Designed! A bike that cannot be stolen

Cyclists usually worry about the safety of their bicycles whenever they have to “park” them somewhere. As a matter of fact, bicycles are stolen with ease. But a group of engineers in Chile, after coming up with the prototype of an “unstealable” bike, have stated that “a bike that gets stolen is no longer a bike”.

The "Yerka"...Photo credit: AP/Luis Andres Henao

The new bike, called the "Yerka," was designed by three young Chilean engineering students. Their new bike joins the recent trend of bikes that can be locked using some of their own parts. Other such designs include "Seatylock," based in Broklyn, which uses its saddle seat as a lock, and the Seattle-based "Denny," which is locked with its detachable handlebars.

But the inventors of the Yerka have a new approach. The bike's lower frame opens up into two arms that are then connected to the seat post and locked to a post. That way, a thief would have to destroy the bike to unlock it.

Associated Press quotes Cristobal Galban, who came up with the design during a college engineering class, as saying: "That's why our motto is `a bike that gets stolen is no longer a bike.' What we have here is truly an unstealable bike,". Cabello worked with childhood friends Andres Roi Eggers and Juan Jose Monsalve.

Galban, who holds a doctorate in naval and environmental engineering said a study by his team in 2013 found that "the use of bikes has doubled among Chileans" in five years.

"The main problem in Chile and elsewhere are the robberies, so the Yerka could help solve this," said Galban, whose own bike was recently stolen.

According to AP, “Now, while waiting for the patent to be approved and carrying out more tests on the bike's resistance to thieves, the team plans to launch a crowd funding campaign seeking to raise funds. They're also looking for a partner who can invest $300,000 needed to produce a first batch of 1,000 bikes that they hope will be sold by mid-2015".