Apple Airtag as a Bike Tracker

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

Maddie
Posts: 1532
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:44 am

by Maddie

BigBoyND wrote:Does Samsung SmartTag work the same way as the Airtag? I.e. would any Galaxy phone let me know where the tag is in the case of a stolen bike?
Yes, it's very similar. But it's Samsung only unfortunately, not Android. There's less Galaxy phones than iPhones, so chances are a bit less that you get a location.

Aerohead23
Posts: 354
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2021 10:35 am

by Aerohead23

yinzerniner wrote:
Wed Dec 15, 2021 9:56 pm
Aerohead23 wrote:
Wed Dec 15, 2021 7:37 pm
I have AirTags and if there's any chance it would improve my chance of getting the bike back should it get swiped at the coffee stop im all for giving it a chance
The only problem with this is the supposed new feature makes it harder to recover and in some cases might make it easier for a thief to identify items of value.

Now that someone can basically scan for airtags in the area they can also look around for expensive items which could house the Airtags, and if they steal the item they can find the Airtag and remove it.

Also it makes it harder for people to find their items if lost since anyone at any time can do a scan for items in the area, and once the bad actor sees something that looks lost they can remove the airtag.

Really dumb update IMO that could be easily solved through some sort of time or distance settings in the recovery module.
The nfc scan only works when you are littlerally hovering your phone over the device.

The noise the airtag makes to let you know its there also only happens if you put it in lost mode, so track it before you put it in lost mode. then youve a chance to find it before they know its there. Again i think anything thats giving half a chance of recovery is worth a go

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



kervelo
Posts: 866
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:58 am
Location: Finland

by kervelo

I think one option to attach an AirTag to the bike would be a simple sticker case, for example https://www.spigen.com/products/apple-a ... licone-fit, and stick it to the underside of the Garmin/Wahoo mount. Most people will not notice anything.

darrydonds
Posts: 192
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 1:04 am

by darrydonds

kervelo wrote:
Thu Dec 16, 2021 10:25 am
I think one option to attach an AirTag to the bike would be a simple sticker case, for example https://www.spigen.com/products/apple-a ... licone-fit, and stick it to the underside of the Garmin/Wahoo mount. Most people will not notice anything.
Cool! It would fit nicely under my stock TCR computer mount. I think it's a better place than the saddle to hide the device.

darrydonds
Posts: 192
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 1:04 am

by darrydonds

Aerohead23 wrote:
Thu Dec 16, 2021 9:22 am
The nfc scan only works when you are littlerally hovering your phone over the device.
I think NFC is used when your phone reads the info, such as info about the owner, stored in the AirTag. Scans for nearby AirTags uses bluetooth.

jpeterson1012
Posts: 258
Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2019 10:06 pm
Location: Chicago

by jpeterson1012

ryanw wrote:
Tue Dec 14, 2021 8:20 pm
I literally told him (and the team) about 3 days before he was burgled to put an AirTag in his Spesh.

Goes without saying I'm now owed a fair few beers!
How do we know you didn't instigate this entire fiasco :twisted:

ullmanz
Posts: 252
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:47 pm

by ullmanz

I put mine into the frameset. So it's harder to remove, as people would have to remove the bottom bracket first. So they'd really need to know how to work on bikes. And do it fast enough, that I won't catch them first
Specialized SL7 - 7.1kg including Garmin mount, bottle cages and pedals

User avatar
ArtifactsInMotion
Posts: 149
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:34 pm
Location: Monmouth County, NJ
Contact:

by ArtifactsInMotion

Top cap or bar end plugs? :lol:
Jokes aside, those sticker cases are probably one of the best options for storing within the frame. Top cap might even work with a 2-piece design
'22 Orbea Orca Aero 57cm, DA92, Bontrager RSL62, GP5KSTR 28mm, Roval Rapide Cockpit, SLR Superflow Carbonio, 7.8kg

Butcher
Shop Owner
Posts: 1925
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:58 am

by Butcher

ullmanz wrote:
Fri Dec 17, 2021 1:28 pm
I put mine into the frameset.
That sounds like a great idea. Where do you live and what do your ride? :mrgreen:

User avatar
Ritsuke
Posts: 551
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:25 am
Location: Abroad

by Ritsuke

ryanw wrote:
Tue Dec 14, 2021 8:20 pm
That chap is my friend / team mate.

I literally told him (and the team) about 3 days before he was burgled to put an AirTag in his Spesh.

Goes without saying I'm now owed a fair few beers!

I have one in my SL7 and one in my Open. They're not perfect but obviously work.
How did you mount in your SL7? I'd like to do this as well.
Road // 2023 S-Works Tarmac SL8 | Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 | Roval Rapide CLX
Gravel // 2023 Specialized Crux Pro | SRAM Force AXS | Roval Terra CL
Retired // 2022 S-Works Shiv TT // 2021 S-Works Tarmac SL7 // 2019 Specialized Allez Sprint Red Hook

Eterna7m
Posts: 378
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:25 pm

by Eterna7m

Dunno about the us and other Countries but apparently at least in Germany AirTags are borderline useless due to privacy related restrictions.
They have been used for stalking and other crimes, so now they alert immediately, not only after reporting them as missing...

Too bad..

User avatar
Stendhal
Posts: 894
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2016 1:43 am
Location: Silicon Valley

by Stendhal

Bought an Air Tag pack today (from the Apple company store in Cupertino, go figure) for various uses. An employee asserted that the system uses other persons' phones to transmit a signal to you if they are near your Air Tag (i.e. bike), but that they do not know it.

Found the following on Amazon: a case that fits underneath a bottle cage. Might work.

https://www.amazon.com/Bracket-Attachme ... 3836&psc=1

Here's a clever idea: hide it under the top cap

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1059826446 ... 4kEALw_wcB
Cannondale Supersixevo 4 (7.05 kg)
Retired: Chapter2, Tarmac SWorks SL6, Orbea, Dogma F8\F10, LOW, Wilier, Ridley Noah, Cervelo R3\R5\S2\Aspero, Time Fluidity, Lapierre Pulsium, Cyfac, Felt, Klein, Cannondale pre-CAAD aluminum

Butcher
Shop Owner
Posts: 1925
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:58 am

by Butcher

That is what would make sense to me. Something tells me that Santa will be leaving some under the tree tomorrow.

Interesting ideas on holders. Thanks for posting the links.

AJS914
Posts: 5397
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

You guys should install two AirTags on your bikes. One in a findable location and another in a hard to find location. If the theif looks and finds the first one, he may ignore the second message as an anomoly.

yinzerniner
Posts: 206
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:54 pm

by yinzerniner

AJS914 wrote:
Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:05 pm
You guys should install two AirTags on your bikes. One in a findable location and another in a hard to find location. If the theif looks and finds the first one, he may ignore the second message as an anomoly.
This actually makes a lot more sense - glad can use the wisdom of Minority Report to some good use!

Considering they're very cheap and small they should still work for theft recovery purposes - for stalking and other nefarious reasons they still have a long way to bridge the privacy gap. Think maybe an automatic 30 min alarm for both the Airtag owner and any iOS/Android user who is not the owner but has been in proximity of the Airtagn during that entire time should grant both some retrieval and privacy gains. Or maybe it's just an unsolvable conundrum.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply