Knog’s Scout Aims to Deter Theft, But Can Track Your Bike if it Doesn’t
The Knog Scout bolts to standard water bottle cage mounts and uses a loud, motion activated alarm to deter thieves from stealing your bike. Should they not be deterred, the device can be tracked through Apple’s Find My app, hopefully aiding in the recovery of your bike.
Knog Scout Bike Alarm and Tracker
Knog’s little Scout can be mounted by itself or hidden under a water bottle cage. Mounted under a plastic or carbon cage, the black Scout blends in quite well. To keep it from simply being removed from your bike, the Scout comes with a set of security bolts and a special tool to install or remove them. The bolts provided are long enough to mount a bottle cage on top of the Scout.
If you’d prefer to give more warning to thieves, the Scout has a neon yellow silicone cover that openly advertises its existence and could deter theft right away. If you want to keep the Scout more hidden (or use your bottle mounts to carry water too) the cover is not used, and the Scout is discreetly mounted under the bottle cage. It’s not much bigger than the bracket you might use to mount a pump under your cage.
The Scout boasts a motion sensitive 85db bike alarm – which obviously you have to activate in security mode. Any motion detected by the device’s gyroscopic chip will set off the alarm and automatically send a notification to the owner’s iPhone.
The Scout alarm can be armed or disarmed in two ways. First, if you and your connected iPhone are within 1.5m of the bike, you can simply use the button on the side of the device. If you’re further away (but within Bluetooth range), the Knog app is used to arm or disarm the Scout.
Tracking and Notifications
The Scout only works with Apple iOS based smartphones, iPads or Apple watches, as it relies on Apple’s Find My app to locate itself. And Knog’s iOS app is needed for setup and operation.
There are a few things to note about how the notifications and Find My app work. First of all, you will only get theft notifications if you’re within Bluetooth range and have the Knog app running on your phone. If you’re too far from your bike, you won’t get notified if someone moves it.
It’s also important to remember the Scout is not a GPS enabled device. Just like an AirTag, it relies on Apple’s Find My app, which pings other iPhones to locate devices.
One final note: Watching the setup video on Knog’s website, I noticed something buyers might want to know (which I’ll assume is noted in the Scout’s instructions)… You have to connect the Scout to the Find My app within ten minutes of plugging it into a charger for the first time.
Tech details
The Scout has three dual-function LED lights on its body, which indicate if the unit is armed or not and display its battery life. The LED near the charging port will glow red while the battery is charging, and turn green when it’s fully charged. A low battery notification lets you know when you’re down to 20% or less.
The Scout’s battery charges via USB-C (cable not included), and a full charge takes 4 hours. Fully charged, the battery should last between 2-6 months depending on usage. Knog says to expect two months if you arm your bike daily. Knog did not specify a lifespan for the non-replaceable (but obviously rechargeable) battery, but I found out some of their employees have been using Scouts for a few years without a noticeable decline in capacity.
The Scout is IP66 water resistant (described as wash proof), and its operating temperature range is -20° to 50°C. It measures 107x25x8mm, and weighs 25g.
Knog’s Scout bike alarm and tracker sells for $60, and is available now.
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