Where on your bike is your AirTag?

[mikedop]

Curious question for those of you who use an AirTag with your bike. Where on the bike do you have it mounted?

I've seen a couple solutions here and there, some put it under the seat, some try to hide it in the frame, others just use a keychain holder or 3D print some sort of mount. I'm looking at getting an ebike soon, though, so I'm going to be adding at least 2 AirTags onto it and would like some suggestions for where I'm going to put it.

Pictures help! thanks.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Curious question for those of you who use an AirTag with your bike. Where on the bike do you have it mounted?

I've seen a couple solutions here and there, some put it under the seat, some try to hide it in the frame, others just use a keychain holder or 3D print some sort of mount. I'm looking at getting an ebike soon, though, so I'm going to be adding at least 2 AirTags onto it and would like some suggestions for where I'm going to put it.

Pictures help! thanks.

It all depends on the Bike as there are several different geometries and fittings. I saw one where it was mounted as part of the bell. Putting it a metal frame is no good as it would be effectively in a Faraday cage. Carbon Fibre components would work. If you have grips of suitable design then there's an opportunity there. Here's a photo of the end plug for Ergon Grips. It's the same size as an Air Tag in diameter.

 

[mikedop]

It all depends on the Bike as there are several different geometries and fittings. I saw one where it was mounted as part of the bell. Putting it a metal frame is no good as it would be effectively in a Faraday cage. Carbon Fibre components would work. If you have grips of suitable design then there's an opportunity there. Here's a photo of the end plug for Ergon Grips. It's the same size as an Air Tag in diameter.

View attachment 2015860

That's pretty coincidental. I'm thinking I'd put one on the underside of the fender and a second behind or inside the control screen.

 

[deeddawg]

As mentioned, location options will vary by individual bike. All sorts of spots and mounts - stuff that goes on the bottle holder mounts, also seatpost-mounted reflectors with a compartment for an airtag, etc.

With an ebike you may have plastic panels surrounding the motor or battery mounts which might have useable space inside. Inside of a metal tube will greatly reduce the range - not quite Faraday cage since it's not grounded, but it'll drastically reduce the effectiveness.

All that said - with an ebike I'd recommend choosing a GPS/cellular tracker since you have access to power from the battery. You avoid the anti-stalking alerts, you get exact location in real time without dependency on others phones seeing the bike, etc.

 

[mikedop]

Inside of a metal tube will greatly reduce the range - not quite Faraday cage since it's not grounded, but it'll drastically reduce the effectiveness.

Yeah I've figured as much and won't be putting one inside my frame. Also just too much work to get in and out when the battery dies.

All that said - with an ebike I'd recommend choosing a GPS/cellular tracker since you have access to power from the battery. You avoid the anti-stalking alerts, you get exact location in real time without dependency on others phones seeing the bike, etc.

Good idea, we'll see what I end up going with. The models I'm looking at are in the $1,300-1,700 range, so not all that expensive.

 

[Kaikidan]

Yeah I've figured as much and won't be putting one inside my frame. Also just too much work to get in and out when the battery dies.


Good idea, we'll see what I end up going with. The models I'm looking at are in the $1,300-1,700 range, so not all that expensive.

Also you can have both the GPS for anti theft and the Airtag for redundancy, and to provide location inside closed areas where the GPS won't get signal, and as a distraction from the real GPS. there is now a adapter that fits the airtags inside the tire Which I find pretty hard for someone to be able to quick disassemble and remove during a thieft atempt, specially when trying to run away on a bycicle with flat tires..

 

[Tenkaykev]

As mentioned, location options will vary by individual bike. All sorts of spots and mounts - stuff that goes on the bottle holder mounts, also seatpost-mounted reflectors with a compartment for an airtag, etc.

With an ebike you may have plastic panels surrounding the motor or battery mounts which might have useable space inside. Inside of a metal tube will greatly reduce the range - not quite Faraday cage since it's not grounded, but it'll drastically reduce the effectiveness.

All that said - with an ebike I'd recommend choosing a GPS/cellular tracker since you have access to power from the battery. You avoid the anti-stalking alerts, you get exact location in real time without dependency on others phones seeing the bike, etc.

That has given me a thought, and I'm not sufficiently familiar with wireless / radio propagation. If it were possible to run a wire from the AirTag antenna and attach the wire to the metal frame of the bike, would it act as a signal booster?

 

[fischersd]

That has given me a thought, and I'm not sufficiently familiar with wireless / radio propagation. If it were possible to run a wire from the AirTag antenna and attach the wire to the metal frame of the bike, would it act as a signal booster?

Really can't see it. Bluetooth is in the 2.4GHz range - the tiny radio in the AirTag won't have sufficient power to generate signal over something so huge as your bike frame. You'd likely only succeed in draining your battery quickly.

Edit: And, on topic, I would just put one into a silicone sleeve and duct tape it to the bottom of the seat (just like I did for the one under the hood of my SUV) (and, yes, I understand a lot of people take their seats so they aren't stolen - never had that problem)

 

[OnawaAfrica]

Curious question for those of you who use an AirTag with your bike. Where on the bike do you have it mounted?

I've seen a couple solutions here and there, some put it under the seat, some try to hide it in the frame, others just use a keychain holder or 3D print some sort of mount. I'm looking at getting an ebike soon, though, so I'm going to be adding at least 2 AirTags onto it and would like some suggestions for where I'm going to put it.

Pictures help! thanks.

i wont tell u maybe u wana remove it and steal my bike

 

[SenorWhyMe]

motorcycle, under my seat

 

[deeddawg]

That has given me a thought, and I'm not sufficiently familiar with wireless / radio propagation. If it were possible to run a wire from the AirTag antenna and attach the wire to the metal frame of the bike, would it act as a signal booster?

Technically it can be possible to move a 2.4GHz antenna to a different location from the transceiver…. But that’s not likely to be feasible with an AirTag.

 

[edubfromktown]

Nowhere...

 

[HerbertDerb]

I won't tell you, so you can't find it.

Spoiler

Nowhere

 

[prvt.donut]

Best I have seen is inside the steerer tube. It’s so hidden and built into the bike.

 

[Kapricorn]

Mount an AirTag underneath a water bottle cage. ...
Hide an AirTag interior the steerer tube of a suspension fork. ...
Hide an AirTag beneath a Specialized saddle. ...
Seatpost-mounted reflector and AirTag holder. ...
Stash an AirTag interior a saddle bag.

 

[chabig]

There are lots of products at Etsy.com to hid AirTags on bicycles. Here is what I use:

 

[Tenkaykev]

A question for the forum. I'm donating one of my bikes to my daughter. I've got an Airtag fitted to my bike. My daughter has an Android phone. If I fit an airtag to the bike I'm giving to my daughter ( with her knowledge ) and register the tag to my iPhone ( so I can track it if the bike is stolen ) would it start buzzing / alerting. She will be keeping the bike at her apartment.

 

[MTShipp]

My eBike has a slotted, hollow downtube for the wires to run from the LCD control unit on the handlebars down to the motor and controller. Mine fits nicely inside there and I have never had signal reception issues in locating it. Hidden well enough to not find unless someone digs into it. Hopefully before that happens I will have it's location "for the police "

 

[Novius89]

Bought a small mount that sits where the water bottle could be. It’s possible to still mount a water bottle holder on top of the mount.

I never really leave my bike outside except when I hop in a shop for some groceries. And then I lock it with 2 or 3 locks.

I use the AirTag all the time when i put it in a bike parking in the centrum, they are huge here in Utrecht, the Netherlands, with thousands and thousands of bikes, but I always find my bike in a matter of seconds!

 

[Novius89]

A question for the forum. I'm donating one of my bikes to my daughter. I've got an Airtag fitted to my bike. My daughter has an Android phone. If I fit an airtag to the bike I'm giving to my daughter ( with her knowledge ) and register the tag to my iPhone ( so I can track it if the bike is stolen ) would it start buzzing / alerting. She will be keeping the bike at her apartment.

If it doesn’t find your iPhone, it will chime constantly.

When I take my bike from my basement they sometimes don’t connect immediately (phone and tag) and it’s chirping as well.

 

[Tenkaykev]

If it doesn’t find your iPhone, it will chime constantly.

When I take my bike from my basement they sometimes don’t connect immediately (phone and tag) and it’s chirping as well.

Thank you. Back to the drawing board...

 

[fischersd]

Thank you. Back to the drawing board...

Well, not entirely - if you have good manual dexterity, you can easily remove the speaker from the AirTag so it isn't chiming at all. A slew of videos on YouTube showing you how to do this...here's a fairly short one:

 

[parseckadet]

Nowhere. AirTags are not intended for tracking stolen property. Expecting it to do so only leads to disappointment and threads in this forum about how Apple "ruined" AirTags.

 

[ChrisA]

AirTags are USELESS for tracking a stolen bike. Just forget about it.

Why? Because they alert the theft who stole the bike that there is an airtag. Then he simply removes it.

For example, I walked my daughter's dog. The dog has an AirTag and I got a message on my phone that there was an AirTag, not owned by me, that was moving with me. The bike theft would get the same message. And then he'd look for and remove the AirTag. I would not bother using an AirTag. Get some other product.

AirTags are only good for misplaced items, not stolen items.

 

[yellow8]

AirTags are USELESS for tracking a stolen bike. Just forget about it.

Why? Because they alert the theft who stole the bike that there is an airtag. Then he simply removes it.

For example, I walked my daughter's dog. The dog has an AirTag and I got a message on my phone that there was an AirTag, not owned by me, that was moving with me. The bike theft would get the same message. And then he'd look for and remove the AirTag. I would not bother using an AirTag. Get some other product.

AirTags are only good for misplaced items, not stolen items.

Works perfectly if the thief does not own an iPhone. And still, it can help with the latest location signaled by the airtag.