6 ms·

There is clearly a pain point in need of an innovative solution, might be a sizeable market.

dukeyukey 5y ago
Folding bike :)
Gigachad 5y ago
HN will hate this but the solution is likely to serial number every part on the bike and software lock it down so if you take a battery or something from one bike, it becomes bricked when you stick it in another bike. This would get hard with non electronic parts like wheels though.
- wyre 5y ago
  That wouldn’t eliminate theft but it would only make it worse for the consumer.
  - convolvatron 5y ago
    you should see what's happening to rental ebikes and scooters in SF. I've got a giant pile of hub bldc motors and battery packs I've picked up off the street that the scrappers left. all of those had gps and were ostensibly only unlockable with the service. I don't see any way the rental company is going to stop that. its certainly not like the police here are going to be anything but abusive if you called them about a bike or scooter that you left out for anyone to get at.
- SamWhited 5y ago
  The frame already has a serial number on it and in most places you can file your bike's S/N with the local police department so that if you file a report and they find it they can look it up and reach out to you. This part is already done and works pretty well for recovery (not for reducing theft). For e-bikes in particular the batteries have a lock, and the motor has DRMed firmware on most big name bikes. It hasn't helped theft, it's just annoying for the user. In general the thief can just grab the entire bike and throw it in a truck, then once they're offsite they have as much time as they want to rewrite the firmware or pick the lock so this doesn't really help.
londons_explore 5y ago
iPhones had a similar theft problem till they implemented decent anti-theft DRM. Now it's rare to see iPhones stolen. Ebikes could do the same. It would be a shame for the 'hacker' crowd, but with locked down firmware and all parts cryptographically linked by serial number, there would be no valuable parts to strip from a stolen bike.
- petre 5y ago
  VanMoof has some phone home anti theft as a service with integrated tracking. I guess e-bikes could use some kind if location tag embedded in a non removable part like the frame. Rental e scooters have anti theft feature that they sound an alarm and block the wheels if moved although it's useless unless it also phones home. I move them when people park them in our apartment building's courtyard which is private property and against the TOS.
- mixmastamyk 5y ago
  What is anti theft drm?
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    The ability to click "I lost my iPhone" and be confident that no thief can just erase the phone and use it himself. It normally involves ensuring the device has secure boot, non-rollbackable firmware, tamper-resistant storage for a 'when I last talked to my server' timestamp, and network connectivity to be able to talk to a server to get the lock/unlock status.
    - mixmastamyk 5y ago
      So results in untamperable lockdown next time it connects to icloud?
      - londons_explore 5y ago
        Pretty much, yeah. It also forces the phone to not allow various offline use (like erasing it and setting up a new user)
TulliusCicero 5y ago
VanMoof has an insurance program with their own employees as bike hunters who will track down your stolen bike, and replace it if they can't find it: https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a35429606/stolen-bicycle-theft-vanmoof-bike-hunters/ https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a35429606/stolen-bicycl...
908B64B197 5y ago
Solution is to get rid of the traditional bike rack and have a proper indoor, locked area for bikes.

Folding bike :)

HN will hate this but the solution is likely to serial number every part on the bike and software lock it down so if you take a battery or something from one bike, it becomes bricked when you stick it in another bike. This would get hard with non electronic parts like wheels though.

wyre 5y ago
That wouldn’t eliminate theft but it would only make it worse for the consumer.
- convolvatron 5y ago
  you should see what's happening to rental ebikes and scooters in SF. I've got a giant pile of hub bldc motors and battery packs I've picked up off the street that the scrappers left. all of those had gps and were ostensibly only unlockable with the service. I don't see any way the rental company is going to stop that. its certainly not like the police here are going to be anything but abusive if you called them about a bike or scooter that you left out for anyone to get at.
SamWhited 5y ago
The frame already has a serial number on it and in most places you can file your bike's S/N with the local police department so that if you file a report and they find it they can look it up and reach out to you. This part is already done and works pretty well for recovery (not for reducing theft). For e-bikes in particular the batteries have a lock, and the motor has DRMed firmware on most big name bikes. It hasn't helped theft, it's just annoying for the user. In general the thief can just grab the entire bike and throw it in a truck, then once they're offsite they have as much time as they want to rewrite the firmware or pick the lock so this doesn't really help.

londons_explore 5y ago

iPhones had a similar theft problem till they implemented decent anti-theft DRM. Now it's rare to see iPhones stolen. Ebikes could do the same. It would be a shame for the 'hacker' crowd, but with locked down firmware and all parts cryptographically linked by serial number, there would be no valuable parts to strip from a stolen bike.

petre 5y ago
VanMoof has some phone home anti theft as a service with integrated tracking. I guess e-bikes could use some kind if location tag embedded in a non removable part like the frame. Rental e scooters have anti theft feature that they sound an alarm and block the wheels if moved although it's useless unless it also phones home. I move them when people park them in our apartment building's courtyard which is private property and against the TOS.
mixmastamyk 5y ago
What is anti theft drm?
- londons_explore 5y ago
  The ability to click "I lost my iPhone" and be confident that no thief can just erase the phone and use it himself. It normally involves ensuring the device has secure boot, non-rollbackable firmware, tamper-resistant storage for a 'when I last talked to my server' timestamp, and network connectivity to be able to talk to a server to get the lock/unlock status.
  - mixmastamyk 5y ago
    So results in untamperable lockdown next time it connects to icloud?
    - londons_explore 5y ago
      Pretty much, yeah. It also forces the phone to not allow various offline use (like erasing it and setting up a new user)

TulliusCicero 5y ago

VanMoof has an insurance program with their own employees as bike hunters who will track down your stolen bike, and replace it if they can't find it: https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a35429606/stolen-bicycle-theft-vanmoof-bike-hunters/ https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a35429606/stolen-bicycl...

908B64B197 5y ago

Solution is to get rid of the traditional bike rack and have a proper indoor, locked area for bikes.