Cycling UK Forum

need a lightweight lock for touring....one i have is to heavy....
what locks do you use.......

Thinking of making my own :

Padlock, 2x2 chain links, joined with thin wire and thick tie-wraps(looped together) then wraped in the outer of a proper lock.

1. Lightweight.
2. If you dont touch it you'd think its a chain lock.
3. Scissor and maybe leatherman proof(opportunists).
4. Not thief proof.

For touring, I take two locks: a heavy D-lock, and a cable lock for the depressingly common locations that don't have anything I can get a D-lock around.

I'd prefer to go lightweight, but the thing is, if someone nicks my bike, they also get a load of my personal gear, and my ride home.

I also try not to let the bike out of my sight, but that's not always possible.

I've never worried too much about this.

I take a cheap lock with about 3 feet of braided steel to fit round the frame and both wheels. Weighs approx a pound.

Overnight stops on tour if staying in B&B etc. the owners usually have somewhere secure to store bikes. Otherwise I just try to find somewhere out of sight.

The lock would take no time for a professional to break, but I feel I am really protecting against the opportunist thief who might spot an unlocked bike leaned up against a shop and cycle off on it. Equally on short stops I don't worry about the contents of my panniers, I take my wallet out, what is left is mainly unwashed kit from the previous days!

Touch wood, never had a problem so far...

I suspect determined thefts of touring bikes are in fact not too common. Chain your carbon-fibre speed machine to a railing outside a railway station and it might well be a different story!

I use a Kryptonite Evolution Mini D-lock and a Pitlock security skewer set. The mini D-lock is very sturdy, but only weighs a little over a kilo and is used extensively by couriers and urban riders for that reason. The pitlock skewers are expensive, but they weigh no more than QRs while offering a very high level of security.

Your mileage may vary - I tend to city-hop and often end up parked overnight in some fairly shady places. That said, I think if you're prepared to accept the limitations in what you can lock to, the Kryptonite Mini is an excellent lock for touring. I can't really think of a lighter option that offers credible security - the closest is probably a folding lock like the Trelock FS300, but it's very flimsy and more expensive than an Evo Mini and a cable.

I rode from here in Cornwall to the Yorkshire Dales and back in July.

I took a lock, but didn't use it. B+Bs all had garages/sheds/hallways. Cafes and meal stops, I sat outside with Bike.

To repost something I wrote in another thread:

I used to take a standard D lock or fat cable lock. Last year however I 'downgraded' to a very thin cable lock with alarm in an effort to save weight:



http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Fasten ... kw/89-6129

Does the job as well as the heavier locks and gives you peace of mind of being able to hear if the bike is tampered with (the alarm is activated by movement or cutting). This of course presumes you're near the bike, but it would also attract attention in a busy urban environment or on a quiet street at night.

My version of this lock weighs 720g and is pretty short - the cable length is probably about 0.5m long when opened up.

Reigncloud wrote: ... gives you peace of mind ...

I think that this is the most anybody can reasonably hope for and it's something personal. It seems obvious to me that nothing is certain to defeat the completely committed thief (eg JCB diggers being used to turn an ATM into a real hole in the wall, and then being used to ram police cars) but nobody knows how often this or that is sufficient to cause the typical thief to move on. I've suggested before that a flimsy but visually convincing plastic copy of a big lock would be as good as anything else, so long as the idea didn't catch on.

Anybody who really worries would be unlikely be happy with their bike secured by a few metres of anchor chain from the QEII

PS I think the future probably lies in some sort of alarm device, whether noisy or silent, which sends a message to a mobile phone. No good for anybody a long way from their bike, but that applies to a lot of solutions. There would be problems, of course, especially with false alarms. If the idea caught on, shaking a locked bike then standing back and awaiting the arrival of the owner would be a jolly good japes. That's already an indirect method of defeating burglar alarms: cause enough false activations for the alarm to be regarded as unreliable and it will eventually be turned off.

The biggest advantage on the side of the thief is public indifference. Some years ago I secured my bike with a thin cable and combination lock while I had lunch. When I came back to it I found that the lock would no longer open - it was a cheap alloy thing and had been sticky for a while. With a bunch of strangers standing nearby I opened my toolkit, took out a screwdriver and forced it open. Nobody took any notice.

My bikes are liberally coated with rust, which weighs very little.

It has however been very good at deterring thieves.

Then I went and spoilt it all by buying a titanium bike which I have to WORRY about.
Add a kilogramme for an expensive D lock and I may as well have just used the rusty old steel bike.
So that is what I do, mostly.

The other trick if you're with a bunch of riders is to make sure that their bikes are more accessible than yours.

Audax67 wrote:The biggest advantage on the side of the thief is public indifference. Some years ago I secured my bike with a thin cable and combination lock while I had lunch. When I came back to it I found that the lock would no longer open - it was a cheap alloy thing and had been sticky for a while. With a bunch of strangers standing nearby I opened my toolkit, took out a screwdriver and forced it open. Nobody took any notice.

My husband once locked his bike with a cheap chain outside the Senate House in Malet Street, then lost the key. With a train to catch from Euston, he managed to saw through it in ten minutes with the saw blade on his Swiss Army knife - no-one took any notice.

depends where you are going to:
in Asia 2 reel and locks were OK in the day (bring the bike into the room/Guest house overnight)
in europe or USA I generally camp . A 2m long pacsafe cable lock and some sort of padlock/chain combo worked ok. Some hostels in UK and USA have loaner D locks to secure the bike in their shed.

Reigncloud wrote:To repost something I wrote in another thread:

I used to take a standard D lock or fat cable lock. Last year however I 'downgraded' to a very thin cable lock with alarm in an effort to save weight:

S89-6129P01WL.jpg

http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Fasten ... kw/89-6129

Does the job as well as the heavier locks and gives you peace of mind of being able to hear if the bike is tampered with (the alarm is activated by movement or cutting). This of course presumes you're near the bike, but it would also attract attention in a busy urban environment or on a quiet street at night.

My version of this lock weighs 720g and is pretty short - the cable length is probably about 0.5m long when opened up.

There's something similar on ebay but combination rather than key, and for half the price http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOCK-ALARM-10 ... 2312606bfa

bikes4two wrote:

Reigncloud wrote:To repost something I wrote in another thread:

I used to take a standard D lock or fat cable lock. Last year however I 'downgraded' to a very thin cable lock with alarm in an effort to save weight:

S89-6129P01WL.jpg

http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Fasten ... kw/89-6129

Does the job as well as the heavier locks and gives you peace of mind of being able to hear if the bike is tampered with (the alarm is activated by movement or cutting). This of course presumes you're near the bike, but it would also attract attention in a busy urban environment or on a quiet street at night.

My version of this lock weighs 720g and is pretty short - the cable length is probably about 0.5m long when opened up.

There's something similar on ebay but combination rather than key, and for half the price http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOCK-ALARM-10 ... 2312606bfa

That looks good.
Re - an audible deterrent - and cheap - I have a few bunches of metal bells I hang in my bike.
As soon as the bike is moved they tinkle and can be heard from quite a distance.
OK - not a padlock - but something that would draw my attention back to the bike.