IN BRIEF
Quad Lock, known for its quarter-turn phone mounts, is moving into electronic bike security with the Bike Alarm & Finder. The device combines a 93 dBA motion-triggered alarm, a fingerprint sensor that arms or disarms it with a single press, and Apple’s Find My network to track the bike down if it goes anyway. The brand claims up to 20 stored fingerprints, IP66 water resistance and six months of battery life between charges — its announcement page says “minimum 6-month life”, its product page “Up to 6 months”. On its European store, it is listed at €59.99.
| Price (Europe) | 59,99 € |
| Alarm | 93 dBA, motion-triggered |
| Unlocking | Fingerprint, up to 20 stored fingerprints |
| Tracking | Apple’s Find My network |
| Water resistance | IP66 |
| Weight | 22 g |
| Dimensions | 38 × 59.5 × 16 mm |
| Claimed battery life | Six months (“minimum” on the announcement page, “up to” on the product page) |
| Mounting | Out Front and Stem Cap mounts, saddle rail and bottle cage adapters |
There are two families of objects for protecting a bike: those that make noise, and those that tell you where it has gone. Quad Lock has decided to put both in the same case. The Australian brand, which cyclists mostly know for its quarter-turn phone mount system, is adding the Bike Alarm & Finder to its catalogue, listed at €59.99 on its European store.
The Quad Lock Bike Alarm & Finder bets on the fingerprint
It is the gesture that Quad Lock emphasises. The brand first describes the problem it is targeting — “Most bike security devices force you to pull out your phone, open an app or enter a code every time you park” — then its answer: “a single touch of the built-in fingerprint sensor arms or disarms the device instantly”. An ergonomics detail, but one that counts in daily use.
The sensor accepts several users. The brand states that it “stores up to 20 fingerprints, so if you share a bike with a partner, housemate or riding group, everyone can arm and disarm it without passing around a phone or a code”. Enough to cover a family bike or a shared cargo bike.
Alarm first, Find My network second
The way it works reads in two stages in the brand’s announcement: “when unwanted movement is detected, the device triggers a 93 dBA alarm, loud enough to draw immediate attention and deter opportunistic theft. If the bike is taken anyway, Apple’s Find My network lets you track it through the Find My app, the same way you’d locate an AirPods case or an iPhone.”
Leaning on Find My rather than on a GPS chip has a direct consequence for the bill: Quad Lock advertises its product as “no app required for everyday use. No subscription”, whereas many standalone GPS trackers are paid for by the month, the brand points out (“unlike many standalone GPS trackers”). The trade-off is twofold. First, the network itself: Apple explains that it is the nearby devices that report the position (“Nearby devices securely send the location of your missing device to iCloud”). Then, and above all, the brand explicitly restricts tracking to the Apple ecosystem — its product page states “Locating function via Apple Find My (iPhone and Apple devices only)”, and its comparison table lists the device as “Cross Platform: iOS”. Without an iPhone, the “Finder” half of the product is unusable.
On mounting, the unit screws onto the brand’s own ecosystem: Quad Lock says it “attaches directly to compatible Quad Lock Out Front Mounts and Stem Cap Mounts”, with a saddle rail or bottle cage adapter for the other cases, “covering commuter, road, gravel and mountain bikes”. Quad Lock presents the device as its “first dedicated bike security device”. It is rated IP66. On battery life, the brand’s two pages diverge: the announcement mentions a battery that is “Rechargeable, minimum 6-month life”, the product page “Up to 6 months battery life between charges”.
