Many people remove their seat to stop someone from riding away on their bike. Any bike can be ridden without a seat, just not comfortably. This product is a steel 4-blade spike much like a broadhead arrow tip used for bow hunting, but it is instead locked into your bike frame where the seat was. You can imagine the consequences- only a thief with cast-iron shorts might dare take a ride on your bike! For storage the seat spike locks into a container that mounts on to the bike frame and comes in 5 color choices.-- KineticKill, Mar 29 2008 Not exactly on point... http://partmule.com...s/The_Fart_Bike.jpg [ldischler, Apr 02 2008] <irrelevant> You'd have some serious difficulty riding mine without a seat. It's a tricycle recumbent, and the main frame tube is unbelievably incomfortable to sit on (all weight is taken on your coccyx), but without a seat there's no way to lift yourself off it while riding. </ir>
I've seen suggestions for a spike before, usually concealed in the seat so it stabs the thief when they sit down. This one has the advantage of being there as an obvious deterrent rather than maiming someone with no warning.-- david_scothern, Mar 29 2008 Wouldn't it be easier, cheaper and more convenient to carry a decent lock? You're going to need a lock anyway, to stop someone from just carrying your bespiked bike away.
Oh, hang on, this is the HB...-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 29 2008 A lock is good but in the case that the lock is cut and the thief gets away by riding it (as opposed to carrying it or throwing it in the back of a truck) then the lock is of no use. If the lock is cut and there is a big metal spike in place of the seat then the choice to ride it is not even there. This would eliminate most cases of theft in plain view of the public where criminals would normally just cut up a lock and make a quick getaway.-- KineticKill, Mar 29 2008 Well as long as the spike isn't hidden its not cruelty IMO. And if it had a "warning: big ass spike" sign (pun intended) then it'd probably be legal (as if anyone cares). +-- Spacecoyote, Mar 30 2008 <picks up bike> <throws on back of van with the rest> <places another bulk order for bicycle seats>-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 30 2008 I always thought people removed the seat so the seat would not be stolen. Some people use a short length of bike chain to "lock" the seat to the bike. It is a bike messenger thing.
If the thief has the means to cut a bike lock, why does the thief not have the means to cut the spike? Or bring their own seat?
All that aside, i would make it so the spike is in the seat tube, and putting the seat back in place covers the spike up.-- ericscottf, Mar 31 2008 Confucius say: Man who ride bicycle with no seat is going to Bangkok.-- Alterother, Apr 01 2008 I thought this problem was solved by removing the front tire, but it seems that was not a good solution.
It always worked for me ... locking the front tire to the back of the bicycle frame in addition to locking the frame to some relatively immovable object.-- Zimmy, Apr 01 2008 Wait, boobytraps aren't legal? Why the hell not?!
If the jerk is trying to make off with something that isn't his, then any injury that befalls him in the execution of said crime is entirely his fault. If it just so happens that certain things have been set up to be especially perilous for those who are unwelcome...
"Walk on the left side!"
...well, I guess that simply further proves that the intruder/thief/mugger was unwelcome. Spike up your bung? Fall into a bottomless pit? Eaten by rabid bears? Boohoo, hate that for you, but it's your own idiot fault.
Sharp chrome-plated bun.-- elhigh, Apr 01 2008 Some kid would try it anyway, and get badly hurt or dead. Or, More probably, someone would fall against it while you were in the coffee shop. That's too much liabonity in my book to protect a bicycle.-- nomocrow, Apr 01 2008 Most folks remove the seat to stop someone from stealing the seat--a seatless bike can still be ridden and carried. A spike-seated bike can still be carried, or even ridden if the thief caps it with a bit of pipe and a saddle, or just breaks the spike off.
The title of this post describes its category, not its idea. The idea is pretty damn obvious, but not good. There's a Bike Saddle Harpoon idea just above this. [-]-- baconbrain, Apr 01 2008 If the spike was big enough and made out of strong enough metal, it would be very difficult to remove.
Then again, if the lock was big enough, and made out of strong enough metal, it would be very difficult to remove.-- Spacecoyote, Apr 02 2008 Its a half-baked idea-
The spike is solid steel so it cant be cut off (not with bolt cutters)-
I'm sure if implemented many lawsuits would soon follow-
Its an idea for *another* theft deterrent, not a replacement for all others-
This is not NOT a bike saddle harpoon-
The idea is more a show of force than anything. It will deter some, but if you are willing enough--- KineticKill, Apr 02 2008 random, halfbakery