Bikers in Toronto are all too familiar with the problem of bike theft. Even if you lash out the dollars on a fancy top-of-the-range lock, thieves seem to find some way of cutting, prying, hammering and hacking through your line of defense. 

A new device, SpyBike, doesn’t aim to prevent the problem of bike theft but it does provide cyclists with the opportunity to retrieve his or her two-wheeler once stolen.

SpyBike is a GPS tracker that hides in the steer tube. It uploads coordinates both to your phone and a website in case of theft. Operation is simple — buy a pay as you go SIM card and link it to Spybike. Install the Spybike device in the steer tube. Then, before leaving the bike unattended, arm Spybike by swiping a key over the top cap. A blue light blinks for a second to let you know it’s activated. While activated, a motion sensor detects any abrupt movements and sends SMS alerts with exact coordinates to your cellphone.

Every 20 seconds the bike is moving, a new coordinate is recorded. When the bicycle stops moving, Spybike goes to sleep to conserve the lithium rechargeable battery. Also — if you forget to arm the device and your bike is stolen, it can be remotely armed with a cellphone. 

Measuring 23.5mm diameter, 110 mm in length and weighing 67g, it’s claimed to fit most tubes if they’re 250mm or more in length. Pricing is $150 with SIM card sold separately. 

Check out the the following video, which shows you how SpyBike works in a theft scenario.

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