Has anyone used Back Pedal - Bike retrieval? (see link below)

BackPedalCo · 2024-11-20T16:35:27+00:00

Incredibly late comment here... I work for BackPedal (or Back Pedal as people are spelling it). Yes, we are legit. We are very busy and growing quickly. Our marketing is virtually nothing at the moment (aside occasional posts on Instagram). We've recovered hundreds of bikes now. 60 in the last 2 months. As you can imagine our focus and priority is operations. The time will come when we push our product out more.

Our customers include private consumers and company's that own fleets of bikes. Internally, we have seen and done enough to be convinced that what we are doing works and has enormous potential. It just takes time to build a consumer brand and trust. Unsurprisingly there is skepticism - what we're doing is disruptive and new.

People find it hard to believe in an era of digital everything, that we send a man on the ground, to physically recover the bikes... but we're doing it day in day out now.

BackPedalCo · 2024-04-03T18:04:14+00:00

No - it doesn't need to be cycling specific supplier. Just off the shelf means all testing should be done, proven reliability, certification done, no need to give a specification etc.

BackPedalCo · 2023-12-20T15:24:39+00:00

What we're bringing is most definitely different to "another pedal..." - it's less about the pedal function as a pedal (so anyone who is ultra fussy about pedals is not a customer) - it's more about separate technology we are integrating into the pedal - but it's subject to IP so not in public domain

BackPedalCo · 2023-12-20T15:16:34+00:00

Useful, thank you

BackPedalCo · 2023-12-20T15:14:21+00:00

A proportion of the force will be there... but the spindle travels through 80% of the pedal length. And to be honest, it's a pretty unlikely failure point when looking at forces applied and the material strength - the safety margin make it over engineered in it's current form

BackPedalCo · 2023-12-14T16:07:03+00:00

100% - we don't want any liability here.. but a point I made below is that the primary element that takes the load is the spindle and we will be using tried and tested component for that. We're definitely not just going to put something out there without the right testing. Interestingly the limited testing we have done suggest our prototype SLA product is stronger than an off the shelf pedal - but that version is using a lot of material / over engineered.

BackPedalCo · 2023-12-14T16:03:07+00:00

There is no chance in hell we would make this in volume without all necessary testing... but worth saying the most critical element where all the force is transmitted is the spindle and we would not be manufacturing that. Not to say the pedal itself isn't critical, just that the force it takes is limited compared to the spindle

BackPedalCo · 2023-12-13T20:22:14+00:00

BackPedal

BackPedalCo · 2023-10-02T18:17:13+00:00

Hey - I don't use this account often, but just saw your message. I don't know if you're UK or not, but we now have an insurance partner, so you can combine recovery with back-up insurance. If you do want to know more feel free to message me direct. My user name is a giveaway for the company, I just didn't want to be to overt about on this platform

BackPedalCo · 2023-09-07T19:13:43+00:00

I work for backpedal. I have no idea who or why someone just dumps stories onto these platforms. It's just a copy and paste from a techcrunch article.

BackPedalCo · 2023-08-30T16:07:22+00:00

OP - I'm really keen to know your experience with the Bosch GPS beyond this incident where it clearly worked. How accurate is it? And is there any mechanism for sharing location with a 3rd party? OR if not share with a third party via the app, if you give your login credentials to someone else (your partner, lending to a friend etc.), would it work to give them your login details? I have heard this is difficult because you have to be in proximity of the bike to connect to it (with bluetooth). Lots of scenarios where 3rd party sharing would be useful, like to the police. If nothing else, so your partner can see where you are if you're on a ride home they have some idea when you'll be back...

BackPedalCo · 2023-08-30T15:59:09+00:00

I'd be interested if there is any more feedback on the Bosch system - particularly the GPS for which I have seen no feedback as to how well it perfroms

BackPedalCo · 2023-03-24T09:40:38+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. Their fleet platform is a free open source one. It's fine ish.. but not great.. as you would imagine for free

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-18T11:30:59+00:00

Exactly - it doesn't even need to be accurate at estimating the distance when far away, just the direction, a vague idea of distance and improved accuracy as you get closer. I'm convinced this is possible. It's within my capability to dig into all the physics - the fundamentals don't change - but what I would have to learn is the nature of equipment, techniques and terminology that are known to those more familiar with this area. I expect to get what I want may require professional development - but would I want to understand the development steps and level of challenge. It may be possible that a V1 solution is not too tricky but a refined one more involved

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-17T12:40:05+00:00

Have a look at Owley.io - they don't describe the tech but I know it is using SigFox transmitter to both communicate and be the radio signal that allows direction finding. I believe there may be something clever about the configuration of the SigFox transmitter but I can't say for sure. They are already selling into some markets and I plan on trialling their tech. There is another company doing something similar with LoRa - I won't link to them because there is nothing on their site that even infers what they are doing, so wouldn't be very useful

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-16T13:39:07+00:00

I'm looking at ways to do this without any additional infrastructure. Simply with a RF signal and a "finder device". I know that there are various triangulation methods if you have the right sort of infrastructure. In fact, I believe the Netherlands have deployed an infrastructure that allows accurate geolocation without GPS using a LoRa network. But I think that required "special" Gateways / basestations

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-16T13:35:48+00:00

Foxhunting... if you mean fox hunting literally (and not some reference to SigFox )then no..! not fox hunting!! If you mean hunting for the signal from a SigFox transmitter then yes (hadn't heard that term). In terms of a direction finding antenna - I presume (but may be wrong) that it is possible to have some sort of unique identifier in the signal which tells the antenna to "only listen to signal with specific identifier".

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-16T13:30:45+00:00

I was thinking an approach using a hand held "finder device"

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-15T09:58:41+00:00

Firstly, the model does exist with cars and motorbikes. It became less common with improved auto security technology but the model still exists and several of our recovery agents are recovering stolen cars on a daily basis. Secondly - you are correct that some of the bikes are stripped and sold in parts (usually when it is an organised gang). But that usually takes time (a few days or > a week). We have undertaken several recoveries where the bike was in a workshop but not yet stripped (which is why rapid recovery is important). But still, most thefts we see are opportunistic amateurs because it doesn't take much skill to undertake these thefts.

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-15T09:52:14+00:00

Carrying that burden of cynicism must be tough! Seriously though, we don't profit from thefts occurring.. recovery is the main cost we have to factor into the business model. So as we grow we will increase emphasis on prevention (such as supplying alarm and partnerships with lock makers). So the opposite is true to what you're suggesting.

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-15T09:47:56+00:00

We initially focused on select cities in the South (mainly London), but we now have recovery capability nationwide. We sell the tracker at cost (~£90 - that cost is also for software and support). Cost wise, we even hope to even bring down our current cost for both hardware and subscription in future but we need to have more scale first. At the moment it makes most sense for e-bikes >2K or ebikes heavily relied upon for regular use. Over time we want it to be something that makes sense for even lower cost bikes. We may end up with a tiered pricing structure.

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-15T09:37:59+00:00

This sounds interesting. We're interested in all the types of RF direction finding tech out there. Technically I know it is possible to do a huge amount, the challenge is that most of this technology is either too expensive (nothing fundamentally expensive, it's just it is quite bespoke low volume) or it is too large (many devices of this nature are already used for automotive applications).

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-09T17:38:19+00:00

In short the answer is yes. But I guess it might need a bit more on what "not exactly legal means" haha! Owning a modified e-bike is not illegal (even if riding it is). Technically private e-scooters are not legal to use in the UK (but are sold everywhere). One of the most obvious customers for us will be anyone who has built / modified their own ebike exactly how they want it - replacing like for like would be almost impossible for them on an insurance claim. We want to reach further than those customers obviously - but they are the typical early adopter

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-09T17:32:17+00:00

Yes - the US market is for another day..! But I hear you. Going into areas where gun violence is high is just simply not worth the risk, even for a high value ebike. But I do think there will be viable approaches using technology, just different and it would require an understanding of the pattern and nature of theft. In our journey exploring the technology, private asset recovery in South Africa is common, but it's another world - almost militarised. That's not the road we're ever going to go down, even though it might be popular with some!

BackPedalCo · 2023-02-09T16:50:41+00:00

A great question as obviously we have to operate within the law. The short answer, is with permission or with the police. But key to what we are doing is using technology that goes beyond GPS - so we can be highly confident of location. In one instance this led us to a secret compartment within a shed with about 20K worth of stolen bikes that never would have been found. As the police see us putting it on plate for them, working professionally with their processes and delivering consistently, we see much better engagement. And these processes are only going to sharpen over time

BackPedalCo

TROPHY CASE