A few months ago, we reported on the “unpickable” bike lock – now, three engineering students in Chile who have come up with what they claim is the world’s first “unstealable” bike are seeking backing to put it into production.
As some road.cc readers pointed out in comments to our article in April about the Forever Lock, securing your bike with something that can’t be picked is all well and good, except thieves instead tend to physically break locks. Not so good.
But what if the lock is an integral part of the bike, rendering it useless if it’s broken? That’s the thinking behind the Yerka Project, with the downtube able to be separated into two parts that swing out, with the seat post completing the lock as shown in this video.
The bike, which is a prototype, was designed by three engineering students who had all been victims of cycle thieves, Cristobal Cabello, Andres Roi Eggers and Juan Jose Monsalve.
There’s minimal information on the project’s website, with no details of pricing nor how much weight the locking mechanism adds compared to a similar bike without one.
According to The Scotsman, the three designers are waiting for their patent to be granted, and aim to seek crowdfunding to take the project to the next stage.
It adds that they are looking for a partner able to invest $300,000 for the initial production run of 1,000 bicycles that they plan to sell from the middle of next year.
Oh, and that "unpickable" lock? It turns out it wasn't.
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I'm out
The post is long enough to lop in half and still be usable. Nice idea but possibly not the best.
You're right, I probably wouldn't ride my bike with my patented seatpost spike fitted, I'd use a normal seatpost and just fit the special one when leaving the bike parked up somewhere!
So I guess they don't have any problems with people only stealing the wheels in Chile.
I don't understand why it is taking so long for bike designers to develop a seat post with an enormous spring loaded spike inside which can be remotely deployed by the rightful owner (via their 'phone) when they discover that their bike has been stolen? I bet that would cut bike theft right down, (or increase sales of replacement seat posts!).
[[[[[ Watch out for new clobber---concrete underpants!
P.R.
"Unstealable" - because that bike is hideous.
so cut the seat post, steal the bike and then get another seat post for £5.
What he said.
What are we missing?
levermonkey's déjà vu aside, this appears to be a unique and tangential answer to a bastard of a problem. I wish them the best of luck taking it forward.
I think that they may be waiting a long time for their patent to be granted. I am getting a very strong feeling of deja vu.
There is something about how the tube 'breaks' and the seat post is used as a locking skewer.
I hope I'm wrong for their sakes.