genec

It is an interesting concept... but I do see two flaws in the design... one being that to steal the bike, one simply has to cut the seat post used as part of the lock mechanism. The other flaw is that the seat itself is still an item subject to theft. Some saddles out there (Brooks for one) are quite expensive.

Nice idea though.

https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advi...144102210.html

keyven

As shown in quite a few youtube vids, most locks out there can be cut, so this bike saves on the cost and weight of an extra lock to be carried around.

Ultimately, if a professional thief wants your locked bike, he will get it.

JameB

Ultimate bike lock = common anti-thief sense + a good lock + GPS chip that can't be disabled + label mentioning the GPS chip.

That and if a famous company makes this whole system famous, it can essentially stop bike thieves.

iconicflux

Yeah, because no one ever disables car alarms and boosts the cars.

I don't know how you'd have a gps chip that can't be disabled. I bet I could disable one using the parts from a disposable camera and a spool of thin wire.

JameB

You can enclose a GPS chip inside some sort of insulating material that blocks current from frying the circuitry. GPS chips are quite small, so the insulation doesn't have to be that thick.

Just because YOU don't know something doesn't mean it's not possible.

EDIT: Or take out the labels warning of the GPS chip and use a good lock + GPS chip. Not like thieves are going to look for them.

genec

Sure, but as the web site points out... the thief will be destroying part of the bike in an effort to steal it... thus rendering it useless. At a minimum the seat post would be destroyed... requiring a replacement.

keyven

I thought about that - can't the thief cut the lower few inches off and still have a usable seatpost? Not sure if I'm missing anything.

iconicflux

I'd you do that you'll likely attenuate the signals because you have to have an antenna for the chip to function. I'd expect sophisticated thieves to use a GPS jammer, remove the bike, then remove the GPS and cell chips later.

genec

Maybe. But I wonder how the seatpost locks into the swiveling downtube portion... I mean would that leave bits in the lock part that would still prevent the bike from being ridable?

In the video it looks like part of the seatpost goes into the lower half of the "breakaway" downtube... so even if the seatpost is cut, could the downtube be reattached to itself?

genec

If the thieve are sophisticated enough to have a GPS jammer, they probably won't be stealing bikes.

Most bike thieves are about as sophisticated as "cable cutter hidden in jacket."

JameB

This.

I seriously doubt there are people who ride EXPENSIVE bikes AND leave them locked somewhere.

If someone really does own an expensive bike, I hope they're smart enough to do the basics in terms of deterring bike thieves. Plus, without any warnings, the GPS chip isn't something a thief would look for.

genec

Wish I could agree with you... I happen to know someone that locked his rather expensive off road style bike with a few cable locks and then went out for a day sail... Upon return, he had to take a cab.

He has asked to borrow one of my bikes... but frankly I just can't do it... he already lost his bike. I don't want him to lose mine too.

I'm just glad he wasn't sailing with me... I might feel a bit guilty about it.

The only bike I ever lost over the years was a fat tire cruiser... and I felt bad enough losing that. (yeah, it was cable locked... right near a security office... go figure.)

ItsJustMe

The CHIPS are small, but the antenna is at least postage stamp size and needs to be exposed, plus you need a battery, and if the chip isn't reporting its location anywhere that's useless, so you have also a cell phone modem, SIM chip, make the battery big enough to run that for a week, etc.

Plus where you gonna put it? Most solutions I've seen put it in the saddle, because everything else has metal everywhere and that would block the whole thing from working. If these were common at all, thieves would quickly learn to remove and toss the saddle.

If these were common, it would be easy enough to know where they were. With a battery in there, you could disable it with a nail and a hammer (or rock).

seeker333

The Unstealable Bike (UB) could be stolen quickly and easily by almost anyone using the inexpensive, widely available Universal Bicycle Key:

Ryobi 18-Volt One+ 4-1/2 in. Angle Grinder (Tool-Only)-P421 at The Home Depot

I think any bike locked with a sturdy U-lock would be slightly less stealable, since there's more material to cut through than the seat post on the UB.

iconicflux

Just today I saw a Pinarello Dogma 2 with Campy EPS on top of a car without a lock on the rack for 3 hours.

iconicflux

I'm aware of one on the market that uses the top cap for the antenna. I don't know how good it does with reception but it's an interesting usage...

JameB

I don't even know what to say... I have a cheap bike and I never leave it unattended. Perhaps the guy was really rich or had insurance.. but either way, a GPS chip would have helped him in case his bike was stolen!

JameB

GPS chips are already available for bikes. You can even use something like (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/s...ind-lost-items) to keep track of your bikes. There was another app that uses the same concept to lookout for stolen items (i.e. if someone else with the app comes close to the item, it will notify the owner of its location).

genec

Sure, but does that damage then render the bike useless, and thus "unstealable." Granted, there is more to a bike than the frame... and that could be the issue at hand. But if you have to cut the frame to steal the bike... is the bike still good as a bike?

Again, I don't know what would happen if you left part of the seat post in the lower half of the movable "lock" portion of the downtube... so this is all academic at this time.

GP

The most common stolen bike in the tidelands is a Giant MTB.

walrus1

The only way to make your bike almost unstealable is to lock it in Front Knox surrounded by soldiers who shoot anything that moves other then each other. Realistically all you can do is make more difficult to steal then the bike you lock next to.

The wheels are still vulnerable.