How to prevent your bike from being stolen – GCN Tech Show

Our bikes are our pride and joys, but they’re often the target of pesky thieves who are attracted by their hefty price tags. There are steps cyclists can take to protect them, most obviously by using a lock, but this isn’t always practical or possible when riding a road bike.

Luckily there is another solution as Ollie Bridgewood and Alex Paton discuss in the latest edition of the GCN Tech Show: tracking devices.

Trackers have been used for various devices like mobile phones for a number of years and the technology is passing over to bikes. They won’t prevent your bike from getting stolen in the first place, but will make tracking it down much easier, which should provide a little extra peace of mind the next time you leave your bike propped up outside a cafe.

Tracking devices come in all different shapes and sizes, with Apple’s Airtag being one of the most popular, and they can be hidden in lots of different places. Inside the handlebars, down the seatpost or under a cover on the bottom bracket, there are lots of possibilities.

It’s now even possible to buy components with trackers built in, like 4iiii’s Precision 3 Pro crankset power meter. This has a tracking device built in which is compatible with Apple’s Find My app.

Watch the full video at the top of this page for a full breakdown of the benefits and limitations of tracking, and let us know if you use tracking technology in the comments below.

Read more: How to lock your bike securely

Hot and spicy tech

Plenty of new tech broke cover over the last week, including a new time trial bike from Giant which has brought the looming end of rim brakes a step closer.

Here’s our pick of the best new tech and latest news from the last week.

Giant appears to have followed industry trends by creating a disc brake time trial bike, at least if sightings at the Tour de Romandie are anything to go by.

It has previously only offered a rim brake version of its Trinity TT bike but Jayco AlUla’s Luke Plapp was spotted using a disc brake version of the bike on stage 3 of the Swiss race, suggesting a new release is imminent. It’s bad news for rim brake fans as it brings the technology’s extinction a little closer.

Read more: Spotted: New Giant disc brake TT bike and helmet debuted by Luke Plapp

Plapp was also wearing an as-yet unreleased Giant helmet, suggesting there could be multiple new additions to the Taiwanese brand’s time trial range.

It’s not quite as outlandish as some of the other TT helmets we’ve seen debuted this year, like the Giro Aerohead that Visma-Lease a Bike’s riders have been rocking in time trials.

There have been rumblings of a new SRAM Red groupset for a while now and a release appears to be nearing as Canyon-SRAM’s bikes have been spotted at the Vuelta Femenina with a new version of the groupset.

That’s given away by the different chainset design and shifter shape to what is currently available.

Colnago has unveiled its latest gravel bike, the G4-X, which is a racing thoroughbred with aero-optimised tube shapes, an integrated cockpit and wider tyre clearance.

Inspiration for the aerodynamic optimisations have been taken from the brand’s top-tier V4Rs road bike, which has enjoyed plenty of success at the hands of Tadej Pogačar in 2024.

Read more: New Colnago G4-X is a thoroughbred gravel race bike with aero-optimised profiles

Bike vault

Now it’s time to find out whose bike’s have earned the much-coveted super nice vote in Bike Vault.

A quick reminder that you can submit your bike for our presenters to critique through our uploader. If you’re unsure how to do this, check out our guide here.

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Starting with a very impressive Serk A30M titanium road bike, with a very eye-catching gold coloruway

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This classic Panasonic is packed with nostalgia, although we're not sure we'd fancy pushing the tiny gears up a climb

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This Giant TCR is the owner's first attempt at a super-bike build, complete with SRAM Force eTap. We think they've done a great job

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This Colnago Arte has received a modern makeover with Shimano's Dura-Ace groupset and Spinergy wheels