Belgium e-bike maker Cowboy has announced new and advanced Find My Bike features, with updates including an audible alarm and a theft report link to make it easier to pass on key bike details to police and insurance companies.

Riders will be able to activate the alarm, which is powered by the bike’s motor, through the Cowboy app from up to 30 metres away. The bike also has a backup cell which can be activated if its battery is drained or removed, so that the bike can still be tracked for up to a week.

Other updates include a new in-app compass view to help locate a missing bike. Cowboy's Find My Bike function already means riders can locate their bike with GPS tracking, while the Theft Alert function alerts them when someone tries to take it. The company says that 0.2% of its fleet of e-bikes has been stolen since September this year. Over 90% of those have since been recovered.

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Cowboy has also created the ability for riders to generate a Theft Report Link within the app. This automatically inputs key data to be shared with the police and insurance company, such as the bike’s latest location, serial number, colour, and model.

The over-the-air update will be available for all Cowboy e-bikes via the Cowboy app for both iOS and Android users.

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Tanguy Goretti, co-founder and CTO, Cowboy, said: “We know the negative impact bike theft has on communities, and we want to send a strong message to thieves that whilst Cowboy bikes are very attractive to look at, they are very unattractive to steal.

“The new Cowboy Find My Bike features will further protect our bikes from theft by deterring thieves, whilst also offering more tools to the rider and law enforcement to find stolen bikes faster.

“Without GPS you have three times the chance to get your bike stolen, and our GPS tracking is already incredibly advanced in locating and retrieving Cowboy bikes, with 94% of Cowboy e-bikes being successfully recovered.

“We have also aided in retrieving dozens of other stolen bikes with no GPS tracking capabilities that have been found in the same location. The vast amount of data points we now have around theft hotspots help us not only to prevent crime but remove a significant barrier to purchase for the next generation of e-bike riders.”