This Clever Bicycle Lock Designed By Students Will Deter Every Thief

It seems like every day there is a story on the news referencing some kind of bicycle theft, despite people’s best efforts to secure them using traditional bike locks.

Indeed, I would bet that all of us are familiar with a bike aficionado who can recount horror stories about having had multiple bicycles swiped from them while they are out and about.

Recently, three college students from Chile took it upon themselves to try and find a way to stop bicycle thieves in their tracks. Their solution? A new kind of bike lock that works far differently from the ones you and I are familiar with.

Simply put, they designed a bicycle (dubbed the Yerka Bicycle) whose frame serves as its own lock. Meaning that potential thieves would have to damage the bicycle itself to steal it, something that would stop most of them in their tracks.

As you may or may not know, ordinary bike locks work much like an enlarged padlock, holding a bike in place by loosely attaching it to a metal fixture. Thieves can easily get around this kind of lock by simply cutting through them, and hopping onto the bike to make their escape.

To steal a Yerka bike, they would have to cut through the frame itself, the front of which bends and contorts to serve a purpose similar to your standard bicycle lock. That is why it, in theory, provides a better defense.

The only drawback I can think of is that this kind of lock won’t stop thieves who are seeking your bike’s parts, in which case damaging a small portion of the frame in order to access the rest of it won’t really be an issue.

That said, this new kind of lock will definitely protect your bicycle more than a standard lock would, which is all anyone can really ask for.

Yerka plans to begin selling this new variety of bicycle some time in 2016, at a price of $500. Relatively expensive, but perhaps a small price to pay given the added security benefits.

Featured photo credit: Bicycle Parking/ Halfrain via flic.kr

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