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Fortified Bicycle catches a thief, launches secure seat post collar as Payback

Written by Tyler Benedict
24 Comments
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Fortified Payback secure locking seat collar clamp

After hearing of a friend’s bicycle saddle being stolen, Fortified Bicycle’s founders jumped on the case and helped him recover it. It’s a familiar story for them in that the theft of a friend’s bike lights prompted them to launch their original products a couple years ago. Only this time, they video taped the thief’s capture!

Aptly called Payback, their new kit includes a seatpost collar with proprietary bolt pattern and tool. It also includes one or two seatpost bolts to secure the saddle to the post, making both parts virtually unstealable. They’re so confident that they’ll buy you a new seat if yours is stolen after installing the Payback.

Check the video of the thief getting busted and more details below…

They’ll start with five proprietary shapes to the screw and tool, and will add more each month, so it’s unlikely anyone around you will end up with the same one. After the Kickstarter campaign ends, they’ll contact supporters to get proper color and sizing. They say M8, M5, and M4 are the most common seatpost bolt sizes, and they’ll help you determine what’s right for your seatpost before shipping.

fortified-payback-secure-locking-bicycle-seatpost-collar2

They’ll even have a bolts-only kit for bikes that don’t use a traditional seat collar.

fortified-payback-secure-locking-bicycle-seatpost-collar3

Plenty of rewards are available, with replacement guarantees coming at just $25. Check out their Kickstarter here, and if you’re interested in how these guys got started, read our #BikeStartup series from co-founder Slava Menn!

FortifiedBike.com
Tyler Benedict
11,282 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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24 Comments
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Tim
Tim
9 years ago

Great idea! I wish them success!

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Colin
Colin
9 years ago

What’s stopping me from buying a security torx M5/6 SHCS and replacing my current seatpost bolt? This doesn’t need a kickstarter.

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Pistolero
Pistolero
9 years ago

People like Colin are the ones who raise the level in bikerumor, and makes it big. Gonna buy me one of those bolts myself too. I bet the cost around 1$ each, LOL

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The Ripper
The Ripper
9 years ago

Well, if you went and bought security torx you’d have something common, right? These appear to be slightly different than torx (5 vs 6 points), thus they can make them truly unique.

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carbonfodder
carbonfodder
9 years ago

: “start with 5 proprietary shapes…”. if you will notice, there is no torx included. Unless torx bolts now have 5 lobes, not the 6 that I am used to.
My expectation is that there will be a whack of nearly torx like heads to make the proprietary shapes. that said, what happens when I (inevitably) lose the key? dremel time

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ABW
ABW
9 years ago

Granted, if these guys really developed their own bolt head pattern, that’ll be more secure, but take you pick from any of these readily available options from McMaster and odds are still tiny that a thief will have the right wrench. http://www.mcmaster.com/#socket-head-cap-screws/=wkxxmf

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friedrice
friedrice
9 years ago

They’d better include socket bits so people won’t wreck seatpost clamps/saddle rails/seatpossts.

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Dick Fitzwell
Dick Fitzwell
9 years ago

http://www.wihatools.com/700seri/716_ipr_serie.htm

Security Torx Plus

If someone is making the fastener, someone is making the tool. That being said, it’ll work until the thieves catch up, and I’m not sure they’ll be packing a xxx piece bit box.

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ABW
ABW
9 years ago

Ok, I take it back. Even McMaster doesn’t have tamper-resistant metric screws, so you’d either have to replace the nut as well or tap the stock hardware to standard threads. All of which is to say… good job Fortified?

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J
J
9 years ago

Funny, I have a quintsomethingorother taper resistant driver at work. I wonder if the size would match up. Not that I want to steal a seat, just trying to see. Getting one in Ti would be cool!

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Dad
Dad
9 years ago

For those of you who want to save a trip to the hardware store, you could just set your seatpost to the right height, and then epoxy a ball bearing into the bolt head. If you ever need to adjust your seatpost, use a solvent to eliminate the epoxy and the ball bearing can pop back out.

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Randy
Randy
9 years ago

What is stopping a thief from buying a clamp just to get the key? Then he can get any good seat he wants….tools of the trade so to speak….

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Tyson
Tyson
9 years ago

These, along with Pinheads, Pitlocks, etc…are a tad more secure than a standard allen bolt. They prevent low level thieves, until they whip out a hack saw and cut off the seatpost in 20 seconds. Here in San Francisco, we recommend chaining (Abus or an old chain/tube) your seat to the frame, as the highest level of theft protection.

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handsome dick manitoba
handsome dick manitoba
9 years ago

1. Really? M4 is a common seat bolts size? More so than an M6. Maybe someone is calling out bolts sizes by the size of allen key needed which will get you the wrong size bolts 95% of the time.

2. Bike shops hate crap like this so expect them to just clamp your frame on the seat tube when you don’t leave them the special tool.

3. While the bolt in the picture does just use a 5 point security torx, the text says they will start with 5 different shapes, which I am assuming will not all be the same so just getting the one tool will not necessarily give you access.

4. That said, any shape like this and you can just jam a flat screwdriver blade in there and get some purchase to loosen the bolt. Especially since seat clamp bolts are not necessarily torqued all the way to bolt strength (ex. Carbon posts)

5. So if you get one bolt for the post clamp and another for the saddle clamp and they are different sizes then you get two different tools? Plus wrench sizes are not randomly assigned to bolts. They are supposed to limit the torque you can put on a bolt. Small bolt, small wrench, small torque. Bigger bolt, bigger wrench, bigger torque.

6. If the thief really wants your saddle why not just hacksaw the post off? Sadly I’ve seen that done to more than just seatposts (though I think they used a portable angle grinder to just cut the head tube off and the rear triangle to get wheels, brakes, drivetrain, etc. Crazy).

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jeff
jeff
9 years ago

There are proprietary bolts in which the head and tool shape are different and you cannot get them at a hardware store, they are custom, specific to each customers needs, very similar to the wheels locks you see on aftermarket car wheels.
Although the bolt shown looks like a T25 tamper resistant bolt, which have a security rating of 2( out of 10), whereas the bolts I’m talking about and Im sure the ones being used, have a rating of 8, and unless you are the owner of one of the 7 custom key holders, youre out of luck. That being said, virtually nothing is theft proof, but it will either slow someone down or have the theif move on because they dont have the time or tools to steal.

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Carbonspoke
Carbonspoke
9 years ago

You can get tamper-proof metric torx bolts on ebay:

http://ebay.to/1F84wxW

I had to get these shipped from Australia but they worked great to replace the bolt in my seatpost collar, stem faceplate and headset cap (and gave the extras to friends).

When the goal is to protect a $30 saddle, you just need something that is harder to defeat than whatever’s on the next bike.

@Tyson, why wouldn’t a thief just use a chain tool? I see people chaining their cheap saddles to the frame but it seems like a heavy, weak solution.

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Carbonspoke
Carbonspoke
9 years ago

You can get tamper-proof metric torx bolts on ebay (search M5 tamperproof torx). I had to get these shipped from Australia but they worked great to replace the bolt in my seatpost collar, stem faceplate and headset cap (and gave the extras to friends).

When the goal is to protect a $30 saddle, you just need something that is harder to defeat than whatever’s on the next bike.

@Tyson, why wouldn’t a thief just use a chain tool? I see people chaining their cheap saddles to the frame but it seems like a heavy, weak solution.

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Tim
Tim
9 years ago

Yeah, you guys are right. Not such a great idea. It’s not super convenient, but why not put a piece of duct tape on the post to mark the right height, then pop out the seatpost and bring it with you? Problem solved.

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Dave B
Dave B
9 years ago

“…..and then epoxy a ball bearing into the bolt head. If you ever need to adjust your seatpost, use a solvent to eliminate the epoxy and the ball bearing can pop back out.”

The idea is OK but don’t use epoxy as no solvent dissolves it. Use super glue as it it soluble in acetone.

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AlanM
AlanM
9 years ago

People, it’s just an option to make your saddle and post more difficult to steal. Appreciate it for what it is at this cost.

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messy
messy
9 years ago

I like the idea. Can’t help think of a friend who had high-end $$$ alloy rims stolen off his car while it was parked in his own driveway. Despite using proprietary ‘5-lobe’ security wheel locks, it seems that the only ones who could not remove the wheel locks without the security key, were the mechanics at the shop where he took his car for service!

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David French
David French
9 years ago

Zefal Lock ‘N’ Roll. END

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Joe
Joe
9 years ago

@David French, Zefal Lock N Roll skewers are terrible. Their security mechanism can be easily defeated with a magnet: http://road.cc/content/review/20313-zefal-lock-n-roll-skewers

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