Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.
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8 or 12 weeks on charge. Both referenced
Locks are so bad, and yet you use one to secure the tracker.
Also we all know we phone the local bobbies after tracking bike and they’ll be too busy to help with recovery.
Sorry I’m out, but good luck
Hi!
The charging time is 8 weeks, we'll make sure that's fixed.
We're not using a lock to secure the tracker, but a locking mechanism to make sure the tracker stays inside the handlebar without falling out.
Thanks for the feedback
This looks like it could be ideal. Low upfront cost plus subscription is always a good business model.
Appears to do passive and active tracking and using GSM towers is a good approach. One of the benefits of being designed/engineered in Trondheim I'd imagine where GPS coverage is really patchy (because fjords/latitude).
Really need a UK distro because shipping is an eye-watering $48 - I'd imagine I could get a flight to Oslo for not much more and have a decent weekender...
I guess it comes down to a question of whether you want your actual bike back because it will be more expensive overall than insurance, once you've paid for the monthly subscription (which appears to include the SIM card/data contract).
I do wonder about the ease of charging as well - from the pictures it looks like it needs to be partially removed from the bar. I think I was expecting a port on the end (like a Di2 junction box) but it appears to be tucked inside the bar. Perhaps the idea is to keep it stealthy to avoid detection by casual thieves.
Thanks for the feedback!
We're looking into cheaper shipping costs for Europe right now, since it is still under preorder, it is set to a flat rate across Europe. You should visit Oslo if you have a chance, it's a nice city.
The charging method has changed a bit, as we have changed the locking mechanism of the bike before production, so you will be able to charge it without taking it out of the handlebar. The Tail it Bike will use a micro-usb cable to charge.
You're completely correct with the point of it is being invisible. We feel that if the device is showing outside of the handlebar, then there is no point of having it at all.
I like the look of the Sherlock and seriously considered it but....
I don't like having to activate/deactivate it with my phone every time. I don't leave my bike at the station or chained to a lampost all day. I want something that just sits passively and wakes up when movement is detected (bike stolen by burglars, bike-jacking etc.).
Could this be the answer? Couldn't see on the website if you have to activate it every time you leave the bike.
Hi!
We're actually working on this type of logic, which we like to call "significant change". For the moment they are not installed, but this is something we will be able to update with later. To begin with, you have to activate it though. You can also put livetracking on, and use geo fences to get notified when the bike moves, but it will ofcourse drain the battery more.
You say eight weeks battery life, web site says up to 7 days...?
Hi! Where did you see this error? We will get it fixed right away.
forget about bike, i needed it for my cat, buying a new bike is easier than finding a lost cat
You can check out our Tail it Pet We released a new line of GPS trackers for most things you need, with a tracker for your pets included. We're also working on a package prize for subscriptions, so theres that.
"is available to pre-order" oh yeah so it does not exist yet! No wonder why.
Hi Jerome!
They will be available very soon. We've been working on them since last summer, and we're now making the final adjustments to the locking mechanism before production starts, and these become available.