YERKA Bike Is Unstealable Because The Bike Is The Lock
We've seen a lot of "smart" bikes lately, some as final products and some still in crowdfunding. But most of them, if not all, don't exactly protect your somewhat expensive and fancy incentive from one of the biggest cycling dangers of all: thieves. Some do have some sort of technology, but at most they help you only after the fact and not prevent theft in the first place. YERKA wants to change all that, by offering the vision of a bike that cannot be stolen, simply because the bike itself is the lock.
Technically, it is the frame that becomes the lock. The frame detaches from certain parts and can be reattached to "wrap" around a post or fence, thereby locking the bike in place, no chains required. The locking mechanism requires a special screw in order to unlock. The only other way to do so would be to break the frame, which renders the bike totally unusable. It's like bricking a phone, which, in most instances, becomes a deterrent to theft. At least to the sensible thief.
The bike can hook around any post that is at most 8 inches in diameter. And in the rare case that the thief actually breaks the post or fence itself, the bike is still unusable because of the way it is locked in position. But wait, what about the wheels? That same special screw is present there so that the wheels cannot be removed, again without breaking the bike.
The YERKA bike is admittedly an intriguing concept, but, as far as the other features of the bike go, it is quite plain. You will be giving up on the smarts that other bikes these days promise. You can't even ride it on rugged paths, but it will do fine on smooth roads and cities. That said, you can actually replace parts of the bike that you want, like the wheel, pedals, or brake. The key part anyway is the frame.
The bike is currently still on Indiegogo, though they have already reached half of their $50,000 funding goal and with 44 days to go. If they ever reach $200,000, they will add a Bluetooth locking and unlocking mechanism. Do note that the campaign is set to Flexible Funding mode, which means they still take away a portion of the pledged amount even if they don't reach their funding goal by the time the run ends.
VIA: Indiegogo