Semipedersen

TimothyH

Is there a failsafe for when your phone dies or bluetooth doesn't connect?

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phughes

And yet, when the battery fails, you have to follow their procedure to "jump start" the lock. What if you don't just happen to be carrying an extra battery? Yeah...no thanks.

indyfabz

+1. Seems like a case of "just because you can doesn't mean you should."

My question is this: If you can unlock it with your phone in your pocket what is to prevent you from "butt unlocking" it while walking away?

PaulRivers

While I can understand the initial thought that you're already taking your phone with you so why not use it to unlock your bike, it seems like it would be a major pain to deal with a lock that you have to remember to recharge. Maybe if the battery lasted a year or something, but even then it's just less hassle and more reliable overall to bring a lock with a key or a combination.

Someone "picking" your lock doesn't seem to be much of a concern to me as it seems like thieves find it faster and easier to cut the whole lock anyways.

TrojanHorse

Well, the obvious advantage would be that you are far less likely to misplace your phone than you are the key. I have at least a couple bike locks out in the garage waiting to be reunited with a key that works.

I have bluetooth locks on my deadbolts (but you can still use the key) and frankly, I love them there.

But yeah, picking the lock seems to be the least likely way you'd lose them.

Semipedersen

Semipedersen

spinnaker

Because it connects to your pone it has to be good.

This is a solution looking for a problem. Exactly what is wrong with an old fashioned combo lock or better a key lock??

Semipedersen

spinnaker

And I will reject keyless technology for as long as possible. Is it really that much hassle to place a key in the door then one in the ignition to start it? Really?

wphamilton

If someone tends to lose keys or forget his combination it does solve a problem. There's also something to be said for convenience. I think it's pretty cool even if I don't want one.

HerrKaLeun

I'm a dinosaur... i have my bike lock key on the ring with my housekey.
I don't like to break my bike off a pole because the lock or the phone battery is low or because of some bluetooth issue.

spinnaker

How does it solve a problem when the technology fails or the battery on the phone or device dies?

Hang the key around your neck and keep a backup in your shoe or your wallet. Or use a less secure (probably more secure than a bluetooth device that can be hacked) combination lock.

Sorry it does not solve any problems. If anything it introduces them.

Nightcap

wphamilton

Manual unlock sequence, no worse than what you (presumably) do right now. Anything can fail, and it does not invalidate the solution.

Analogously, we use Google Authenticator (which provides an authentication PIN on our phones) as part of 2-factor authentication to remotely access the corporate VPN. What if the battery on the phone dies - it doesn't invalidate the solution. The bike lock isn't as secure as that process, but it doesn't need to be. Both solve a particular problem - access to a resource - and your objection about a possible point of failure does not reasonably lead to the conclusion that it's no solution, or that there was no problem in the first place. Nor does it introduce additional problems, as long as a backup method exists.

My phone battery is reasonably likely to be discharged during a ride, based on past experience, so this particular solution is not for me. But there is a path forward for this tech which would eliminate that and make it more generally applicable, which I might buy into if it's ever developed.

fietsbob

glorified padlock with a not that hard to cut cable? Nope.

TrojanHorse

It's enough of a hassle that thousands of people pay extra for it.

Do you still unlock your garage door and raise it by hand too?

phughes

I'm the opposite, especially with cars. I would prefer it to not be keyless. I have a motorcycle, which I bought for the overall design, and the fact it fit my riding needs, but it has a fob, and I hate it, the fob system. Give me a key. One of the biggest issues people have with the bike is the keyless system. With cars, it is also fairly easy for those with the knowledge and equipment, to hack into the system. Give me a key. I have watched too many cars opened wirelessly, not by the owner, to like that system. Yes, you can break into a keyed door, but not as cleanly as with a device that simply searches for the code, and once found, pops the lock.

Here is another way they do it. They intercept the signal from the fob, then retransmit it. https://www.wired.com/2017/04/just-p...can-steal-car/

https://gizmodo.com/watch-thieves-ha...-in-1820767189

It is also a "feature," that when it fails, is difficult to fix by the side of the road.

spinnaker

All of that and the second to last sentence proves my point.

Sometimes the low tech solution is the best solution. I good key lock is not going to fail if it is not abused. With a bluetooth solution, all bets are off. Almost anything can got wrong.


Oh and as far as losing the key; What says you can't lose your phone?? Happens all of the time. I can carry a spare key. How many people carry a spare cell phone.??

spinnaker

Poor example. I can get into my home with a key too. When I go out for a quick ride, I don't take a key, I leave the back door unlocked in the event the garage door fails. . I live in that kind of neighborhood that I can. You are asking for trouble putting faith in technology. Unfortunately some of it is unavoidable. But sometimes it is like this ridiculous lock for example.

Now a device that is not a lock but alarms and sends a text to your phone when removed? That makes a lot of sense. It can still fail but so what? If it fails you are no worse off than if you didn't use it at all.

DimplePimple

I think they're pretty cool. I want the kind that mounts to the frame & locks the back wheel.
Like so...

Living in a City with high bike theft I think it would be great while relaxing in a park.
I've already had 3 people approach me while sitting down attempting to steal my bike.

HerrKaLeun

The difference to a car is I don't need to manually mangle the chain around my car frame and some obstacle.
This lock doesn't really save much time since getting my phone out takes the same time as using a key. What takes long is to route the chain through frame and something to lock onto.

the real problem with bike locks is not the inconvenience of locking. The problem is to be practical the chain needs to be long to find good spots to lock onto. the other problem to be secure it needs to be heavy material. Long and heavy material = heavy. what the world needs is a long cable that is light but reasonably secure (i.e. equals a heavy chain). No lock is perfect, but inventing a cable lock at least as secure as a chain would be helpful.

U-locks can get heavy, and require a well placed thin pole. chains are more practical and can be long to give me more easy locking options, but get heavy.

wphamilton

I don't see how you come to that, but I'm sure that the people who use and like the product (like OP) will disagree with you, which is the only way that it matters either way. That's the great thing about technology. No matter what there will be naysayers who cannot see the point, but in the end their opinions don't matter. If it has utility for enough people who do like it, that's what matters.