bike locks

[daisydaisy]

i am looking for new bike locks, there are so many now i am getting rather confused which ones are best. basically i need a couple of new d locks for securing frames to bike racks. i currently use a couple of really old d locks and a couple of 10m extension cables through the quick release wheels. its for locking four bikes (inc a triplet) and a tag a long. i have been meaning to replace the d locks for ages as they are so old they are needing a bit of a wiggle to lock and unlock and they are probably an easy target for an experienced bike thief. i have been looking at amazon and wiggle this morning,are the knog and kriptonite ones any good?

[BE1]

Here is the most comprehensive list I have come across

http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html

No need to read it all the essential information is on the first page

Some of these may be a little heavy duty for your needs but there is another thread on the site which covers secondary locks.

[daisydaisy]

thank you so much BE1, thats just the information i needed. I really should have bought better locks ages ago, apart from losing our bikes which i would be really upset about, it would be awful if I ended up stranded somewhere with four young children.

[RickH]

With the likelihood of potentially needing to leave my bike at a couple of places of unknown/dubious provenance some distance away, I recently decided to go for an Abus Bordo Granit X Plus (snappy name eh? Bought it from Tredz as they seemed to be one of the cheapest from a Google search & they popped up a £5 off first purchase code while I was looking at their site ).

It is Sold Secure Gold rated and has Abus's top level 15 security rating. It is quite substantial (claimed weight 1580g) but folds to about the size of a water bottle (& can be fitted instead of a bottle cage, or simply strapped on, too).

Lock mounted on bottle bosses

Being made of 6 "links" it is more versatile than a D lock in what it will go round, although you are still slightly limited by the overall length.

The only significant critisism I have seen was that, when unsuccessfully trying to break it, the lock casing sustained damage that meant the lock mechanism could fall out when subsequently unlocked with the key. (The review where that happened, on Road.cc, is dated 2010 & the lock has had at least cosmetic changes since then.)

Rick.

[Vantage]

Oxford Heavy Duty Chain and Padlock 1m Oxford http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000R593CE/r ... mtb0FMCWBG

Gold rated for a bicycle, silver rated for a moped (why I don't know), weighs a ton and the lock has yet to freeze up resulting in a broken key, unlike those made by kryptonite. Cheap too

[Raph]

are the knog and kriptonite ones any good?

I suppose you only find out how good your bike lock is when a thief succeeds or fails to nick your bike!

I use a Kryptonite 18mm Fahgeddaboudit - quite heavy, not big enough to get a stubby jack into, also sadly not big enough to get a MTB frame and wheel in, but I lock the back wheel through the frame - NOT the so-called Sheldon method but the lock goes round a seat stay - still, I probably wouldn't use that method for leaving a bike overnight, as a thief might consider doing a bodged repair on a seat stay if he had to wreck it to get the bike away.

I also use an Onguard motorbike lock, a padlock and 1metre chain, massively heavy at nearly 5kg, but it lives at the school where my kid locks his bike, I just re-lock it to the bike rack. It's just long enough that with a couple of swearwords it just about reaches round both wheels on my road bike - but for my kid's MTB I just lock the back wheel to the frame separately with a long-shackle padlock.

On that latter point - I usually find it's less hassle to have a lock that does one wheel to the frame while the main lock does the frame and the other wheel - rather than carry a long cable or chain. I have an assortment of long-shackle padlocks for this. The downside is having to have extra keys on your keyring.

Don't bother with so-called armoured cable locks - I had to nick my own bike when one of these failed (jammed up and couldn't be unlocked with the key) and I can't tell you how easy it was! I only use those now for helmet to bike or a single wheel, and I'm even a bit squeamish about that.

That Abus looks great, as the flexibility gives a bit of wiggle room, the lack of which is what makes the Kryptonite a bit of a pain, e.g. I can't lock the bike to road sign posts. The Abus review bemoans damage to the lock... but they didn't manage to actually open it! Seems pretty good to me.

Can you leave the lock on the bike rack or do you have to carry it about? If you can leave it there, I'd get something like a motorbike chain such as the Onguard.

[john4703]

Can you leave the lock on the bike rack or do you have to carry it about? If you can leave it there, I'd get something like a motorbike chain such as the Onguard.

I have read about thieves working away at night on a lock and chain left in place. They roll back the cover, cut a link, replace that link with a cable tie, replace the cover and you use it the next day without noticing anything wrong. A quick cut of the hidden cable tie and away goes your bike.

[blackbike]

I bought 3 Squire D locks about 20 years ago and still have them.

They've kept my bikes safe in Manchester, and in spells in London, Leeds and Liverpool.

One thing about them that is very useful is that spare keys can be made at Timpsons.

[Raph]

Can you leave the lock on the bike rack or do you have to carry it about? If you can leave it there, I'd get something like a motorbike chain such as the Onguard.

I have read about thieves working away at night on a lock and chain left in place. They roll back the cover, cut a link, replace that link with a cable tie, replace the cover and you use it the next day without noticing anything wrong. A quick cut of the hidden cable tie and away goes your bike.

A chain is a chain - it isn't covered. They'd have to angle grind it, re-glue a link so it looked complete and withstood a good pull... though I don't doubt they might have ways that I haven't thought of to tamper with it more cleverly than the description above. I'm more worried about them supergluing the lock so it can't be undone, in the hope that we abandon the bike, then they can come back with a grinder later. If that ever happens I'm standing right there with it till my other half arrives with a grinder.

Is there somewhere more secure nearby you can leave the lock? In my case, my kid carries a bag with helmet, hi-viz jacket, gloves, lights etc into school with him, I can probably get him to take the lock in the bag with all the other stuff. Sounds a hassle but carrying 5kg of motorbike chain back home each time doesn't appeal. I might do that - thanks for the comment!

[LollyKat]

A chain is a chain - it isn't covered.

Haven't you ever seen the Abus chains?



There are other makes that do the same. You can even buy the Abus covers separately - they protect your paintwork.

[mercalia]

I have 2 D locks - a Kryptonite New York Standard which is just the righ size to go around front wheel and frame and security hoops. Also attaches the the frame nicely. But have to make sure it really clicks into the holder, a number of times it has fallen out while cycling..... I also have the M18 super thick one which doesnt come with a frame holder. I wouldnt trust cable to lock bikes to gether - all need to be locked useing a decent lock, other wise the one only locked with the cable can easily be stolen?

I think there are very few locks that will resist a determined thief for long -more a matter encouraging the thief to look for easier prey? 4 bikes must be a good target.... I think a matter how u lock the bikes up together, make it hard to get their tools to the locks? so they would have to steal all of them as a locked mass? would need 2 or morr people to man handle them?

[Raph]

A chain is a chain - it isn't covered.

Haven't you ever seen the Abus chains?



There are other makes that do the same. You can even buy the Abus covers separately - they protect your paintwork.

Yes - we're at cross-purposes, sorry I wasn't clear I was referring to mine - I took the cover off it, it seemed to get soaked in the rain then dribble into my sleeves when I was unlocking the bike. Paintwork isn't something I ever take too seriously - if it's too slick, it makes the bike all the more tempting to nick.

more a matter encouraging the thief to look for easier prey?

Indeed. Make it a real pain in the [rear], it's possible that lots of not necessarily top-notch locks might be a good addition to one really killer one. If they all take different tools to get round, I reckon that's probably a strength in itself. Though I don't actually know - I've never gone out to nick bikes. But I've lost a few, and none since I started using two or three locks.

BTW I'm suspicious of bike racks that can be unbolted from the ground. Both my kids' schools have bike racks that can be unbolted - one of them you could undo a couple of large-ish phillips screws and take a part of the rack with the bike. It's just by the staff room window but i wouldn't leave a bike there overnight. Is this short-sightedness by people who fit bike racks? Or don't bike thieves ever have a transit van and a 13mm spanner? Some of the bike racks in my local town are concreted into the ground - that seems a bit more meaningful. Has anyone heard of bike racks being unbolted with all the bikes on them?

[Vantage]

I have. Might have been on another forum, but the guy told the story that he'd locked his very expensive bike to a multiple bike lock rack thing in the basement of a block of flats due to rules on housekeeping or something. He wasn't actually allowed to keep his bike in his apartment/flat. Thieves had worked through the night to saw through the rack itself rather than all the individual bike locks and taken the whole lot.

[Raph]

Oh dear... that rather discredits concreted racks too, if they sawed through it. Even in broad daylight, a couple of guys just have to wear hi-viz jackets and passers-by think they're council workers. That's even assuming passers-by might give the slightest toss about someone's bike getting nicked.

[mercalia]

Oh dear... that rather discredits concreted racks too, if they sawed through it. Even in broad daylight, a couple of guys just have to wear hi-viz jackets and passers-by think they're council workers. That's even assuming passers-by might give the slightest toss about someone's bike getting nicked.

its worse than u think. it seems that we are very good at not seeing things even when they are in front of our eyes. there was a tv programme on this recently. an experiment , some joggers had to jog around the block periodically touching their head ( some thing to concentrate on) a mock fight was staged on the route, many of the subjects didnt see it. There was areal life case in USA of a cop who wasn't believed that he didn't see some cops beating up a man as he passed by pursuing his own unrelated suspect.so don't assume that locking your bike in a public place means it will be safe, and that no thief will dare try to steal it. I think many thieves informally know this human quirk and know they are more or less invisible
!