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Dear viewers, our recent lock test
was met with some criticism firstly because
it was undertaken under admittedly non-lifelike conditions,
and secondly because we did not test
the very-very most expensive locks in the world
like the Abus Bordo Granit X-Plus
which costs around USD 140.
Obviously because it's a little too expensive.
But here is Viktor standing next to me
who has agreed to trade such a lock for a SpyBike
and see if we can cut through the best lock in the world,
which is, so to say, the Rolls-Royce of bike locks
under completely lifelike conditions.
But before we ruined a $140 lock
let's test a cheaper one.
This Kryptonite Evolution Mini
was donated by a kind viewer.
Its key was lost so it became useless.
There were many requests to test this particular model
because it's much tougher than the other Kryptonite lock
that we've shown in our previous video.
This time we used a simple tile cutter sawblade.
One can get a tungsten coated blade like this
for around 10 dollars in virtually any tool shop.
The lock is worth around 55 dollars.
The result is: 8 minutes and 31 seconds.
Including a blade replacement that took 3 minutes
because the tungsten blade has snapped.
So under lifelike conditions a Kryptonite MiniEvo
can stop a thief for around five and a half minutes.
And now, the real deal.
We'll set a properly locked bicycle free
from what is considered the world's best lock,
the Abus Bordo Granit-X
under completely lifelike conditions.
We actually wanted to test this lock during our last video,
and the Hungarian retailer would've supported us,
but the German manufacturer turned it down
and said they "do not wish to participate" in our test.
Probably they already knew that their product
is actually not as much better as it's more expensive.
- Done!
- How much was it? - 11 minutes and 20 seconds.
- Could you have fared better?
- Of course if someone gave me a helping hand.
It's -20 or -10 Celsius degrees, whatever, I am frozen.
My hands are numb.
If I had a helper who held it still,
I could've applied more force and finish faster.
I think this can be done in 7-8 minutes.
Under 10 even if they killed me.
Even now it was some 11 minutes or so.
So it's safe to say that it's not worth
spending more than 38-45 dollars on a lock
because triple the money will not buy triple the safety.
If this bicycle were locked in a staircase or a cellar,
the thief would've taken it so silently that nobody woke up.
More than half of all stolen bicycles are taken from such places.
But if there is a SpyBike tracker in the bike as well,
then it poses an unsurmountable obstacle for the thief.
If he tries to saw the lock, the vibration detector
will immediately alert the owner via SMS.
Unless if he finds a silent way to remove the SpyBike.
Let's see if it's possible.
Many have asked if it might cause a problem
that we are giving away the SpyBike's location in our videos
so thieves will immediately know where to look for it.
But it doesn't matter if they do.
Even if they can get a special key for it
which is sold only along with the tracker,
they can't remove it without setting the alarm off.
The vibration detector is sensitive to any kind of vibration,
not only if the bicycle is being moved.
So if the thief tries to remove the tracker,
and only then starts to saw off the lock,
he'll be caught just like if he didn't know a thing.
Tampering with an armed SpyBike is worth a Darwin Award.
The second most frequent question was
if SpyBike can be silenced with a GPS or GSM jammer.
Such devices can be easily purchased from the Internet.
Let's see what they actually worth.
- This device is a mobile phone jammer.
Not the simple kind which one can buy for 80-100 bucks,
but one used in detention facilities.
It has a very wide range.
Since this one is on right now,
probably nobody is able to use their phones in the entire block.
But the SpyBike will probably still work.
To understand why,
let's learn a bit about how cellular phones work.
Cellular phones use two different frequency bands.
One is used to send data to base stations,
one is to receive data.
This is what they call a duplex connection.
Jamming is effective if any of these channels are interrupted.
Since the signals received from the tower
are much weaker near the phone than the phone's own signals,
jammers usually try to block this band
by emitting white noise on the same frequency.
This is similar to the noise on a TV's screen.
If the jamming signal is strong enough,
there will be increasing data loss,
and the phone will automatically drop the call.
The stronger the jammer, the better the chance for success.
But it's much easier to jam a telephone
than a security product that is prepared for this.
Phones are dropping connection if the signal level goes under 80-90 dB
because at this data loss rate it's impossible to relay an audible conversation.
But simple data transfer requires way less signal strength.
Therefore SpyBike will not drop connection.
So even if the thief has a phone jammer,
he'll only disable his own phone.
Let's see, dear Victor... (The high frequency noise is caused by the jammer.)
I have the SpyBike in my hand.
Send it an SMS. Send the command "checkbattery".
This will return the current voltage of the battery.
Let's see if you'll get a response.
This will probably not happen immediately,
because the delivery of text messages takes some time.
It might take a minute or two. But if there is a response...
...then it works.
- Right, I am sending now.
- Send it!
- Sent.
If you can see it...
- Then we are waiting, waiting...
Moments of excitement are to come...
Our phones here keep telling us...
as you see we have a little obsolete one and an iPhone 3,
unfortunately we don't have a 4, neither an 5,
but both say there is no service.
We now wonder if the SpyBike can overcome
this very high performance jammer device.
How does our SpyBike feel now?
- A response has just came, but it's an error message.
It says: "Error: check battery. "
- So it responded, but probably...
Ah, yes, you typed "check battery" as two words.
It's supposed to be one word. But it doesn't matter.
The test concluded that the SpyBike beats even the strongest jammer.
It is because it transmits with so high energy
that the base station will easily receive
regardless of any jamming.
What do you think as a new SpyBike owner?
- I am very happy that I've invested into such a good device.
It was worth the trade.
- So you should all buy SpyBikes,
and we'll continue testing, now with rougher methods.
Thank you, Viktor!
Many viewers suggested that SpyBike might get fried
if the bicycle is touched with an electric taser.
The signal lamp is happily blinking even after the taser shock,
and the device still supplies correct GPS data.
So this method won't do any harm.
Next we'll test if we can destroy a SpyBike with a drill.
No, we can't. The top of the device contains
the hardened ceramic casing of the GPS module.
Only a heavy industrial drill with a titanium tip could penetrate that.
But that's also not a solution because the vibration
will set off the alarm before the device is destroyed.
So the thief would just give himself away.
The only significant damage done to the tracker
is that the sensor of the activation key was broken.
But this will not disable the device, and can be repaired.
The tracker is still usable, albeit a little ponderously,
since it can still be activated via SMS.
This damaged piece was later even used in a live mission.
This car wreck is the shelter of a homeless bicycle thief.
We've hidden it inside to know when the guy is coming back.
This story will be told in our series' 15th episode.
We hope that sceptical laymen are now convinced
that SpyBike was not designed by morons
and it can not be easily disabled.
We also wanted to show that some worshipped locks
are stopping thieves only for a few moments.
The ideal solution is to buy a lock for 25-30 dollars
and a SpyBike tracker.
Since a good bicycle starts at 4-500 bucks,
it's probably better to spend 200 more on this
than twice the money on a new bicycle
a year or half a year later
SpyBike trackers are available from our website
at www.tolvajkergetok.hu.