Keyless entry is here. Electric locking systems are flooding the market. Specifically companies trying to influence the growing bike share industry. Kickstarting out of San Francisco, California is Bitlock. Bitlock initially focused on a simple Bluetooth locking system. The system can sense when you are three feet from your bike and essentially unlock when you touch the locking apparatus. People are excited about this lock because its baby blue aesthetic is really lovely and it looks the part of a normal bike lock. But, is it too normal? They’ve added some recent additions to compete with Lock8. Let’s see what they are.
Keyless and Battery life
Bitlock boasts a five-year battery life. Since your phone doesn’t, however, Bitlock comes with a 16 digit binary code to ensure you can get into your bicycle when your phone dies on you. So, there really aren’t any keys involved!
Bitlock Activity Monitor
The Bitlock activity monitor is an interesting function. The monitor is able to track how many miles you’ve cycled, calories you’ve burned and how much C02 emissions you have saved from kissing the environment. And, to promote better battery life for your cell phone, you can turn this function off. This is nothing that Lock8 doesn’t do, though. Bitlock has a GPS feature, like Lock8, which tracks the location of your bicycle, but only if you have your Bitlock functioning. Whereas Lock8, although slightly uglier, is able to track your bicycle at all times since it is installed directly on your bicycle. If your bike somehow gets stolen there is no alarm on this lock system because thieves will always get rid of the lock so there is a GPS on the lock but it’d be pointless! However, the material that they BitLock is made out of reinforced and cut-resistant steel and uses a high security disc locking mechanism and a bent shackle leg.
Bitlock is promoting a sharing feature.
Bitlock is promoting a sharing feature. Lots of companies want to enact the city car share models with bicycles. It’s how you can make a miserly buck. Who doesn’t want to do that in this kind of economy? And, face it, the majority of people sharing bicycles aren’t baby boomers, they are young adults with semi-steady incomes. This is attractive to young people because they think that by purchasing more electronics they’re able to make money while promoting a better environment. But anyone knows that the expense of a city renders this moot. If it’s about convenience or just sending a friend a free ride, we understand that ideal. But, you’re not going to make any money renting your bicycle. Think about it then share away. It’s common sense but you should only share you bike with people you trust!
Bitlock is gaining reputation.
Bitlock is gaining reputation because its marketing and branding are superior to Lock8. Plus, Lock8 is the worst title for a company or product ever conceived. It’s ruthlessly bad to title a product by just putting a number like 8 at the end of it for good luck. Either way, the technology that these two young companies are adding to the lock and bike share market are interesting to see develop. Conclusively, one doesn’t really use its clout against the other. So, next week, when another bike share company comes out with a new lock we’ll see how it weighs against these two popular ones at the moment.