Secure Your Bike Seat With An Anti-Theft Guarantee
Presented By Wingz – Scheduled Airport Rides
Dear Biker,
I had a hard time trying to steal your two-wheel buddy. So instead, I borrowed its seat because my career philosophy does not allow me to leave without a trophy.
Good luck,
Your Thief
P.S. You may find your seat on Craigslist within 1 hour.
Yesterday, a friend of mine sent me a message in which he wrote, “Connie, you won’t believe what just happened to me. My bike seat was stolen!!! What kind of thief steals a bike seat instead of the whole bike?”
The only answer for my friend’s question is that our bicycles have been getting smarter and more secure thanks to new, advanced bike locks. But none of us has ever thought of locking our bike seats. And thieves are wiley enough to catch the chance since it only takes 10 seconds to steal a bike seat.
Watch out thieves, we’re going to expose you and secure our bike seats!
Fortified, a startup that was founded by MIT geeks who love building and love biking, is running a fund campaign on kickstarter for its new product: a lightweight bike-seat security clamp.
Everything was started when Max, a friend of Fortified Bicycle’s co-founders Slava Menn and Tivan Amour, told them that he saw his stolen $180 Brooks Bike Saddle being sold on Craigslist. They took matters into their own hands. After arranging for Max to meet the thief under the guise of an unsuspecting customer, Slava and Tican worked with local police to have a plainclothes detective observe the meeting. Following a thrilling confrontation that was caught on camera, Max proved the thief’s guilt and ultimately had him arrested.
After Max’s incident, the team also interviewed city cyclists. “The current solutions to seat-post and saddle theft are severely lacking. Some city cyclists protect their saddle by threading a thin cable or chain between the saddle and the bicycle frame, but that’s cumbersome, ugly and easy to cut. Other cyclists splurge for expensive security seat post clamps, and while those are great for protecting the seat post from being removed, they don’t secure the seat itself. The bottom line is that city cyclists are left choosing the ‘least-worst’ solution among a number of underwhelming options.”
The new saddle lock is named Payback because Fortified firmly commit that if either the lock or your saddle is ever stolen, they will replace them with a brand new one for free. It’s a simple, inexpensive solution that uses an innovative custom security bolt to ensure cyclists’ seat posts and saddles stay put. Payback costs $15 and takes less than 2 minutes to install.
For $25, cyclists can buy the complete Payback Policy which includes an additional saddle security bolt and an anti-theft guarantee that promises cyclists a replacement for the seat post or saddle if either is ever stolen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rQqa-8w46Y
Interested in it? For more information about this incredible gadget as well as other products of Fortified, feel free to follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
Connie loves to hear your feedback, so feel free to email her or add her on LinkedIn.
