Bicycles

Lock8 shrieks at thieves and tells you where your bike's been taken

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The Lock8, in place and in use
The Lock8 app allows you to track your stolen bike
The Lock8, in place and in use
The main Lock8 unit mounts on the frame adjacent to the left-side rear dropout, using a rubber-coated clamp to protect the bike's paint
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With a regular bicycle lock, you secure it to your bike when you park, then just hope that everything will still be intact when you get back. Such is not the case with the bike-mounted Lock8, however. If anyone tries monkeying with it, a high-pitched alarm will sound, and you will be instantly notified on your smartphone. Should the thief proceed to steal the bike, you can use your phone to track its whereabouts.

The main Lock8 unit mounts on the frame adjacent to the left-side rear dropout, using a rubber-coated clamp to protect the bike's paint. An included rubber-sheathed braided steel cable is run through the frame and around a nearby immovable object, the two ends of that cable then inserted into the locking unit. Those ends are locked into the unit not with a key, but instead by using a Bluetooth app on the user's smartphone.

If the user is rushing and forgets to wirelessly activate the lock, it will engage automatically once the paired phone goes out of Bluetooth range. Should the phone's battery die, the lock can still subsequently be disengaged using an included Bluetooth fob.

A weak electrical current is run through the cable, which lets the lock know when the cable is cut and the circuit is broken. Likewise, an onboard accelerometer and gyroscope will detect if the bike is being moved around a lot, and a temperature sensor will pick up on the presence of a cutting torch or liquid nitrogen. In any case, the result will be a piercing audio alarm, and a push notification being sent to the user.

The Lock8 app allows you to track your stolen bike

If the bike is taken without the locking unit first being removed, a GPS chip in that unit will allow the user to see where it's being taken. That GPS also lets the user share the location of their parked bike with select trusted people, who may wish to borrow the bike using a digital "key" sent to their phone by the main user.

The Lock8's battery level can be checked on the app, and topped up either via USB, or simply by riding the bike – the system features inductive charging, using spoke-mounted magnets to generate an electrical current as the rear wheel turns.

If some of these features sound at all familiar, it could be because they remind you of the BitLock. It also locks and unlocks by Bluetooth, and allows for multiple people to lock and unlock the bike. The mobilock is another similar product. It is mounted on the frame, utilizes a retractable steel cable, and lets the user track its whereabouts by GPS.

The makers of the Lock8 are currently raising production funds on Kickstarter. A pledge of £69 (about US$111) will get you one, when and if they're ready to go.

More information is available in the pitch video below.

Sources: Lock8, Kickstarter

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6 comments
christopher
Cool, but, the last kickstarter campaign for something the same as this didn't even reach half its goal.
cyclists who care, don't read gizmag or kickstarter it seems.
Slowburn
It seams like it would be awfully easy to steal the key.
duh3000
-> Christopher I cycle. I care. I read. I re-post on Facebook. But maybe you're right generally? Or maybe it's some other factor? Could it be the price of these innovative locks? Or perhaps individual users don't see the need for being able to set up a neighborhood, or local club, bikeshare programme. It seems to me that this is the real innovation offered by these locks, not the alarm (already been done) or the GPS tracking (also old news). Finally, I like the clean lines but concerning overall security, there is no mention of the materials used. Or weight. It seems this lock relies on sending a message to the owner, not on resisting attack. If that casing isn't steel and the video is accurate, @45" there's an exploded diagram which -- please correct me if I'm wrong here -- seems to show just where a drill might be used to disable the lock or GPS unit.
Fretting Freddy the Ferret pressing the Fret
Just buy a thick metal chain lock. Bind it around a stationary object and the frame of your bike when you lock it, but not the wheel!
David Spencer
The casing is polycarbonate (used for bullet proof glass). It will take a bit to get to the electronics, by which time the alarm has been triggered long before.
duh3000
Thanks David