Data-Tags (and Trice)

Richard Corfield said:

The electronic datatags - are they any good or worth it? The one review I've found is pretty poor
saying that they're easy to remove.

The pedal cycle kit comes with a single transponder (about 1cm diameter IIRC), held within a
plastic device designed to fit into the seat tube. I epoxied mine to the inside of the boom on my
Street Machine.

The motorbike kit comes with 4 transponders as described above (without the plastic device) and 1
mini transponder in a syringe with a hypodermic needle, to be injected into the seat foam. The
instructions with the motorbike kit actually tell you to epoxy the transponders to various parts of
the frame.

Both kits come with a stencil and etching kit, to etch your security code to lights, seat etc. You
also get a rather fetching frame sticker to show that the bike's Datatagged.

Quoted message said:

Are there any ongoing costs with them, for example to keep the entry on the database?

No. If you sell the trike then the new owner would need to pay a tenner (IIRC) to register
his details.

Quoted message said:

Also, would they fit a Trice?

I believe the Trice has a telescopic sliding boom, in which case you should be able to remove the
sliding part and epoxy the transponder inside the boom, as I did.

Quoted message said:

Failing insurance, would it be worth it for more peace of mind

YMMV, but I think so.

Quoted message said:

or would the rarity of the Trice suffice?

Well, I mentioned earlier this evening in another thread that Adam Hart-Davies' Windcheetah was
stolen a couple of years ago. So you can't rely on the rarity value.

You can get more information from datatag.comdatatag.comOpen ↗ . There are also other identification
devices on the market. I believe there's at least one other transponder device (I can't remember
what it's called) and another system that relies on painting microdots on various parts of your
bike, but again I can't rememter what it's called.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdannyOpen ↗ "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

In message <[email hidden]>, Danny Colyer <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Richard Corfield said:

The electronic datatags - are they any good or worth it? T

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Failing insurance, would it be worth it for more peace of mind

YMMV, but I think so.

Quoted message said:

or would the rarity of the Trice suffice?

Well, I mentioned earlier this evening in another thread that Adam Hart-Davies' Windcheetah was
stolen a couple of years ago. So you can't rely on the rarity value.

Indeed not.

While rarity/unusualness may put off the casual thief, it will still attract a more
'professional' theft.

Ken Davison's Trice was stolen from North Shields earlier this year.

It was locked inside a locked garage, other expensive bikes were left behind - it would seem it was
stolen to 'order' .
--
Chris French, Leeds

Richard Corfield said:

The electronic datatags - are they any good or worth it? The one review I've found is pretty poor
saying that they're easy to remove.

They're little plastic cones that are stuffed into the seat upright, the idea that they're hard to
remove. They contain a small radio device, much like the RFID systems now. I'd have thought that
the bike frame would make a good Faraday Cage, but it is claimed that they work.

Are there any ongoing costs with them, for example to keep the entry on the database? Also, would
they fit a Trice? The pictures of the Trice show a pretty normal size looking seat upright, which
is presumably closed at the bottom, otherwise the device could be pushed through. I'd wonder if it
would take valuable space needed by the seat support tube itself though, and would therefore
prevent the seat being set to its lowest angle.

Cycle insurers seem to like them, but insuring the Trice is not cheap (not tried the home
insurance people yet). Failing insurance, would it be worth it for more peace of mind, or would
the rarity of the Trice suffice?

- Richard

I have one of these in my bike, sounded potentially useful, though the frame stickers that you get
with it might be more useful as a deterrent than the actual recovery of the bike via the tag.

Can't remember anythign to do with costs/renewals, but can tell you it did interfere with my seat
post. The tag seems to have got stuck on the mounting points for the bottle cage, which led to me
having to get the bottom sawn off the seatpost (I'm short and the frame only just fits me, so the
seat's pretty low on it!)

Velvet

There are no ongoing costs with Datatag. It costs IIRC a tenner to transfer ownership details on
their database. Changes of details for the same owner (change of address) are free, or they were for
my motorbikes. Uses little transponders that you hide in the frame. The bike kit is a cut-down
version of the motorbike kit for almost as much. I'd consider getting the motorbike one and using it
to tag the bike in more places, or tag more bikes, although I'm not sure how geared up their
database is for this idea.

A rival system uses little microdots suspended in glue. You dab them here there and everywhere. It's
called Alphadot. It's generally available via motorcycle dealers, although the marketing blurb seems
to recommend it for use as a tagging method for anything valuable around the home - TV's, videos and
the like. The pot you get of microdots is sufficient to tag a fair few bicycles and many of your
household valuables.

Honda market a tagging system called Smartwater which is a fluorescent dye that you paint on. It's
invisible under daylight. Under UV it has a particular "signature" which someone with the right
equipment can identify as unique. Again it's intended for motorbikes, but you could mark up
anything you like.

None stop anything getting stolen, but might aid with identification if recovered. The theory is
that it makes anything traceable as stolen, even if broken down for parts, which is supposed to put
the crims off if they see the stickers.

Didn't stop them lifting my brothers motorbike into a van. We'd hidden the datatag transponders
_very_ cunningly, and stamped the id number using the templates into the subframe, etched _all_
the bodywork

Better to use a big U-lock and chain.

Q. Why does every bike weigh 50lbs?
R. Because a 40lb bike needs a 10lb chain and a 20lb bike needs a 30lb chain.

--

Regards,

Mark Davies

I think Datatag's website has had a bit of a revamp. Most notably, the text on the site talks about
two transponders in the cycle kit, presumably of differing sizes, and the motorcycle kit (about £50)
also has microdots. Two transponders would be good, one at the back, one at the front (the boom
perhaps). I've asked some questions on their page, but they do sound a good idea.

- Richard

--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.

MD said:

The bike kit is a cut-down version of the motorbike kit for almost as much.

I dunno about that. My bike kit (one transponder) cost a tenner, my motorbike kit (5 transponders)
cost 50 quid. Seems roughly proportional to me.

Mind you, ISTR CTC had a special offer on Datatag kits at the time and the usual price was 20 quid.

Quoted message said:

I'd consider getting the motorbike one and using it to tag the bike in more places, or tag more
bikes, although I'm not sure how geared up their database is for this idea.

I'd agree, except that I'd be quite surprised if their database could handle it. And Richard
mentioned that the bike kit now seems to come with two transponders, which I think should be enough.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdannyOpen ↗ "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

Danny Colyer said:

Quoted message said:

I'd consider getting the motorbike one and using it to tag the bike in more places, or tag more
bikes, although I'm not sure how geared up their database is for this idea.

I'd agree, except that I'd be quite surprised if their database could handle it. And
Richard mentioned that the bike kit now seems to come with two transponders, which I think
should be enough.

It would be great, but I've not seen a sign of this in the shops. I wonder, if the website is
correct and its a recent change, how long before old stock is cleared. I plan to find one of the
shops listed on the site and present the page in question.

I wonder why the database will have problems? Does it contain other info about the bike as well as
tagID and owner? If so, then it would be a problem.

- Richard

--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.

Richard Corfield said:

It would be great, but I've not seen a sign of this in the shops. I wonder, if the website is
correct and its a recent change, how long before old stock is cleared. I plan to find one of the
shops listed on the site and present the page in question.

I've just had a look at the cycle section on the website and it specifies "a transponder", not two.
But then, investigating a bit further, I found the bit that specified "1 x DAT300 transponder, 1 x
DAT500 transporter". So the website's wrong somewhere.

(I also looked at the News section and noticed that Datatag was acquired by a new owner in
January 2002, which explains why the website has changed beyond all recognition since I last
looked at it. It might also mean that the kits have changed significantly since I bought my cycle
kit in January 2001).

Quoted message said:

I wonder why the database will have problems? Does it contain other info about the bike as well as
tagID and owner? If so, then it would be a problem.

The motorbike information includes the DVLA registration number. The bike information includes the
frame number. I can't remember what other information is included, but those are the bits that I'd
expect to cause problems.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
speedy5.freeserve.co.ukdannyOpen ↗ "He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine