Bikebac Tracker

Remember when you could leave your bike without locking it up? I can't either, but I can remember when you could leave it locked to something solid, maybe even with a crappy lock, and have some confidence that it wouldn't get jacked. Even those days have passed us by and the rapidly escalating cost of bikes has made them even more desirable to thieves. Devices like Snik,* track your bike with GPS to give you precise location data and many eMTBs now come with GPS built in. The problem with both of these solutions is that they are subscription-based services. I don't know about you but I feel like I'm drowning in subscription fees and it drives me mad when services that used to come free with a device, now demand a fee that recurs until you die.

*while Snik is a GPS device, it defers to Find My functiionality if the battery is low or GPS reception is compromised

BMW found out the hard way that others share my ire. They installed heated seats in their vehicles but they would only operate if an $18/month fee was paid. The backlash was quick and effective and they removed the fee, at least in North America. When I heard about a simple tracker that required no monthly payment, I was interested. It's not fancy - it operates just like an Apple AirTag, so there are some limitations there - but it's well concealed and not likely to be removed or disabled quickly or easily.

Stolen bikes were on my mind recently, while I was in Whistler at Crankworx. So much so that I had flashbacks about the first bike that was stolen from me. It's almost impossible to travel alone with bikes on a vehicle and attend to them at every moment; the occasional gamble with fate is inevitable. For the first time recently, I felt a little better about leaving my bikes unattended, or in our low security Whistler condo rental. This was all thanks to Bikebac, a tracker that operates using Apple's Find My network, just like an Airtag.

The device is shaped like a wide skateboard deck and it fits nicely underneath a water bottle cage, with appropriate holes for mounting (60-70mm hole distance). When a few units arrived, I bolted one in place. The installation was a little tricky because I mounted it on a Norco Sight VLT and the cage mounts are very shallow because of the battery below. Finding bolts of the perfect length proved tricky and the one I got didn't grab by much. Eventually I got everything together but it was a PITA. When the battery died shortly afterward, I felt defeated. I had other fish to fry and I left the unit in place for quite awhile without juice. When I got to it, I discovered that I'd tightened the bolts enough to damage the case and each attachment point was cracked. It was still functional but no longer watertight. I'm not sure whether to call this user error or not since I'm not normally that ham-fisted with fasteners but I didn't use a torque wrench - and TBF, no torque specs are provided afaik. In retrospect this was likely related to thin thread depth on the Norco.

Starting from scratch with a fresh unit and a battery that read full, I performed the install again, being more judicious with my torque. I've had it off several times since then and the battery still has lots of juice and the case is undamaged.

How Does Bikebac Work?

Since Bikebac uses Apple's tech,* it works just like an Airtag. That means it doesn't have GPS. Instead, it communicates with other devices using bluetooth. Apple calls the range of an Airtag around 400 feet, which is certainly better than any Bluetooth device I've ever used, but the tag's distance from you isn't the important part in most cases. Apple hijacks any iPhone that's nearby to relay a signal to you using a network connection. Think of it like a mesh of Apple devices keeping tabs on anything you've lost and Airtagged.

*Bikebac is an Apple-certified MFi (Made For iPhone) device

That's the good news. The bad news is that if your bike's thief happens to have an iPhone, they will eventually be made aware that an Airtag is travelling with them.* In fact, they even have the option of making it chime. If you have an Airtag hidden on your bike, a thief with an iPhone (or an Android app that is compatible) will be able to locate it. They may not however, have the means to remove or dispose of it. In the case of Bikebac, security is provided by concealing the unit below your bottle cage and then securing the cage with Torx security fittings. I was out of town with my bike recently and I was hoping to start this article and get some photos but I'd forgotten the tool and the nearest possible location to procure one was at least 45 minutes away so it remained installed. Of course they could use a hammer and other crude tools but this will inevitably buy you some time. It's not a perfect solution, but having any peace of mind about your bike's location when it's in an insecure spot, feels like a big upgrade.

*This technology is designed to prevent stalkers from using the devices to follow their targets. Anyone who is travelling for a certain length of time will be eventually be notified if an AirTag is travelling with them, as long as they have an Apple phone. (I'm not clear about notifications with an Android phone because apparently, unlike an AirTag, this device can't be used with an app on an Android phone).

If your Bikebac-equipped bike is no longer nearby, either because you moved or it moved, you can choose to receive a notification. This can be annoying at first, because you'll get a message every time you leave home without that bike, but this has stopped bothering me and I'll take the trade regardless.

And then I Lost my Bike

If you've ever had the experience of stashing your bike in the forest, or simply walking away from it to search for a trail, only to return and discover that everything looks different and your bike is nowhere to be seen, I'm in good company. I've done this a couple of times and had to search for 5 or 10 minutes, but this recent mishap was pushing 15.

I was in Scotch Creek, where fires took out 176 structures (including the local fire hall), thousands of acres of forest, and the only decent trail I know of within a 45 minute drive. The fire actually left the trail in good shape and I hiked it in the snow in December. When I returned in May, the trail was gone. The land had been logged for the value of the burnt wood, which needs to be harvested within two years of being torched to be marketable. This was an aggressive clear cut with heavy equipment and what was once a remarkably beautiful hillside now looks like a scarred wasteland. But I digress.

I won't likely be able to ride the trail ever again but there were deeper areas I'd never explored that were now accessible thanks to the burn and roads built for the subsequent harvest. I found a way in and got pedalling. Once I reached a point where I could no longer climb, I ditched my bike behind a bush and hiked up for another half an hour.

When I returned, I easily found the general area where I'd left my bike, but everything looked different from above. I couldn't narrow down the elevation where I'd left the bike nor the end of the correct spur. I knew it couldn't be far but I kept striking out. I didn't think it could have been stolen but I also realized it was a possibilty. I kept trudging around in vain before remembering the Bikebac. I don't recall if I had any cell service but I was close enough to the bike that I got a Bluetooth signal. I didn't do a very good job navigating and/or the signal didn't seem to be showing the location consistently, but I seemed to be closing in. I thought to play the chime but couldn't hear anything (it's not loud). Eventually I seemed to be getting a consistent location and I wandered around for a few more minutes before finally noticing the bike.

This was a worst case scenario for the Bikebac; my phone and my watch were the only Apple devices within at least two kilometres, far beyond blue tooth range, and my network connection, which the Find My app requires, was spotty at best. Despite this, the Bikebac device assured me my bike was in the area and, in the end, helped me find it.

Why Not Use an Airtag instead?

You've likely thought of another way to achieve the same result Bikebac provides; purchase an after-market bottle cage or some other case to store an Airtag you already own on your bike. These can be had for between 60 CAD at a local shop and about 10 CAD on Amazon. The second option even includes the same security Torx fittings and tool as Bikebac, but the Bikebac includes two sets of bolts, one set longer than the other. Besides those related to bottle mounts, there are head tube-mounted solutions and likely several hundred other options. The most interesting one I stumbled upon is made by Muc Off and it stores your Airtag inside your tubeless tire. I located them for various prices but this 44mm version from Muc Off U.S.A. will cost you 45 USD. I doubt most bike thieves are adept at removing tubeless tires. Run DH casings for higher security.

An Airtag will cost you 39 CAD or 29 USD so you'll have to add that on to any of the solutions above. Bikebac costs 45 CAD or 35 USD with two sets of security Torx bolts and a tool included. This makes Bikebac a decent value and a no hassle solution with only one product to track down.

And Now?

After appreciating having one bike secured, I now add Bikebac to whatever test bike is in my possession. That peace of mind is certainly worth 45 CAD to me. If I'm out of town I can even check the Find My app to see which bike my son has borrowed so he can't play dumb the next time I return to scratched stanchions.

Bikebac was devised by three Whistler residents and you can pick one up on the WWW.

Dimensions

81mm x 45mm x 9mm
60-70mm Hole Distance

Bikebac