BTrack Safe Light can track your bike if stolen

Ben Coxworth, Gizmag

There are all sorts of high-tech locks designed to make your bike harder to steal, but what happens if it gets taken anyway? If it’s equipped with a BTrack Safe Light, you’ll know when it’s been nabbed and you’ll then be able to track its location via GPS. And because it’s a tail light, it will also make you more visible to motorists.

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The Btrack is easy to install and looks like an ordinary light.

The BTrack can reportedly be installed on the seat post within a few minutes. One USB charge of its battery should be good for about a month, depending on usage.

Along with its LEDs and GPS unit, the device also has an integrated accelerometer. Once you’ve parked your bike and locked it up, that sensor can be armed using an accompanying Android or iOS app. Then, should someone start messing around with your bike, the vibrations will be detected, and you’ll be alerted by a text message on your phone. In order not to be alerted every time the bike just gets nudged a little, it’s also possible to adjust the sensitivity of the alarm.

Once the bike has been stolen (and assuming that the thief hasn’t read this article, and taken the BTrack off), the app can then be used to pinpoint its current location on a city map. Because the device uses a SIM card to transmit its coordinates, users will be charged for data use.

The BTrack is made by Italy’s Sartori Bikes, which also manufactures a more advanced “Black Box” system for use on e-bikes. The Safe Light is available now via the company website, for €130 (about US$145). Similar functionality is offered by the $153 SpyBike and $129 BikeSpike units, which are more difficult for thieves to remove, although neither one doubles as a tail light.