Here's a neat new take on an existing idea: Bikes in the Sky
London design student Dominic Hargreaves has seemingly solved the world's bike theft concerns with a winning design in the iQ Design Challenge at the Royal College of Art. If his invention rides into production, it could be an important advance in transportation security as the world goes fit and green turning to bicycles for exercises and energy conservation.
There's more info @ Royal College Of Art's website.
There are a handful of companies that make bike parking "trees" that hoist bikes skyward on a somewhat similar manner, but this seems to be the smaller home version.
Personally, while I think it's a neat idea, I think it's still vulnerable - hoisting without locking is a little too tempting, especially if there's any kind of balcony/stairwell/drainpipe nearby that can be used for access. I've heard stories of thieves scaling up three stories to get to balconies with unlocked bikes on them.
If this also combined a locking mechanism of some sort, I'd be more behind the idea, but it's a neat take on the problem.
