This $3000 ebike says it’s impossible to steal. We stole it in 60 seconds with hand tools.

Adam Kaslikowski/Digital Trends

Ebikes are a hot commodity these days. Between crazed traffic and the desire to lessen our collective carbon footprint, electrified bikes have become a very popular form of transportation in both urban and suburban environments. As with anything that becomes popular, problems and bad actors invariably pop up. For ebikes owners, a major concern is the theft of their high-priced machines. Most ebikes are not cheap and can often cost just as much as a used motorcycle or a particularly ragged car.

To solve this concern, as well as to differentiate itself from the ever-increasing pack of other ebike retailers, Danish company VanMoof has focused in on security and anti-theft measures as their niche. In addition to being beautifully designed and expertly crafted – many outlets have nicknamed Vanmoof as “the Tesla of ebikes” – the company’s electrified S2 bike also comes with an app for locking and unlocking, an LED display to show your current speed, and an electric boost button for on-demand acceleration. On the security side, the S2 model comes equipped with a hidden wheel lock to keep the bike stationary, an “earsplitting” alarm, and even a headlight that flashes S-O-S.

Adam Kaslikowski/Digital Trends

Best of all, there is even a SIM card-enabled GSM tracking system, as well as teams of “bike hunters” that go out and find your bike should it ever be stolen. To quote the company’s own support page, this system would need to be jammed 24/7 for a full year in order to block their worldwide tracking system, and if a thief attempted to remove the SIM card, “they would have destroyed the bike in the process.”

We have found this to be completely untrue.

Digital Trends recently teamed up with a digital security expert and engineer to put the VanMoof S2 to the test. This $3,000 ebike built around security and a hidden SIM card was defeated and rendered untraceable by $12 worth of tools in under 60 seconds. In no way was the bike alarm tripped. In no way was the frame cut. And in absolutely no way was the bike destroyed.

This $3,000 ebike built around security was defeated and rendered untraceable by $12 worth of tools in under 60 seconds.

Our security expert (who shall remain anonymous at their request) was able to disable the bike’s whole tracking system without ever setting the alarm off. Once that tracking system is no longer active, the bike is beyond saving – bike hunting team or not.

The method and tools for accomplishing this complete theft are much simpler than the company would have you believe. As you can see below, there are only four simple security screws hold the bike’s entire brain module inside the top-tube. A would-be thief can simply remove the seat with a T-30 security Torx bit, undo the four smaller T-10 security Torx screws underneath the top tube, and slide the whole computer module out. Five screws and two special (but readily available) security bits. That’s all. After that, you pull the SIM card out and you are home free.

In under 60 seconds you can possess an electric bicycle worth three grand and is also untraceable and irretrievable. VanMoof is deceiving its customers when it states in its support pages that “Removing the SIM card from the SmartBike would be a time-consuming task, and by the time a thief had done it not only would we probably have tracked down the bike, but they would have destroyed the bike in the process.” This is patently untrue.

Those that have already purchased one of these bikes would be well served to use additional locks and chains to secure their purchase. Anyone who is considering purchasing one of these ebikes should carefully consider the trustworthiness of Vanmoof. To the company’s credit, it has always offered a free replacement bike if it cannot recover your stolen bike within two weeks. That is an admirable policy, and one that will likely be used often given the ease of “jailbreaking” this so-called Tesla of bikes.

Our digital security expert discovered that, once the SIM card is removed, the S2’s alarm and wheel lock cease to function, but then the whole point of his attempt was that they weren’t all that useful in the first place. Other than that, however, the bike functioned just fine. Indeed, the very first photo you see in this story is the bike being ridden after the SIM card has been removed. All electronic functions, propulsion, and the in-frame display continue to function to this day. Our researcher has not yet decided on whether he will keep his Vanmoof or not, but we have decided that any company who willfully misguides its consumers is not worth our, or your money.

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