Apple AirTag holders on bikes are an increasingly popular way to track your bike's whereabouts. They're provided by many brands and come in multiple different designs. You can attach a stealthy AirTag on your bottle cage or cargo mounts, in your handlebars or even inside your tyres.
Having some sort of bike security/peace of mind is something that all cyclists want, and the first thing is to lock it and put it somewhere safe where it's unlikely to get pinched in the first place.
But, if your bike does get stolen, without some sort of tracking it's extremely unlikely you’re ever going to see it again. AirTags are of course not the only - or the absolute best - way to track your bike, but they are compact in size and affordable.
Review: Apple AirTag - 4 pack
AirTags are also an Apple-only product, so only work with iOS devices. AirTag uses other Apple devices to detect the location, which means that the proximity of an iOS device is necessary for the AirTag to work. So, if you drop one in the middle of the forest, and no one is passing it with an iPhone, you won’t see its location. Most AirTag holders won't come with the actual AirTag either, so you should factor that in when making your purchase.
Apple AirTags - Can you use them to track your bike?
Other bike trackers use GPS instead, such as the BikeFinder GPS Bicycle Tracker featured below. That could be a better option for you if you don’t want to rely on Apple devices.
We’ve got five new on-the-bike safety tags (three of them from Lezyne) in to test, so let’s see what each of them offers...
Lezyne Matrix Saddle Tagger - £18
The Matrix Saddle Tagger is built from lightweight, super durable Composite Matrix material, and discreetly attaches underneath the saddle by clamping onto its rails.
To attach the tagger, you insert your AirTag in the IP67 waterproof-rated twist-lock, which then tightens on to the rails with the included TR25 security bolt.
The Saddle Tagger weighs 26g without the AirTag.
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Lezyne Matrix Bike Tagger - £20
If you’d rather save your saddle rails for a saddle bag, another spot Lezyne has made a thing to put your AirTag in is at your bottle cage mounting points. This Matrix Bike Tagger houses an AirTag inside it and attaches to any standard bottle cage mount, or a cargo mount with a similar bolt distance.
> Knog’s new Scout offers 85 decibel alarm and Apple AirTag tracking
This holder is also made of Lezyne’s composite Matrix material, is IP67 waterproof and attaches with TR25 security bolts. The weight of the Bike Tagger is 28g.
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Lezyne Matrix Air Cage - £30
The Matrix Air Cage basically integrates Lezyne's above product, the Bike Tagger, with a bottle cage. The cage is a revamp of Lezyne's Matrix Team Cage and features the same minimalist, dual-side-loading design but as an additional feature, hides the AirTag between the bottle cage and bike frame for an added level of security.
6 of the best bike locks — stop your bike getting stolen with our selection
Again, this AirTag-holder is made with Composite Matrix material and has IP67 waterproof rating to keep the AirTag dry. It comes with a set of stainless steel TR25 security bolts, complete with an included tool bit.
The total weight of this secure bottle cage is 44g.
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BikeFinder GPS Bicycle Tracker - £170
BikeFinder differs from the mostly AirTag-focused taggers, in that it is primarily designed to be used as a subscription. It comes as a combination of the product with bike insurance, and subscription prices starting from £9.99 after you’ve bought the tracking device which sets you back £170.
The device uses GPS, GSM, and Bluetooth technologies, and a corresponding app that should know your bike's whereabouts at all times. The BikeFinder should fit all types of bikes, as it slots into your handlebars and expands when in place. The expanding mechanism also means that the device should be virtually impossible to remove without the special tools included with the tracker.
Bike locks: how to choose and use the best lock to protect your bike
The app that connects to the tracker allows you not only to see the location (and alarm you if your bike has moved) of your bike, but also report a possible theft.
The subscription packages offer you tracking and insurance from Sundays Bicycle Insurance, and the price-per-month depends on the value of your bike.
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Topeak Cage Mount For Airtag - £9
Topeak’s Cage Mount is a very lightweight and slim AirTag holder made of engineering-grade polymer, and works with any bottle cage or, alternatively, mounted on your bike’s cargo mounts. It attaches with two anti-theft stainless steel bolts for additional safety and an Allen wrench is included, and it weighs just 8g.
Has Topeak nailed the AirTag holder, with a design that definitely won't lead to any sort of long-winded legal battle? Our reviewer George Hill most likely will not be exploring the latter, but stay tuned for his thoughts on the former in the coming weeks...
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For all the latest full road.cc test reports, head over to our reviews section. If you want some more advice before splashing your cash, check out our buyer's guides.
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9 comments
I know three friends who had their bikes stolen and tracked and the police would not intervene. Even though they knew exactly where the bike was. There is nothing we can do etc.
when I asked a local bike shop what they thought of trackers their reply was 'what's the point, just so you know your stolen bike is in south London or wherever'
I once had my house burgled by the people living in an HMO across the road (it was used as temporary accommodation by 'backpackers').
They were all out on their front lawn as we pulled up but by the time we had stopped the car on the drive ten seconds later they'd all gone inside. A rucksack had been taken, filled with our DVDs and a laptop. The very same laptop (logo, sticker, had never been seen in that window before) appeared in an upstairs window of the HMO shortly after the police SOCO had all left.
We reported it to the police, who to their credit did come and knock on the door but - surprisingly! - nobody answered it even though we could see curtains twitching upstairs.
The police came by later and explained that nobody had answered the door and they weren't allowed to just bust in without a warrant, and they wouldn't get a warrant.
Is there really any point? The daughter of a guy at my work had her tagged bike stolen. They've been able to track the location of the bike for the last couple of months. The police won't do anything. The last time it was moved it was sat at the side of a house behind a gate. The police apparently said that although they know it is the other side of the gate they can't do anything because it isn't visible. I think I'd rather not know where it has gone. In this case the one piece of advice the police gave was that the next time it moved the daughter should confront the thief!
It really does make you wonder what the Police actually do.
Bike stollen, can pin point exact location to nearest 15nanometers ... won't do anything
Close pass / no MOT / no VED, clear video evidence ... won't do anything
Plastic bottle thrown out moving car window, hit cyclist in face - clear video evidence of bottle, trajectory and car ... won't do anything as the driver can't remember
This was the advice the Met gave me when I had a bike stolen. To their credit, they found it on Gumtree pretty quickly, but from there, their advice was to offer to buy it, meet the seller in a public place and then phone the police. I phoned the seller, they hung up on me, and then I watched as my bike on Gumtree became a frame on Gumtree and then vanished.
You can buy very small and discrete (+lightweight) adhesive silicone tag holders on Amazon for a few quid. Had one under my saddle for almost 2 years, and it doesn't decrease the range. Way better than wasting your money on any of these offerings.
Bear in mind that a fair few of these "tracker cases" completely gimp the range of the tracker and make them far less effective.
I dont know if the english police is more helpful than the french one. But when my son had his electric scooter stolen at school, i found it the same day ( thanks to an airtag with removed speaker i had installed in it) at the entrance of a big shopping center and they couldnt/didnt want to help with it.
I sent my son in the mall to buy a U Lock to give me the time to come back with a small 12V grinder. I warned the mall security and went to the scooter to cut the U lock .It was way easier than i thought and none of the passers-by seemed to care about what i was doing...
They are streets in my town i wouldnt have dare to do this even in broad day light, so without police help the tracker may be useless even if it works.
nope, they aren't.
British police doesn't care unless someone's killed by knife / shooting. Any other kind of crime activities are very much ignored.