduced to ~15m when the tag is secured inside the head tube. The battery of an AirTag lasts around 1 year, and when it’s time to replace it you are likely to have a CR2032 battery lying around for your heart rate monitor or power meter, and if not it’s the one size you can always grab from a supermarket or petrol station. Finally, there are no subscription fees for AirTags. You buy one and it’s yours, all you need to do is not lose it – and that should be difficult to do. They cost £35.00 direct from Apple.
Overall
Now that I’ve had an AirTag on my bike, I plan to always have at least one on my bike. That may seem excessive, but so it the investment we make when buying a bike, and unfortunately bike theft still isn’t taken too seriously when reported to the police. I also think the increasing Lost Baggage warehouse at airports around the world could be reduced if we could locate our bags, so when travelling with one I’d say some form of tracking is a must. As for the BikeTag itself, I think this is possibly one of the best, stealthiest and secure mounts I’ve come across. Just don’t lose the tool bit if you want to swap it between bikes!
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