The World's First Smart Bike Lock Keeps the Thieves Away

If you've never lived in an urban area, you may not understand how important a good bike lock is. For bicyclists, making sure the lock you pick is going to keep that bike secured is just as important as remembering to lock your car door. Actually, it can be more important, because bike theft is one of the most popular crimes out there and once it happens, it's nearly impossible to get your property back. Thankfully, Lock8 has arrived to keep your wheels safe.

Once it's enabled, the device will sound a shrill 120dB alarm if someone tries to break the Smart Cable connected to the lock. The sensors can detect vibrations and temperature, so whether the thief tries to cut the cable or get a blowtorch out, Lock8 will know. What is even cooler is that if someone tampers with the lock at all, you will get a notification on your phone, so you can intercept in time. You can also share the e-key with trusted friends and they will get notifications too, which would come in handy if you lend your bike to someone.

If someone does get away with your bike though, Lock8 also has a GPS tracker built in so you can go get it back — or have the cops do it for you. A GPS tracker also means that should you forget where you left your bike and can't seem to get back to it, your phone will lead you right to it.

The lock itself is pretty big, but that may be a good thing because these may become so popular that just the sight of the Lock8 logo will be enough to deter a would-be thief. Founded by Franz Salzmann and Daniel Zajarias, Lock8 is currently looking for funding onKickstarter. They have 27 days left to reach their goal of £50,000 (around $80,228) — at the time of this article they were at £36,415 ($58,518) — so if you want one, you better help them out quickly.