Hasta La Gadget!

The StayLocked Bicycle is unridable when the locking mechanism is broken. Photo courtesy of Andrew Leinonen.

No matter the gauge of the U-lock or the metallurgy of the chain looped around your frame, the lock securing that vintage Miyata to the parking meter will not stop a determined thief with the right tools. Enter the StayLocked Bicycle.

The StayLocked secures the bike by making the lock part of the bike. If it’s broken, the bike is unridable and, parts aside, valueless. Andrew Leinonen, a Toronto-based industrial designer and cyclist, created the prototype bike after years of the security anxiety that comes with being an urban rider.

“A few weeks ago, my girlfriend’s bike was stolen,” he says. “Out of our own alleyway.”

The locking mechanism comprises a section of the seatstays — the two tubes that extend up to the seat from the rear wheel. Leinonen installed a universal joint at the junction of the tube and latches in the stays to secure it to the frame.

The locking section of the frame swings to secure your bike to a meter, post. Should an ignorant criminal break the lock, the chain stays — those tubes extending from the rear wheel to the crank — won’t support a rider’s weight. The bike will collapse as the thief tries to ride off with the plunder. Unfortunately, whether the culprit realizes the destruction before or after breaking the lock, all parties are left without a bike.

Since the lock fits in an integral part of the frame, Leinonen had reconfigure some key parts of the bike. The seat stays take a lot of the pressure during a ride, and Leinonen has outfitted the locking area accordingly.

“The shackle is inserted four inches into the stub tubes, so there’s a great deal of clamping area,” he says. “For additional peace of mind, a notch on the shackles latches over the quick-release binder bold to ensure that it can’t slide.”

He also put the brake caliper on the chain stays, down at the wheel’s 3 o’clock position.

Thought the bike is still a prototype, Leinonen is looking to produce the frames for large-scale sales.

“I’d be flattered if Giant or Trek were interested,” he says.

Whether criminals are smart enough to be deterred has yet to be determined, but the satisfaction of the StayLocked Bicycle’s retribution is inarguable.