When Alexander Mapondera goes to the Baar bike store to pick up his racing bike, he learns that it was stolen the night before along with 17 others, as Pilatus Today reports. Phoenix Bike, as the store is called, specializes in racing bikes from Pinarello and other premium brands. The 18 stolen bikes are worth 150,000 Swiss francs. The fact that not only new models are among them, but also those that customers have returned to the store for a service or repair, makes things even more unpleasant for the manager.

Racing cyclists love their bikes just like mountain bikers. One example of this is Alexander Mapondera, who has an air tag hidden on his bike. He can use the app to locate it: it is in Milan. He passes the information on to the police, but they search for the stolen goods without success. And this is where love comes into play: he couldn't sleep anymore and only thought about his bike, he tells Pilatus Today.

Taking the train to Milan

Because the police couldn't find his treasure, he got on the train to Milan to look for it himself. The signal comes from an industrial area, as Blick reports. A man asked him what he was looking for here and he explained it to him, whereupon he suggested that the police should search for the bikes.

The police arrived, although they had already searched for the bikes without success thanks to the tracker signal. It takes several attempts. Finally, Mapondera hears the beeping of his air tag, which he can trigger via the app. The high-end racing bikes, frames and wheelsets are lying in the bushes. The Zug man and all the other owners get their bikes back.

Mapondera's own initiative undoubtedly helped to find the stolen goods before the thieves moved them on. The Airtag and the iPhone on which it is registered can be located to the nearest meter if they are close to each other - for example, in the home if you have misplaced your bunch of keys. However, the Apple Tracker is not a GPS transmitter. It only interacts with other iPhones that are in the vicinity. If there are no Apple smartphones within Bluetooth range, the tracker cannot be detected.