Yerka: Is this the world”s first ”unstealable” bike?

While some opportunistic thieves might see the silver lining and think they have two odd monocycles, the bike will essentially be deemed useless after stolen.

While the bike will turn the tables and put the frustration on potential thieves, the transformation of the Yerka into its own lock is a simple one for the owners.

The three entrepreneurs, 22-year-old Cristóbal Cabello, 23-year-old Andrés Roi Eggers and 24-year-old Juan José Monsalve walked away from their programs in their university to focus full-time on the Yerka Project.

The response to the bike’s innovative design has been mixed with some questioning whether the design would ultimately stop a thief on the grounds that it still requires a conventional padlock.

“We chose crowdfunding because it’s the easiest way to make the product go worldwide”, Cabello said, who is the CEO of the startup. “It was the safest way to handle the money”. The first batch of 300 Yerka bikes have now been ordered.

According to the creators it only takes 10 seconds to initiate the locking system. The bike is being manufactured at a specialist factory in Shanghai. So far, they have sold 197 of the bikes, with a good majority in the United States, but have made no profit. The start-up sold the first 100 bikes for $400 then increased the price increased to $500. Only 15% of the bikes were sold in Chile.

The bikes are on sale now and cost up to £300. The bike was invented with the help of the government of Chile.

“In the next four years, our goal is to sell a container of nearly 300 units each month worldwide”.

To do that, they are seeking $1 million investment from national and global financers. “But the most important goal is that customers say, ‘This bike is great”.