Squire has launched a new Bluetooth-controlled inigma Diamond BL1 smart D-lock that comes with Sold Secure Diamond rating – the highest available for bike locks. Like existing inigma locks, it is secured using “maximum security AES-256 bit military-grade encryption”, according to Squire.
The Squire inigma Diamond BL1 digital D-lock features a hardened steel lock body and a 12.7mm hardened boron steel shackle that’s designed to be resistant to extreme attacks of over five minutes using a range of heavy-duty tools.
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inigma Diamond BL1 works by using Bluetooth to communicate with your smartphone via the inigma app that you can download from the App Store or Google Play.
You register your details on the app, then pair the lock with your smartphone. There are no keys or combinations.
You can share the lock with others – allowing more than one person to open it – control multiple locks from the same phone, and program the lock to open at set times and dates. You can also see who had access at any time via an audit trail.
The Squire inigma Diamond BL1 has a claimed weight of 1.44kg, so it’s easily portable.
Squire already offers the inigma FL1 folding lock (£179.99) and an inigma IC1 chain lock (£179.99), each with a Sold Secure Bronze rating.
Bluetooth-controlled locks from other brands have been around for several years. We reported on Bitlock’s Bluetooth keyless bike lock way back in 2013, for example.
The Squire inigma Diamond BL1 lock is currently on Kickstarter looking for funding. To be in line for a Squire inigma Diamond BL1 lock you need to pledge at least £180 with delivery expected in October (you’ve missed the special ‘early bird’ offer; sorry). That will also be the inigma Diamond BL1’s usual price when it goes on general sale.
As we always point out with anything to do with crowdfunding, it’s not the same as buying directly from a retailer. That said, Squire has been around for 240 years and we’d say that the chance of non-delivery is negligible if the funding target is met.
Check out the Squire inigma Diamond BL1’s Kickstarter page here.
43 thoughts on “Squire’s Bluetooth-controlled inigma Diamond BL1 D-lock comes with top Sold Secure rating”
“Military grade encryption”?
“Military grade encryption”? That means nothing whereas AES-256 at least tells you that it should be secure. I’m not convinced about Bluetooth security and wonder why they chose that over something like NFC which is a lot harder to intercept. I don’t see why unlocking from a distance is something that you’d want (unless you’re a thief in which case you can innocently wander near some locked bikes without raising suspicions).
NFC would also allow the lock
NFC would also allow the lock to remain passive with RFID, whereas I think this Bluetooth implementation needs to be recharged periodically. Not a problem until somebody forgets or a cold day depletes the charge more quickly.
… or maybe I the lock would
… or maybe I the lock would have to stay active with NFC, either way I can see a lock that needs to be charged is a solution looking for a problem.
mark1a wrote:
I suspect it needs more energy than available over NFC to physically move a lock/unlock mechanism. There’s going to be a solenoid, or at least an electromagnet, somewhere.
Phone app for a lock.
Phone app for a lock.
What could possibly go wrong?
hirsute wrote:
I’ll start the bidding:
1) manufacturer ceases support for the app, shuts down the server, lock no longer operational, goodwill voucher for £10 (redeemable against MkII lock).
2) you never got the email, your best bike was locked for the winter season …
Sriracha wrote:
Phone app for a lock.
What could possibly go wrong?
— Sriracha I’ll start the bidding: 1) manufacturer ceases support for the app, shuts down the server, lock no longer operational, goodwill voucher for £10 (redeemable against MkII lock). 2) you never got the email, your best bike was locked for the winter season …— hirsute
“Due to the increasing costs of maintaining the unlock servers, we will now be offering Unlock-as-a-service. As a treat to our customers, we will be offering the first unlock free-of-charge, but subsequent unlocks will be subject to contracted terms and conditions (see attached)”
I thought the point of
I thought the point of crowdfunding was for small/new companies to raise capital without going through normal VC routes. Why exactly are Squire doing it?
And why on earth would anyone pay full price for this through Kickstarter? Aside from the risks of kickstarter and the fact that it won’t be delivered until October (maybe), once it is available for general retail I’m sure you will be able to find it cheaper through the normal retail channels.
Alot of bigger companies
Alot of bigger companies crowd fund nowadays as it allows them to essentially gauge pre-orders. If they don’t have enought to be worth their while, the cancel and refund.
Pretty sure one of the bigger toy companies does it with their “limited” collectibles ranges.
And of course Knog did it
And of course Knog did it with their bells.
Agreed. This is doomed to
Agreed. This is doomed to failure!
You could make an observation
You could make an observation that there is some aspect of disaster capitalism at play here, if you look at the market for bike locks many companies are pushing new tech, and new innovative locks, think hiplocks grinder proof lock. It could be that the biggest growth sector in cycling is urban, for example a ride down to your local shop for milk by bike and leaving the car at home. The biggest barrier to this is theft and finding your bike missing. This is why everyone is looking for that niche that gets them a market share. I would be interested to see the lockpicking lawyer were to have a go at this one or any off the other locks out, as He has shown if you can find a weakness then its no good paying top money if said lock can be picked in minutes by any hamfisted fool or even some of the electronic stuff blasted by a bust of RF – bumped with a rubber mallet in right place! I would be interested in trying the old tried and tested way i.e. Pragmasis locks. They make chain locks that seem very high quality and a good old padlock that has some beef. Would these still beat all new innovative stuff or fail very quickly to curse that it is a battery angle grinder?
Not an answer to a question
Not an answer to a question that I or anyone I can think of was asking. But then the world is full of inventors of problems to be able to solve.
Hopefully they don’t fall between the “physical security” and “fitting electronics” stools (see LockPickingLawyer etc. for examples e.g. Tapplock). At least they’re an actual lock company!
Soon to be bypassed with a
Soon to be bypassed with a Haribo sweet on the YT channel of the Locking Picking Lawyer!
joe9090 wrote:
I’d like to see how his mini EMP generator does.
“And this one was chewed by
“And this one was chewed by me and Bosnian Bill”
The lock seems to have USPs
The lock seems to have USPs that have no appeal. How is using my phone easier that using a key? What is the situation where I’d want to transmit a lock code to another person? Maybe for a rental bike scheme, or AirBnB guests? Pretty niche.
And then there is the worry over hacks. Sure the LPL can post videos of him picking any lock in seconds – doesn’t mean Joe Pleb can copy him. But once there is an exploit for this lock on the Internet it will be available to all.
tbf I always have my phone
tbf I always have my phone out on the bike with me. There are occasions I could do without yet another key.
I’d like to know what vunerability checking has been done with it.
My phone is always in my
My phone is always in my pannier or bag, whereas my keys are in my pocket. So I’d have to stop, get the lock out, then rummage to find my phone then open their app… Nah – I’ll stick to a key, thanks.
So maybe it needs to be a
So maybe it needs to be a Garmin app? A bit like switching on/off lights (doesn’t fill me with confidence).
Yew, maybe I’m behind the
Yes, maybe I’m behind the times. I could see the convenience of having my phone as the key for everything – car, house, bike, etc. Just one thing to carry and not forget. I’d want to know who gets the usage data, and what they do with it – bike was locked up outside establishment X for 37 minutes on Friday, etc.
Sriracha wrote:
At 53, it’d only be a matter of time before I forgot it! I rather prefer the safety first approach of having things separate, if I lose my keys, I still have cards and phone, forget my phone, still have keys and cards etc. Putting everything into one easily-loseable package feels like asking for trouble to me. I even keep my house keys and lock keys separate so if I lose the house keys I can still cycle round to one of the mates who has spares, if I lose the lock key I can still get back into the house to get the spare.
I hate carrying loads of keys
I hate carrying loads of keys too, would love a bike lock to come out that took a standard euro cyclinder.
Your house key and your bike lock key in one then.
You just need a hasp on your
You just need a hasp & staple on your front door, then you’re good to go with one key
https://mobil.abus.com/uk/on-road/Highlights/YourPlus
I’m really keen to get some
I’m really keen to get some of those keyed-alike bike locks (for ebike especially, which has battery lock, nurse’s lock and extra U-lock, all with different keys), but I haven’t found a bike shop that actually participates in the programme. The ones I asked all get their Abus gear from a UK distributor and don’t have any relationship with Abus HQ in Germany. Do you know anyone who is selling them?
You could try these guys (I
You could try these guys (I just googled it, never heard of the shop):
https://www.reallyusefulbikes.co.uk/security/abus
Thank you very much. I did
Thank you very much. I did email them a couple of months ago but never had a response. Will give it another try!
I do like the rustic look.
I do like the rustic look.
Top suggestion.
seems like they are
seems like they are needlessly over thinking something that is kept very simple for a reason.
What if your phone battery dies?
What if the battery on the lock dies, is faulty or you forgot to charge it up before leaving the house?? – There is no back up method for unlocking the lock and if the battery is completely dead/faulty, you are basically need to destroy the lock to get your bike back or to keep using the lock.
100years from now or the end of time a regular lock will still open with a key. if the lock has been kept in decent enough condition. This smart lock wont work at all. Electronics generally dont stand the test of time due to oxidiation of the soldering joints and general life span of the components used like resistors, capacitors, chokes etc etc etc
If squire thinks the old lock and key system is not secure then thats their entire business gone down the drain as making strong padlocks and chains is their bread and butter.
Ive never seen or heard of a thief picking a bike lock or a padlock of any sort – Most of them prefer the brute force method of smashing it with a brick or using an angle grinder.
Developer needs to support
Developer needs to support the app as the OS is patched and the OS is changed to a higher version.
Not hard to find apps no longer supported and not working as the developers did not rewrite them for newer OS.
I can see the appeal of
I can see the appeal of unlocking things with your phone – I’ve got 5 bike locks (1 for each bike and another one I leave at work), plus another 4 padlocks for various things in the garden. That’s a lot of keys.
Looks like a decent product, only thing I don’t like about it is the price. You can get a Diamond rated D-lock for £40, for the sake of £140 per lock I’ll put up with the hassle of physical keys.
What’s the thickness of the d
What’s the thickness of the d part?
The cover seems to be 30mm, but that can’t be solid or it would be a lot heavier.
I would hope at least 16mm, I realise that nothing will stand up to angle grinders but I would want to make them spend a little time on it. And 16mm seems to do a good job against the largest of bolt cutters.
ktache wrote:
Well, the new Hiplok D1000 claims to.
Would have been nice to see
Would have been nice to see the disc materials used. I’m pretty sure when properly independent testers have done “the impossible” and cut through unbreakable locks with tools shown as useless by the manufacturers, it is because the manufacturers have used tools designed to cut the wrong material.
I also like how they then show the lock being used on basic sheffield stands just on the frame and not through the wheels. I wonder what the thief will cut?
ktache wrote:
From the Kickstarter page:
A Diamond rated lock ought to resist the largest of bolt croppers.
So the attack vector would be
So the attack vector would be find a way to brick the electronics so the owner can’t unlock it, then come back at a quiet time when you have more than 5 minutes to work on it.
mdavidford wrote:
Just park up next to it with some kind of hot food stall and keep using the microwave – that should disrupt the Bluetooth
Don’t see cordless disc
Don’t see cordless disc cutters in any of the lists. I suspect they don’t have them as the diamond would be down to bronze levels of times.
Thanks for finding that, 12
Thanks for finding that, 12.7mm doesn’t seem too thick.
Pragmisis say that their 16mm chain is pretty much bolt cutter proof.
I have one lock. A Diamond
I have one lock. A Diamond rated something something. It’s heavy, like 1.6kg. It lives at work and keeps my shitter commuter safe, and on occasion 1 of my nicer bikes.
Although I like the idea of one less key and maybe less chance of shit getting in the mechanism, the hassle of moving it between home and work for charging and the battery life between charges would put me off.
Also.. needing a key means I have to have my house keys with me to unlock the bike, I hate getting home and finding out I need to go straight back to work..
A mate bought a number of
A mate bought a number of bluetooth-enabled lights that could change colour. She used them for her University Fine Art final project, and paid a reasonable sum of her part-time wages towards it. Two months later, the company changed ownership and the new owners’ app was deliberately made incompatible with any older lights that were made pre-takeover.
….Which is just one reason why I think anything powered by a niche, starter phone app is a bad, bad idea.
vthejk wrote:
That’s why it’s important for IOT devices to use an open standard to communicate so if a company disappears, you can at least put something together (or pay someone to do it) to still control your devices. Just say NO to proprietary rubbish
I really wish you stopped
I really wish you stopped reporting on just launched kickstarter projects. Or at least make the title accurate: “Squire has launched a new Bluetooth-controlled inigma Diamond BL1 smart D-lock” is super misleading.