Announcing the INVINCIBLE theft-resistant city bike

You might remember Slava Menn’s story: He began designing and selling theft-proof bicycle components after a friend’s bike was stolen.

He and his company, Fortified Bicycle Company, have now upped that game with a bike designed from the ground up to be resistant to theft: the Invincible.

Fortified Invincible Bicycle

With this bike, you don’t need after market theft-resistant bolts: this bike secures every component with proprietary fasteners. You buy a bike and it comes with a U-lock. The bike serial number is automatically registered on your behalf at the time of purchase.

That’s not all: Fortified announced “Fortified Protect” with this bike, an add-on guarantee against theft. They have a team of people who watch for their bikes on Craigslist, and they followup with the police. Fortified will also ship a replacement bike within 24 hours of the reported theft. How cool is that?

Fortified bike features

The bike itself is built on a sturdy, alloy frame designed to withstand heavy, urban use with rust-resistant chain, puncture-resistant tires, and a weather-resistant saddle.

Kickstarter early bird pricing for the single speed is $399; the eight-speed with disc brake bike is $699 for early adopters. The basic package comes with a bike and a u-lock. Accessories (securely attached with Fortified fasteners) are available as discounted add-ons. I’d consider all of these — the lights, rack and fenders — to be essential for city use.

Fortified accessory add-ons - lights, rack, fenders

All in all, I’m pretty excited about this project. The video in particular makes me want to stand up and cheer.



Alex Weaver in Boston had a chance to take the singlespeed for a spin; click here for his take on this bike.

For many more details, visit the Kickstarter campaign page: INVINCIBLE: End Bike Theft. Once and For All. Fortified has delivered on a number of other Kickstarter campaigns. I wish them luck on what is their most ambitious campaign so far. As of this writing, they’re already off to a good start.

3 Comments

  1. Hey, thanks a bunch for your post! As with all “unable” things (remember the Titanic? UNSINKABLE) I’m extremely skeptical, and based on the video and marketing materials alone I’m gonna call this bike no better than any other bike, and in some ways, worse. Here are my thoughts:

    > this bike secures every component with proprietary fasteners

    First off, this is a classic security fallacy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_through_obscurity

    Also those look like “tamper proof torx” bolts. If only there was a place where I could just … y’know… buy those

    http://www.sears.com/search=tamper%20proof%20torx%20screwdriver%20set

    or maybe a way to bypass them entirely with standard tools:

    http://www.instructables.com/id/Removing-Security-Torx-Star-Screw-with-a-Flathea/

    Additionally, because of the “proprietary” accessories, I’d be extremely hesitant to buy this bike, in case I can’t get replacement parts or accessories because the company has disappeared.

    I’d also like to know who’s underwriting their replacement program. And if they are doing it themselves, then it’s an even larger red flag about their business model.

    It’s a nice looking bike, and at $450 complete with lights and a u-lock it’s well priced, so at least it has *that* going for it.

  2. I may have to knuckle down and buy one of these. I hardly ever use the folding on my folding bike anymore and it weighs a ton. This would make for a nice lighter-weight around-town bike where I wouldn’t have to pull all my lights and gear off every time I park.

  3. In reply to kitchen: they’re not using standard torx bolts. Torx bolts have a six-armed-star shape; these have five arms. Still, if this bike becomes popular, there will be an awful lot of five-armed keys floating around.

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