The Norwegian startup Tail It have launched a GPS bike tracker that fits in your handlebar. It's 100% hidden behind your bar end, can bend so it fits any handlebar shape and weighs just 64g.
Tail It say: "in 2019 its totally unnecessary to lose the things you care about when a small piece of technology will give you its location within seconds"... and it's definitely among the smarter ideas we've seen when it comes to discreet and simple bike trackers. The low weight makes it a pretty much negligible addition even to a light weight road bike, and the eight week battery life plus USB recharging means you needn't have to think about removing or re-installing it once fitted (you can charge without removing it from your handlebar). The unit is also splashproof to an IP67 rating, and it's bendy so it can fit inside pretty much any size or shape of handlebar.
The position of the device is tracked using data collected from three GSM stations to accurately locate it from satellites, and it also has an advanced tool to track it without GPS coverage using base stations and WiFi instead. You track the device with the Tail It app, and with one click you can activate live tracking to help locate your bike if there's an emergency. This updates the GPS every two seconds, so in theory thieves shouldn't get very far with your pride and joy once you've noticed it's missing.
Tail It Bike is available to pre-order now for $99 for the unit, with an additional subscription required for the tracking of between $4.99 and $5.99 a month depending on how long you sign up for. Find out more on their website here.
After cobbling together a few hundred quid during his student days off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story), Jack bought his first road bike at the age of 20 and has been hooked ever since. He joined road.cc in 2017, having previously worked for 220 Triathlon magazine. Jack's preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking (the latter being another long story), and on Sunday afternoons he can often be found on an M5 service station indulging in his favourite post-race meal of 20 chicken nuggets, a sausage roll, caramel shortbread and a large strawberry milkshake.