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TECH NEWS
ellipse lock3.pngThis keyless smart lock has arrived in the UK and costs £199
The Ellipse is a solar powered bicycle lock that connects to a smartphone to provide theft alerts and keyless entry.
We first reported on the lock, when it was called the Skylock, back in 2014, and it successfully crowdfunded the project the following year. It’s since taken the US by storm, according to the press release we’ve been sent, and has now arrived in the UK. It costs £199 and is available now.
- The best bike locks — stop your bike getting stolen with our selection
The Ellipse lock is powered by solar power so you don’t even need any batteries, but you can charge it via a USB port if needed. The thin-film solar cells trickle charge the battery and just an hour of sunlight is enough to keep it going for a week. The panels are water resistant and covered with an impact resistant polycarbonate plastic shell.
It uses Bluetooth 4.0 to connect to any compatible smartphone and can provide notifications to your phone if a would-be thief is tampering with the lock, though we presume that requires you to be within reasonably close proximity of the lock given Bluetooth’s limited range. It can also alert friends if you have a crash using the on-board accelerometer.
The company boasts of the possibly appealing opportunity to share your bike with friends using virtual keys in the companion app, essentially a bike-sharing program. There’s also a find my bike feature if you forget where you locked your bike the morning after a night out…
The lock is made with a 17mm thick 4100 series chromoly steel shackle and a dual-locking mechanism that the company says means a thief would have to cut through it twice to get away with your pride and joy. As for the keyless entry, it says it has used “bank-level” encryption to prevent hackers from gaining access.
You can find out more about the Ellipse lock here https://www.lattis.io and buy it from http://humancycle.cc/wp/
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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22 comments
Is this just a solution for a problem which doesn't really exist?
As many people have already written, just buy a decent strong lock. Bluetooth connectivitity doesn't particularly add much more than another part to fail. An in UK weather, I'd love to see it survive a UK winter with the constant rain / drizzle.
Solar powered so when my bike is locked in the shed the battery drains and I can't unlock it?
USB charging port.
So when I accidentally drop it on the floor trying to lock my bike up when my hands are cold it'll text my wife telling her I've crashed? that's just what I need...
I think it'll call her. 'I noticed you don't have a husband anymore. Howyoudoin?'
Buy a code lock - text friends the code - you have a keyless lock you can share with friends for a lot less than £200...
Buy a decent D lock and hand out the spare keys.
As Peowpeowpeowlasers said (or at least linked to), the invention of the cordless angle grinder has pretty much rendered bike security obsolete apart from against the casual opportunist thief.
Rather than spending £200 on this, you'd be better off buying 4x £50 locks, as more locks = more time to break = less attractive target.
It can also microwave meals at twenty feet, detect alien shapeshifter DNA, and download comics from the future (they just didn't know where to stop).
(Sorry - guess what I was watching with my son at the weekend...).
"It’s since taken the US by storm, according to the press release we’ve been sent"
I phoned America but they didn't know what I was talking about, so I'm a little suspicious of the veracity of this claim.
Just noticed this part of the press release
There’s also a find my bike feature if you forget where you locked your bike the morning after a night out…
I think it's probably best not to be riding if you have this problem.
My work involves computer security and I can confirm that decent security is surprisingly hard to achieve. So far, there have been lots of bluetooth locks made, but unfortunately, they have not yet achieved a competent standard.
Have a read of this little article for some more details: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/08/using_a_smart_bluetooth_lock_to_protect_your_valuables_youre_an_idiot/
Ultimately, if they implement strong security with the software (which is difficult and not very likely if they've got a small team), then the thieves would have to rely on physically breaking the lock as with traditional locks.
So, this lock has the potential to have extremely weak software (which we can't evaluate as the source code hasn't been released) and I can't find any tests of how easy it is to break the physical lock. Seems expensive for a very big unknown.
At this price it should accept a SIM card so that when it got cut or heavily vibrated in general to send an SMS at your cell phone. A GPS tracker would be good too in case the mounting post is cut so when it moves 5-10 m to send an SMS again
next well have vibrating sex toy micowave a burger and fries meal lock
So it costs about three times as much as the Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit Mini. Is it three times as hard to break? I'm going to go ahead and guess not.
Would have been more useful if it had a feature for smashing windows of close passing cars.
It looks small, very useful if you want to lock your bike to a pencil.
At that price thieves will probably steal the lock.
"opportunity to share your bike with friends"
Lol, fcuk off...
Solar powered? In the UK?
And an RRP of one quid short of two ton?
Bank level encryption? Well that's reassuring - no bank has been hacked ... ever!
Right, so whenever I see someone selling something I think "let's see a video or pictures of it doing its job". A sweater, let's see someone wearing it. A car, let's see someone driving it. A highly-rated for safety car - let's see someone crashing it.
With a lock, I want to see someone testing it to destruction. I want to see what exactly is required of a thief to break this lock and steal a bike.
Guess what the website doesn't show? They don't show it because just like all other locks, a determined and experienced thief will have it off in under a minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pywN558dJaU
Thieves don't break locks by picking them, so an electronic key is completely useless. They break them by physically destroying them. If you want a lock, just buy a bog-standard strong U-lock without all this bluetooth bollocks.
Oh good grief, "Find my bike" via bluetooth, which has a 10 metre range. I hate this.