Unlock your bike with a smartphone

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 21, 2013 at 8:41pm

Didn't Kryptonite give up on that one side lock thing awhile ago? No sense in improving the key if they compromised the basic lock mechanism?

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Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on October 22, 2013 at 9:36am

Terrible idea. Mechanical locks are basically fool-proof. I don't want to have to worry about the battery in my lock or phone dying, and being stranded.

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Permalink Reply by Rich S on October 22, 2013 at 10:01am

This was a similar discussion a few months back.  

My main concern with locks like these would be the lock itself. If they used cheaper material on the lock to keep overall cost down. It says the Bitlock will be $140 retail and that's the price of two Kryptonite Evo 4s or buy a New York series and save about $50. There's no way the Bitlock or Haamlock are more secure than either of those options. I'd much rather the cost of a lock go towards theft-prevention. 

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 22, 2013 at 10:08am

Some people won't be satisfied until there's an app to assist in putting on our underwear in the morning. :-)

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Permalink Reply by BruceBikes on October 22, 2013 at 10:31am

Without reading the previous discussion, I can see this lock being useful for a community bike where multiple people need access to it, say in an office where employees can take it to lunch/meetings/etc.

It doesn't seem appropriate for high-security applications, but I see it working for a certain niche.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Rogers on October 22, 2013 at 10:42am

I really, really like this idea in principle, but I'm going to let other people beta test it first. My main concerns are:

* What happens when the battery in the lock dies? (I'm not worried about my phone battery, I can manage that)

* If it's wet and cold out, any chance of the locking mechanism seizing up? A normal U-lock you can work free should you end up in such a scenario, but this? I dunno.

* Will they have different sizes, because that one pictured seems kind of enormous.

Ultimately, keys are probably just easier to deal with, especially in the cold. I can work keys with gloves on, but my phone, not so much.

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