project goal:
to create a retractable bike lock for bikers who like to trail blaze and park their bikes in areas that do not have a parking rack. to accomplish this, the lock will have a flexible and wide range of motion, simple storage, be able to go around larger circumferences, and a compact design.
personal project summer ‘25
duration: seven weeks
trailblazers.
trailblazers ride across every kind of terrain, and their journeys often end where bike infrastructure doesn’t exist, leaving them without a place to lock up. this project is designed specifically for these riders, making trailblazers my target demographic.
common problems with popular bike locks.
I began this project by doing a study on the current most popular types of bike locks. I looked at their individual design successes and design flaws, so that I could better understand what works well for the locks, and what opportunities there were to improve upon.
cable combination lock
design is not compact
awkward attachment
the u-lock
limited range of motion
requires separate attachment for storage
retractable bike lock
requires separate attachment for storage
unreliable wire
the foldylock
cannot fit larger circumferences
too large to fit around back tire
low fidelity modeling.
after doing a round of iteration sketches, I took my top three concepts and created low fidelity models of them with corrugated cardboard. once the models were created, I noted the successes and flaws of each one.
finding inspiration in nature.
when creating my lock, I kept thinking about the setting that my bike lock would be most commonly used in. knowing that my lock would most likely be used on a trail ride, I started looking for inspiration on what to model the form after and settled on a squirrel. I wanted my design to resemble the funny comforting creatures that roam the bike trails
squirrels are animals with many organic and prominent curves. I wanted to focus on understanding those curves so I could portray them with my lock. my final goal is to have the lock resemble the squirrel’s organic nature without completely looking like a squirrel.
final concept.
creating the prototype.
final prototype.
these are the final photos of the SLA resin-printed model. this physical prototype was created to showcase the finalized form, detailing, and functional mechanism of the product, providing a representation of its intended design and performance.
creating a logo.
I wanted to design a logo that would help with the brand visualization of my lock. I began by sketching different thumbnails, trying to combine the squirrel and lock figures together.
I proceeded with the green highlighted thumbnail, and entered it into chatgpt prompting it to “create a logo based on my sketch for a retractable bike lock for trailblazers that is inspired by a squirrel.” it came up with the series of ideas below and using the middle idea as my inspiration, I then came up with the final logo design.
final logo.
exploded view.
highlighted features.
below are the highlighted features that would hypothetically be marketed towards the trailblazing consumers.
adjustable for any frame.
when creating the SQRL Lock, it was important that this lock would be able to be used on any type of bike frame. the adjustable grip allows for the SQRL Lock to be placed on any bike frame!
dollar and ring rendered in ChatGPT
built-in storage.
this lock includes a built-in storage compartment to keep personal items safe when biking along a trail.
final CAD renders.
bike frame and combination lock acquired from GrabCad