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LoJack for bikes

29 pointsby speekover 12 years ago

14 comments

ChuckMcMover 12 years ago
Sigh, the idea has merit, this seems like its just a landing page to collect a mailing list of people who might buy one if you happen to make it.<p>Here is an "easy" answer, make a reflector with a simple RFID tag embedded in it. Make them look like all the reflectors you normally have on your bike. Create a repository for registering reflectors and give a free reader to every bike shop that wants to combat bike theft.<p>Will determined thieves swap all the reflectors? Sure. Does it raise the 'cost' of stealing a bike? Yes.<p>Alternative idea, put the tag in the bike seat. You can re-use pet tags, you can then re-use pet tag injectors and pet tag readers.
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northisupover 12 years ago
Can we stop posting landing pages that are simply fishing for interest in a non-existant product?
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sampsover 12 years ago
Bike theft is a huge problem precisely because there's no good way to track stolen gear. I'll buy one of these in an instant if it works well.
damianpeckettover 12 years ago
Now how are you going to power the transmitter, that is my question, sure you could add a little dynamo but it's not quite so elegant then.
rheideover 12 years ago
Very interesting. I've been thinking about buying a topcap tracker from spybike-gps.com after my previous bike was stolen, but haven't committed yet as it's damn pricy. If you need any help testing or developing for it let me know. I'd be glad to give you a hand.
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savrajsinghover 12 years ago
It's a great idea and it's one that I've had too. The hardest problem you have is pricing -- making it all inexpensive enough for it to be worth it for you and your target market. Is this a subscription / is this a one-time purchase / is this pay-per-use?<p>Price too high, and only high-end bikes will have it. And high-end bikes have smart thieves / are already stored safely, etc.<p>Otherwise, I can see how this would work. GPS, batteries, low-power design, goes inside your frame and is visually undetectable, M2M deal with jasper wireless (or sprint or whatever), etc. It'll take a while to make it reliable and have a great user experience, but its totally possible.<p>Good luck and make it happen!
georgemcbayover 12 years ago
"It's like LoJack for your bike, but better."<p>IANAL (and as far as I can see this isn't a real product), but..<p>While this phrase gets the message across very nicely, it is likely legally problematic.<p>Not only is it coat-tailing a trademark, but it is making a claim of superiority which is not a wise thing to do unless you have some strong objective proof.
handsomeransomsover 12 years ago
Minor design quibble. The "we'll keep you posted" banner that appeared after I submitted my e-mail does not fit in with the (otherwise very elegant) design of the rest of the page. #FFFFFF on #FF0000 out of nowhere is jarring.
slajaxover 12 years ago
As someone who rides dual suspension bikes religiously on the north shore of vancouver bc, and has had expensive bikes stolen in the past, I would absolutely buy this for all of my bikes. Especially since it helps you to track the thief down. Nothing sucks more then bike thieves.<p>Don't steal bikes bro.
dyejeover 12 years ago
What happens when everyone is checking for them? Security by obscurity doesn't really scale.
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acallahanover 12 years ago
For the interested, there was a pretty good article earlier this year by priceonomics about bike theft:<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4444708" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4444708</a>
speekover 12 years ago
designed by HN's own kyro (<a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=kyro" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=kyro</a>)
wittjeffover 12 years ago
Default bookmark is default.
hnrussover 12 years ago
where's the kickstarter?