Yesterday we brought you the Lock8, today we’re introducing it’s KickStarter rival – the BitLock. It doesn’t feature GPS but it does let you do away with keys by using a bluetooth proximity sensor to unlock and lock your bike within a 3 ft radius.
The BitLock does not have a GPS system built in because as designer Mehrdad Majzoob explains, you want to track your bike not your lock. Typically, bike thieves will damage and abandon a lock when stealing a bike, so he claims using a separate tracker like the Bike Spike makes more sense.
In order to keep the design simple, the BitLock uses a user replaceable Li-SOCl 2 battery for a guaranteed 5 years of operational life. A notification appears on your cellphone when the time comes to swap in a new battery. Since cellphone charges don’t last nearly that long, the app can generate a 16 bit code you can write down and use to unlock your bike. 
Whenever you lock your bike, the location is captured by your phones GPS. This allows you to share it’s location publicly or to a small network of friends. Which enables you to share bikes easily.
The GPS capabilities also allows you to track your rides and monitor your total moving time, distance and elevation covered, CO2 offset, and calories burned.
The lock currently supports iOS and Android devices and is available to Kickstarter pledges for an introductory price of $99 USD. Retail price is expected to go up to $140. Get yours here.
