Five Newfangled Locks To Help Thwart Bike Theft

4. What We've Been Waiting For...the Built-in Bike Lock

My partner and I have been dreaming about bikes with a "built-in" locking system for over a year, since I bought a Swedish Crescent city bike that sports a combination of an o-lock on the back wheel plus an integrated cable lock that hooks into the o-lock's key mechanism. The system feels great because you can keep it on your bike at all times and it doesn't weigh much, however there is a feeling that this system may give false security because of the lameness of cable locks when in an encounter with a thief with rudimentary tools. (Photo of the Abus o-and-chain lock also via Abus.)

Photo via Tony Pereira @ flickr.
What we lusted after instead was a bike where a u-lock is integrated into the bike frame. Portland, Oregon custom bike builder Tony Pereira obviously must have already had this thought, and showed his creation of a u-lock that plugs into frame and steer tube, at this year's Oregon Manifest. Not yet priced.

5. Helmet Lock and Saddle Protector

This is one of those solutions with the right idea but the wrong implementation. Having your bike safely and terrifically locked only to have your helmet stolen is a big bummer, so Smartasaker's saddle cover plus cable lock is a necessary innovation. But it doesn't go far enough to truly solve the the problem, since all but the most spur-of-the-moment bike thieves travel with bolt cutters. But would they mess with your bike and pull out the cutters just for the helmet? Only the thief knows for sure. An "A" for effort, anyway. About $35.

Read more about bike theft at TreeHugger
6 Ways to Avoid Bike Theft
Three Cool RFID Projects to Deter Bike Theft
Bike Thief Nabbed Via Facebook

---