£129 to be sure your bike was never stolen?

[Bristol Sotonian]

Hi, I'm in my 5th year of a part-time Open University course and am completing my project on bike security. I wonder if you guys might help me out by responding to the below please?

I've developed a (hypothetical!) built-in product, the idea of which is that if your bike is stolen you know immediately and can track its movements using a phone or PC so you/the police could recover it. A bit like you can do with iPhones and iPads. The product would be an invisible part of the bike and would add 30grams of weight.

My question is, if this product existed and really did give you the peace of mind of an extremely high chance of getting your bike straight back, would you consider buying it if it cost £129?

I'd appreciate any responses to help my user research for the course and remember, although there may be similar-ish products out there, this one isn't real! Thanks, Chris.

 

[Profpointy]

Fitted with a remote control spring loaded spike that fires up the seat tube, and you'r onto a winner

 

[PeteXXX]

You need to balance the cost of the product against the chance of it being stolen and the cost of insuring it, ie approx £70 a year for a £1000 bike

 

[Paul99]

If it worked like the trackers fitted to cars it would reduce the cost of insurance premiums, so for a reasonably expensive bike it would pay for itself within a couple of years. I would consider it if I bought bikes of 2k or over.

 

[bianchi1]

If it was shown to work and was backed up by some sort of guarantee 120 odd quid would be fine. However if all I recover is a 'tagged' frame and my £1000 quid wheel set and campag super record groupset is already on e bay what's the benefit?

(Edit...I don't really own such stuff)

 

[ufkacbln]

For your reading / literature search have a look at Portsmouth University's WASP system

Based on CCTV and texts it cut bike theft dramatically

 

[Hill Wimp]

Love the idea of a tracking device in my bike but that price needs lowering for the average bike. Cost weighed against cost of bike and insurance premiums which I'm sure would be lowered, need to be considered. I would have thought it could have been done for cheaper.

I also would have thought that bikes that have expensive wheels etc that wouldn't be covered by the tracker wouldn't be left anywhere they were likely to get stolen.

 

[shortone]

Yes if cheap enough and hassle and maintenence free.
A cheap mobile phone can be had for less than £50. The tech in said phone can enable you to use a tracking app from another phone to locate it. So why expensive?
I guessing your tracking unit would require a power source?
How would you know the battery needed changing?
If it was visible to you it would be visible to the thief.

It would be a good idea if it was free with a bike insurance policy.

Just a few thoughts that jumped into my head at 06:00 in the morning.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Yes if cheap enough and hassle and maintenence free.
A cheap mobile phone can be had for less than £50. The tech in said phone can enable you to use a tracking app from another phone to locate it. So why expensive?
I guessing your tracking unit would require a power source?
How would you know the battery needed changing?
If it was visible to you it would be visible to the thief.

It would be a good idea if it was free with a bike insurance policy.

Just a few thoughts that jumped into my head at 06:00 in the morning.

Solar powered power source maybe ?

 

[shortone]

yep but it would have to be discreete.

 

[dellzeqq]

the product does exist, and is in use by police forces.

 

[TissoT]

There is a product out there its fitted to the bike ... its a bike part do nt want to say to much !
cost £100 ....I had a full carbon road bike taken out of my house last year . so I had a search on line and found a tracker bike part !

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

if this product existed and really did give you the peace of mind of an extremely high chance of getting your bike straight back, would you consider buying it if it cost £129?.

No I would not pay £129 for an unproven product when proven products are available at a lower cost and a lower weight.

The product exists in many forms and you can purchase them from : http://www.integratedtrackers.com/GPSTrack/
I have a modified version of a tracker in all my bikes which is powered by the same battery which powers my Di2 electronic shifting.

 

[steve52]

i wand a device that severs the legs of cycle thieves, and no its not over the top,and im not bitter just vengefull

 

[Licramite]

trouble is my wife would want it on me , she's forever loosing me in town, she says I should have one of those flags you see on kids bikes , so she can find me in a crowd.
In principle its a good idea, the question is having found the scrout who stole your bike would you call the police or just round with a baseball bat ?