Sherlock anti-theft bicycle GPS tracking device coming soon

​Bike theft is a big problem. Sherlock is a GPS anti-theft device, hidden away in the bicycle frame that sounds an alarm when it detects movement, and can alert a smartphone app to its location if the bike is taken. The device is still at the prototype stage with a release set for 2016. 

The company hasn't released any details or photos of the GPS device, but it says the device is small and light enough to be “embedded into the bike frame, saddle, handlebars” and is invisible from the outside. The battery lasts a claimed 30 days, so you need to put the device somewhere you can easily access it for recharging the battery - dropping it into the seat tube probably isn’t a sensible idea. It's not clear how it'll be mounted to the bicycle, inside or out.

What the Sherlock device can do is detect movement and sound an alarm, hopefully acting as a deterrent. Connected to a smartphone app using GPS and GSM/GPRS, it’s claimed Sherlock provides a 5-metre range to help locate the bike, useful if the alarm doesn’t deter a potential thief and the bike disappears from when you left it.

If your bike is stolen, the app can apparently forward the alert to the local police, though it’s not clear if the police are set up to receive such alerts, or would even have time to respond to them.

When your bike isn’t being stolen, the GPS device can provide distance and speed metrics and integrates with Strava, so you effectively have a GPS computer on your bike at all times.

Sherlock has just won  a place at  Innovate 2015, an innovation show in London on November 9-10th, where the product will be showcased in front of 3,000 attendees.

Innovate UK Chief Executive Ruth McKernan said: “Sherlock is a deserved winner and joins a prestigious group of 100 top innovators showcasing their products at Innovate 2015. With attendees ranging from international investors, buyers and visionary entrepreneurs to government and academia, the showcase is a great platform for winning companies.”

Sherlock sounds familiar doesn’t it, and that’s because there has been a slew of similar anti-theft and GPS location tracking devices released in the past couple of years. There’s the SHYSPY GPS tracker, FAST light and Connected Cycle pedals, to name a few.

Sherlock is scheduled for release in 2016, it's currently working on the prototype, with no price set yet. More at www.sherlock.bike