Steve Hunt has designed a bicycle lock called the ‘Halo’, that can notify you when your bike is being stolen.

If the lock is being tampered with a message can be sent directly to the users smart phone. It works using a Wi-Fi card, called the “Eye-Fi”, which is normally found in digital cameras.

The drawback is that the bike must be parked in a Wi-Fi zone to work, and the owner must also be prepared to confront whoever is interfering with the lock.

Tags: bicycle lock, Halo, smart phone, steve hunt, wi-fi
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A third of guardrails on London’s red routes are being removed by Transport for London in an bid to reduce street clutter and improve the urban realm, according to the LCC.

TfL is removing the rails as they can block escape routes for cyclists threatened by motor vehicles, and are also believed to encourage motor vehicles to drive fast.

But they’re also frequently used for bike flyparking. So the LCC has written to TfL asking that any guard railings which are removed, and which serve as bike parking, should be replaced by bike stands.

TfL says it’s surveying locations where guard railing is removed to assess the need for cycle parking.

Tags: flyparking, guard rails, london red routes, tfl
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“A guy in our office had his bike stolen and spent days scouring ebay and gumtree to try and find it. As a web developer, he decided there was a better way to do this so has designed a site that amalgamates all of the bikes for sale in London daily on ebay and gumtree. If you have your bike stolen, go to his site where you’ll be able to easily search for the bike and see if anyone’s selling it, and you’ll be able to call the police or confront the person etc.” – thanks Will!

http://bikeshd.co.uk/

from shop14 blog

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The stands are a creative approach to bicycle parking in the city of Wrocław, Poland. Each one features a cast steel design, and is bolted to the ground.

The first stand, which has a curving structure and two integrated hoops, promotes a more secure locking practice. The bicycle frame and both wheels can be locked through the hoops of the bike stand.

The bicycle shaped stand is less secure, as it only allows one wheel and the frame to be locked to the curve of the stand.

Tags: bike stands, creative, cycle parking, Poland, steel, Wroclaw
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Photograph: Frederika Whitehead/guardian.co.uk

Police forces around the country are to deploy bait bikes after a series of successful pilot schemes throughout 2008 and 2009, with London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, also approving the tactic for the capital earlier this month.

‘Bait bikes’ or decoy or tracker bikes, are positioned by police in theft hot-spots. They are intentionally badly locked, or even unlocked, and are fitted with hidden GPS devices, letting officers trace them to the thieves, or better still to a lock-up or warehouse used by gangs to store lots of stolen bikes.

For more info, check out this article from The Guardian.

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