Pointing out flaws is part of the design process or are you of the era where if your breathing in and out on your own your get gold stars and put on the honnor roll?
yea, true zippy, but i think its more successful when you point out flaws constructively… rather than getting upset about it. also, its good to keep an open mind when looking at more “blue sky” concepts and then narrow from there… and not bash from the start. my thoughts.
like yo, i don’t think there is any need to worry about accidental activation. there would probably be some collatoral damage to other bikes and the surrounding environment, but the chemistry of the ink could minimize the impact.
i do not think defeating the lock would be as simple as covering it with a plastic baggy. Firstly, the lock would be intertwined between multiple parts of the bicycle and a stationary object. Covering the lock would not be that easy. Secondly, the lock would still need to be cut, which would open up a hole in the bag for liquid to escape through. I’m sure there is a way around this, but I’m also sure there is a way to design a solution for that, as well.
what i like about this concept is that it fights back. most locks on the market and most (but not all) in the competition will only serve to deter the inexperienced and slow down the professionals. This one might make them think twice about whether the theft is worth it.
also, this was a 1 hour design competition so i wouldn’t expect it to be perfect. and it wasn’t even my entry, so i’ll let it be for now.
I live in Barcelona, and the municipal bike system here has been in use for about a year now (bicing.com).
It actually works quite well, (some teething problems with over-subscription, and thus often you can´t find a station with a bike or a station with a space to park again), but its advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The bikes themselves are nothing special, but they still get stolen and “pimped up” or “fixied”. It seems that a bike in Barcelona is a stealable/desirable item, and the only way to minimise the possibility that your two wheels get half-inched is to make them look as knackered and unsaleable as possible (think paint, old sut-up tyres wrapped around the frame, etc.)
It´s sponsored by ClearChannel (a controversial aspect of the system), and provided by the local council - you sign up for a year at a time, and receive a swipe-card to use at the stations.
Ah I didn’t realize the bikes had to be paid for. We have something in the Netherlands called OV-fiets (public transportation bike) and it works about the same. Get a year subscription and you can get a bike at every trainstation for about 2 euros per use.
I thought real ‘white bike’ systems were based on non-paid free for everyone to use bikes, but that couldn’t be possible in this time
Edit:
Something similar has been going on for cars lately, it’s called GreenWheels and there are these red Peugeot 206’s with green wheels that you can pick up with your membership card. Very nice!
2E/use? Wow! Ours cost 6E for a year´s subscription (use it as much as you like; it´s open during the times the metro runs), although after the initial offer it´s gone up to 26E, I think. Still not bad when a single metro ticket costs around 1.20E (approx.). It works well because the centre of Bcn is quite small, as cities go, (although they could have more bike lanes - I think Holland´s far ahead on that aspect!), whereas I can´t imagine how it´ll work in London where they have plans to install it soon…
For the record, I particularly like zama’s “locko”, maybe not theft-proof (cut cable and brake lines) but a pleasantly simple idea for a better bike lock that doesn’t require buying a custom bike.
Muffcuff - you can pretty much already get them, easy snippable wires
VBSS - very expencive, open to vandalism and the ratio of bikes locked to space required is uneconomic
Maxsters - very painful if malfunctions
Compo Net - Great idea, but would need a whole backpack to store a net that strong and big, could take you a while to lock and untangle
Bike Alarm - Smashable, mufflable (is that a word?), needs someone to care to stop a theif
JGB Bike Lock - you can already get them pretty much, but they are the best locks around, a simple but effective variation
Hexbolt - Steal it, drill out the bolts and replace
Steel Wheel - Unlikely to be feasible with current materials, would not fit all types of bikes, no good for wheelies
MagniLock - I’m not sure how you’d have the strength to even part magnets so powerfull, you’d be a danger to all things electrical and possibly the earths own magnetic field
The Judge - Take it off before you steal it, fun idea I’d buy one to booby trap friends bikes
1HDC - only room for 1 thick cable of decent length in seat shaft, maybe 2 thin cables which could be easly snipped
Belt Lock - Nice idea, would be quite bulky and potentially snipable but maybe not as much as a cable would be
Intergrated Bike Lock and Pump - Nice idea, only for race handlebars and spokeless wheels???
Kickstand - Pick it up and run or steal all the other parts
Theft Proof Bike (seat cable) - Neat solution, snipable
Tri Cuffs - Nice idea, not really sure how cuttin the cable and THEN the cuffs lock up helps, just dont cut it and carry the bike? The wheel cuffs are a good idea though, the environment lock is still a cable, snipable
K10 TD System - Awesome
Fleur de le Spike - Wear medieval armour then steal, joust your way past anyone in your way
Locbike - Definitely theft proof, maybe purchase proof too
Socialist Bike - I’ll take mine in red
To be honest if they want to steal it they will and if those same people see a fancy bike that will disable itself by cutting a wire then they would probably do that anyway and move on to a bike they can steal, best thing to do is to buy a cheap bike and standard lock… infact thinking about it designing the cheapest bike possible with intergrated cable lock and leaving your full suspension model at home when tootling to the shops would have been a reasonably good idea…
Is K-10 the attack dog? I’d love it if it were a real dog! Surprisingly it’s probably the most effective deterrent in the group, although highly unpractical.
must admit i like the simplicity of camocycle but the ink lock gets my vote.
be well cool if it had a few different colours, and used that gunk stuff that you can get as an aerosol self defence product. takes days to wash off your face apparantly.