[leadin]2016 is shaping up to be a bad year for would-be bike thieves. Two fledgling companies are stepping into the bicycle market with promises of theft-proof technology, each employing very different tactics to deter bike-nappers.[/leadin]
Both Yerka, the brainchild of three Chilean university students, and Fortified, a Boston-based theft-proof component manufacturer, relied upon crowd-funding campaigns to jump into the already saturated built-bike arena. Both are staking reputations on an ability to keep bikes safe.
Yerka Theft-Resistant Bikes
Yerka’s approach to foiling bike thieves is to render the bike useless if it’s stolen. The locking mechanism is built into the frame itself – the down tube separates into two arms that extend away from the frame, and the seat post then slides between them and locks into place, creating a closed loop. Breaking into that system would require fundamentally compromising the bike itself.
![Yerka Bike 1](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2016/03/Yerka-Bike-1-700x468.jpg)