The finest bike GPS trackers enhance your possibilities of being reunited with a stolen bike, by broadcasting its location again to you as soon as you’ve got flagged it as misplaced.
There are two primary methods during which GPS trackers operate. Passive trackers work by way of a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone to say the place they’re. This data is then transmitted to you by way of the cellphone’s wi-fi connection. It can work with your personal cellphone, however Apple, Google and machine makers will let you obtain alerts from different cellphone customers if their cellphone comes into vary of your misplaced bike.
The different choice is a tool with its personal mobile community connection, which may then sign its location independently. These are costlier each to purchase and function, normally requiring a month-to-month subscription to a wi-fi community.
Avoiding theft is certainly extra essential than making an attempt to handle it as soon as it is occurred, so investing in the very best bike lock or the very best light-weight bike lock is a smart first step.
It’s additionally essential to contemplate bike safety at residence and a few bike storage concepts may help right here. Look additional down the web page for safe bike storage options for residence use and a dialogue of the very best bike insurance coverage choices.
Best GPS bike trackers
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We test our purchaser’s guides commonly to ensure that the content material is updated. This information was final reviewed in April 2024, when all of the merchandise famous beneath have been nonetheless obtainable.
Best passive units
Passive trackers depend on the proximity of a smartphone with the required software program to establish the tracker tag and transmit a location. Apple Find My is the best-known instance, however different manufacturers make tracker tags that work in an analogous method.
Best for iPhone customers
The AirTag makes use of Apple’s Find My community to trace down your misplaced bike. Flag it as misplaced and the tracker’s Bluetooth sign is picked up (anonymously) by iPhone, iPad or Mac units, which share the AirTag’s location with iCloud, which you’ll then entry to search out the place it’s.
It’s reliant on pretty shut proximity to an Apple machine, which can restrict its effectiveness. There’s additionally an accelerometer in-built, so you may set it as much as inform in case your bike will get moved. It’s a cheap and easy answer and battery life is round a 12 months.
Not OS particular
Best OS-agnostic choice
The Sticker is the smallest Tile tracker and is adhesive, which suggests it is simple to suit. It removes cleanly as nicely, which is sweet information in the event you’re valuable about your paintwork.
It comes with a three-year battery life, and equally to the AirTag, the ability of group to find your bike. Tile is open to all telephones and different units with both Apple iOS or Android and with Bluetooth lively and the Tile app put in.
It would not have a replaceable battery, which suggests you will want to interchange it just a few years down the road.
iOS or Android
Best for selection of connectivity
Chipolo markets three completely different machine sorts, which once more use Bluetooth connectivity to a cellphone to broadcast their location.
As with Tile trackers, Chipolo has its personal app, though this limits you to monitoring by different app customers; although Chipolo claims 5 million customers worldwide.
Chipolo additionally sells a tracker that connects to Apple Find My and a second format for Android customers which works with Google’s equal Find My Device protocol, each of which enhance your probability of discovering your lacking bike, with tons of of tens of millions of customers every.
Find My built in
4iiii Precision 3+ Power Meter
Best built-in answer
The 4iiii Precision 3+ and Precision 3+ Pro energy meters incorporate Apple Find My, the previous in a single sided meter that weighs 9g and the latter in a twin sided meter with a 20g weight. Power accuracy is claimed at +/-1 p.c.
Both promise wonderful battery life, which 4iiii says is greater than 500 hours and are powered by coin cells. The Apple Find My tech hasn’t modified the worth or spec, so it is a great way to include passive monitoring tech in your bike.
Best network-enabled units
While the above units depend on proximity to a cellphone with the required software program activated to find your bike, these beneath have their very own connectivity to a wi-fi community, normally utilizing a community of issues protocol corresponding to Sigfox.
That implies that they do not want a cellphone close by to broadcast their place, though they do have to be inside the vary of the wi-fi community used.
Motion sensor
Best for hiding in plain sight
The Invoxia Bike Tracker is housed inside a reflector. While a rear mild is likely to be stolen, a reflector is prone to keep put and the considering is that thieves will not realise it is really a GPS tracker in disguise.
It’s fitted with a movement sensor and you should use its accompanying app to arrange geofencing. It will ship alerts on to your cellphone if the tracker senses suspicious actions or is moved outdoors that boundary.
It makes use of low-power Sigfox connectivity, which suggests round three months of battery life, however this additionally implies that community protection could also be restricted in some areas.
Fits in bar end
Sherlock Bike GPS Tracker
Best for invisible monitoring
The Sherlock Bike GPS tracker slots inside your handlebar, making it virtually invisible to thieves. The machine weighs roughly 40g, so it would not add an enormous quantity of weight, and it is versatile sufficient to work with most handlebar setups. There’s a twin bar finish included, so you are not mismatched.
The GPS tracker has an embedded SIM and the primary two years of connectivity are included within the buy worth. Afterwards, it is simply £2.50 a month.
The built-in movement sensor offers an alert in case your bike is moved, and you’ll observe your bike’s location by way of Google Maps.
Tail light tracker
Best multipurpose tracker
A tracker hidden in a motorbike body might have restricted sign power and charging is likely to be an issue.
Often bikes spend months within the arms of a thief and even equipment like lights by no means get touched. It could also be that nobody bothers to take away a light-weight.
The TK Star tracker sits inside a tail mild, doubling its usefulness. It has a battery lifetime of round 25 days, and comes with an accompanying app with motion alerts and geofencing.
Multi-network
Best for simple bike integration
Despite its identify, the Japanese Alterlock bike tracker is definitely a motorbike alarm with a GPS tracker in-built. It sits beneath your bottle cage and you should purchase safety bolts to ensure it could’t be eliminated. It’s set or unset with the accompanying app and claimed battery life is as much as 1.5 months.
Movement will set off an alarm and an alert will probably be despatched to your cellphone. Over shorter distances, it really works over Bluetooth but additionally makes use of the Sigfox protocol over GSM to put up its place.
How to keep away from theft within the first place?
You most likely got here to this information on the lookout for a GPS tracker in order that when your bike will get stolen you may observe it. However, as a rule, bikes are stolen from houses fairly than the road. This is very true of a few of the most costly bikes that by no means discover themselves locked on a road, so here is one other answer to the identical downside.
Garages, or sheds, are simple targets for a motorbike thief and they’re locations the place homeowners usually have relaxed safety. When you get your bike residence, even when it has GPS monitoring, take into account locking it to an anchor embedded in your ground or wall and utilizing a sensible lock with an built-in alarm. Sleep soundly realizing that you simply will not come out within the morning to a damaged storage door and a lacking bike.
You can learn our put up on the right way to forestall bike theft and browse our greatest bike locks put up for extra bike safety choices.
Home set-up
Hiplok ANKR paired with ABUS 770 SmartX U-Lock
Best excessive safety combo
To preserve your bike safe at residence, all of the elements of a locking answer have to be extremely rated, with no weak hyperlinks.
Pair the Hiplok ANKR ground/wall anchor with the ABUS 770X alarmed sensible lock for a Diamond-rated at-home answer that is safe, ought to deter thieves and can warn you to any tampering.
Wall anchor
Best wall-mounted choice
Another choice from Hiplok, the Airlok mounts to a wall with safe bolts, then a hardened pin locks your bike in place. The metal body is roofed with a rubberised mount so it would not scratch your body. It’s Sold Secure Diamond rated, for a one-piece answer that is a bit extra fashionable than a floor anchor and U-lock.
How to decide on
As with all issues tech, there are a number of various concerns when selecting the very best GPS bike tracker to your wants. We’ll run by way of the important thing choices you will must make.
How do I select a GPS tracker?
When selecting the very best GPS bike tracker, it’s essential to take into consideration mounting choices, connectivity, waterproofing and value. When it involves mounting the tracker, take into account the kind of bike you could have and the place you might simply match it that is discreet.
Waterproofing is essential in case your bike is being left outdoors in all climate, particularly after it has been stolen. The degree of waterproofing is indicated by an IP ranking, and a superb GPS tracker ought to have a minimum of an IP65 ranking, which suggests it’ll stand as much as a number of rain.
IP ranking refers back to the Ingress Protection ranking and refers to how nicely a tool resists liquids and solids. The first digit within the ranking refers to how nicely a tool prevents solids from coming into and the second refers to liquids; typically the upper the quantity the higher.
What does ‘connectivity’ imply in relation to GPS monitoring?
This is a query of how GPS monitoring really works. Put merely, GPS (international positioning system) determines the placement of one thing or somebody, storing the placement inside the tracker itself, and transmitting it by way of web connection by way of WiFi, radio or mobile frequencies. By utilizing the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), a GPS tracker can use satellite tv for pc information to supply real-time location information.
Some trackers require a SIM card, which may ship information on to your cell phone over a community connection. It usually comes with a month-to-month subscription price, whereas others do not.
Some GPS trackers use Bluetooth as an alternative of satellite tv for pc data to connect with your cellphone and ship location information. These will include a cheaper price tag as they use a lot much less superior expertise, however will solely work in case your bike is inside a delegated vary (normally as much as round 50ft), whereas mobile trackers can have a spread of round 45 miles.
Tech corresponding to Apple Find My extends this location by way of cellphone to any cellphone with the required app, in order that your search vary is broadened, though you are still depending on an lively cellphone in proximity to the tracker and with the community connectivity to ship this data again to your personal cellphone.
Are bike GPS trackers value it?
We’d say sure, they’re. Sure, prevention is best than treatment, which is why we would undoubtedly suggest investing in some good bike insurance coverage and first rate locks, however even with the very best prevention, bikes can nonetheless be stolen. A GPS tracker may be the last-ditch try and get your bike again. If the price of utilizing one is far lower than the price of changing your bike, we would suggest it.
Where do you set a GPS tracker on a motorbike?
The key to good GPS tracker placement is for it to be discreet sufficient that somebody who efficiently steals your bike won’t realise it is there (and due to this fact will not intrude along with your monitoring).
Depending on which tracker you go for, they are often fitted to the stem, seat put up, or body. Some trackers are designed to go someplace particular, and even conceal in plain sight, just like the TKStar tracker, which is housed in a rear bike mild.
Can thieves disable GPS trackers?
Yes, it is very attainable for bike thieves to disable GPS trackers, which is why it is essential to decide on someplace discreet to suit one. If this can be a main concern, you could need to go for a tracker that resembles a light-weight (e.g. TKStar), or one which takes a bit extra work to dismantle and blends into the body (e.g. Alterlock).
How to be ready in case of theft
What insurance coverage particulars ought to I test?
Most individuals depend on their residence insurance coverage to cowl their bikes. Compared to devoted insurance coverage for a motorbike, it is usually cheap and also you most likely have already got it. There are just a few particulars to contemplate although. This sort of insurance coverage coverage just isn’t designed for costly bikes. In truth, until you ask the proper questions of the insurance coverage firm you would possibly get incorrect data.
Homeowners’ insurance coverage commonly has most protection for private property. This author occurs to have $109,900. Bikes fall beneath that protection and it usually applies even when your bike is not at residence. Call your insurance coverage firm and ask them about it and they’re going to verify this.
If you ask for extra particulars, what you will see is that the majority protection has a max per merchandise lined. In some instances, electronics, jewelry, and sports activities gear will even have their very own particular per-item limits. A pleasant bike, or for that matter a pleasant laptop computer, will shortly blow by way of that most protection. Most of the time all you need to do is clarify how a lot your bike prices new then be sure the max per merchandise protection is sufficient. Don’t cease there although.
You additionally need to ask for the main points in regards to the willpower of motorcycle values and what proof you want. The final thing you need to do is get right into a haggling conflict along with your insurance coverage firm about your bike’s worth. Make positive the protection is for substitute price, not depreciated price, and what proof they want of that. You will need to have no matter proof of possession and value prepared earlier than a motorbike will get stolen.
What data of possession do I want?
Ask any police officer what data they want a few stolen bike and they’re going to inform you the serial quantity. Without the serial quantity, even when by some miracle your bike will get recovered it won’t ever make it again to you. Don’t be sluggish about it both; as soon as the bike is gone it is most likely inconceivable to search out the serial quantity. There’s an opportunity the store you acquire it from has a document, however there are not any ensures. It’s your bike, it is your accountability.
You by no means know who a motorbike thief is however there is a good probability they’re criminals in different methods too. Your native legislation enforcement might, or might not, spend assets on investigating bike theft, however even when not attributable to bike theft, criminals have a manner of discovering themselves within the arms of legislation enforcement. They would possibly are available for another cost and in the event you’ve obtained your serial quantity on document as stolen it’ll flip up with a fast search. Just having the serial quantity, and together with it on the police report, makes it more likely you’re going to get it again.
It’s additionally value registering your bike with an organisation like Bike Register within the UK, Bike Index within the US or the National Bike Register in Australia and getting it marked with a register quantity that can be utilized to cross-reference it to you whether it is recovered.
What assist can I anticipate with a stolen bike and what ought to I do?
This one goes each methods. For lots of people, the second a motorbike is lacking there’s an expectation it is gone for good. On the opposite hand, there are different individuals who anticipate legislation enforcement to look day and evening to get their bikes again. Another widespread false impression is that bikes are immediately damaged down into elements and resold piece by piece. Or that bike theft is both extremely skilled or utterly random.
What we have seen time and again is a whole combine. Sometimes legislation enforcement can have a complete division and tons of assets dedicated to bike theft. Other instances you’ll be utterly by yourself. Sometimes bike theft is extremely organised and environment friendly. Numerous the time it is utterly random and bikes flip up months later in virtually the precise situation they have been final seen. Even equipment like lights and baggage will typically be there.
Instead of expectations, do what you may and transfer on. Move shortly to mobilise any organisation in your space to assist. Pictures and serial numbers will assist. At the identical time know that it is likely to be gone and you have to take steps to maneuver on.
