Mini U Locks
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melw1
Mini U Locks
Just wondering if anyone uses these. Kryptonite do one as do OnGuard (Pitbull mini). I was looking at Sheldon's advice on locks and he suggests a cable lock to secure to lamp post , front wheels and back wheels etc and a mini u lock to secure frame and back wheel, just to each other. Of course the Krptonite Mini lock is much more expensive than OnGuard ... just wondered if it worth it?
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thirdcrank
- Posts: 36740
- Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm
I've had one for years. It's the old type (said to be openable with a biro) but I never bothered to take up the free exchange offer.
My attitude is that bike locks are a waste of time. (Read some of the reports regularly published in bike mags and you are just buying time, and usually not very much.) For security you need to keep the bike with you and hope no thief is prepared to use violence against you.
When I retired in 1997 and started doing more things like shopping which involved leaving the bike fastened up, I got the Kryptonite and the cable. I fancy the lock itself is more resistant to attack than some other types - e.g. you cannot get a jack inside the shackle, but you have to use a cable which is virtually vulnerable to a penknife. Swings and roundabouts.
I have sometimes used the lock on its own as a sort of immobiliser just around a rim while I bobbed into a shop.
Of course, you never know if your security has deterred a thief. I was once at a cycling consultaion meeting at Leeds Civic Hall. A number of bikes fastened up outsed were attacked - more vandalism than theft. A lot of damage was done, wheels removed and slung on a roof, somebody's q/r seatpin was removed and used as a lever to attack locks etc., etc. My bike escaped with only a slightly bent mudguard stay and a kink in the Kryton cable. For the next meeting, the Council allowed us to take all the bikes inside - which is how it should have been all along.
My attitude is that bike locks are a waste of time. (Read some of the reports regularly published in bike mags and you are just buying time, and usually not very much.) For security you need to keep the bike with you and hope no thief is prepared to use violence against you.
When I retired in 1997 and started doing more things like shopping which involved leaving the bike fastened up, I got the Kryptonite and the cable. I fancy the lock itself is more resistant to attack than some other types - e.g. you cannot get a jack inside the shackle, but you have to use a cable which is virtually vulnerable to a penknife. Swings and roundabouts.
I have sometimes used the lock on its own as a sort of immobiliser just around a rim while I bobbed into a shop.
Of course, you never know if your security has deterred a thief. I was once at a cycling consultaion meeting at Leeds Civic Hall. A number of bikes fastened up outsed were attacked - more vandalism than theft. A lot of damage was done, wheels removed and slung on a roof, somebody's q/r seatpin was removed and used as a lever to attack locks etc., etc. My bike escaped with only a slightly bent mudguard stay and a kink in the Kryton cable. For the next meeting, the Council allowed us to take all the bikes inside - which is how it should have been all along.
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andymiller
- Posts: 1716
- Joined: 8 Dec 2007, 10:26am
I've got both the Pitbull Mini and the Kryptonite New York. The Pitbull seems to be a good-quality lock but it still weighs a kilo and you can't attach it to anything. If you live somewhere that is reasonably well supplied with Sheffield stands or railings then I'd advise getting the Kryptonite New York. If not then you might get away with the Pitbull mini but the Pitbull mini and cable will weigh just as much as the single D-Lock and won't be as secure.
Oh and if you want to protect the front wheel then I'd use a Pinhead or Pitlock security skewer.
Oh and if you want to protect the front wheel then I'd use a Pinhead or Pitlock security skewer.
Re: Mini U Locks
melw1 wrote:Just wondering if anyone uses these. Kryptonite do one as do OnGuard (Pitbull mini). I was looking at Sheldon's advice on locks and he suggests a cable lock to secure to lamp post , front wheels and back wheels etc and a mini u lock to secure frame and back wheel, just to each other. Of course the Krptonite Mini lock is much more expensive than OnGuard ... just wondered if it worth it?
Locks only buy you time and it can be as little as a 43 seconds for a £100 sold secure gold rated lock and chain.
A determined thief will have your bike if (s)he's really determined. A common recommendation is that a cable and a D lock should be used as bike thieves are generally equipped to deal with only one type of lock.
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Ben Lovejoy
- Posts: 1170
- Joined: 26 Oct 2007, 9:47pm
- Location: London/Essex
- Contact:
Re: Mini U Locks
vernon wrote:Locks only buy you time and it can be as little as a 43 seconds for a £100 sold secure gold rated lock and chain.
The Sold Secure standard is five minutes. I don't have the full details to hand, but SS Silver is five minutes with most tools, and SS Gold is five minutes with everything short of an angle-grinder.
As you say, a determined thief (with five minutes and one second to spare) can steal anything, but in most cases all you need do is make your bike harder to steal than the one next to it.
Ben
TRICE Q with Streamer fairing for the fun stuff
Brompton M3L for the commutery stuff
LEJOG blog: http://www.benlovejoy.com/cycle/tripreports/lejog/
Brompton M3L for the commutery stuff
LEJOG blog: http://www.benlovejoy.com/cycle/tripreports/lejog/
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melw1
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Ben Lovejoy
- Posts: 1170
- Joined: 26 Oct 2007, 9:47pm
- Location: London/Essex
- Contact:
melw1 wrote:It is incredible that the bolt cutters / jack aren't included in the test
Are you sure about that? One of the security companies had a demo at the bicycle show at Earl's Court where they were demonstrating locks and chain against bolt-cutters.
Ben
TRICE Q with Streamer fairing for the fun stuff
Brompton M3L for the commutery stuff
LEJOG blog: http://www.benlovejoy.com/cycle/tripreports/lejog/
Brompton M3L for the commutery stuff
LEJOG blog: http://www.benlovejoy.com/cycle/tripreports/lejog/
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andymiller
- Posts: 1716
- Joined: 8 Dec 2007, 10:26am
melw1 wrote:Still thinking re locks - might go for the NY3000 Kryptonite one so that it's long enough to go around something else too..... They are just all so darn heavy...
They are just about long enough to go round a Sheffield stand or a set of railings (which is probably what you want as you don't want additional space to get extra tools/leverage), but they won't work with lampposts. I've also not tried mine with my mountain bike.
I think my lock weighs more than the frame.
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Ben Lovejoy
- Posts: 1170
- Joined: 26 Oct 2007, 9:47pm
- Location: London/Essex
- Contact:
CJ wrote:Ben Lovejoy wrote:melw1 wrote:It is incredible that the bolt cutters / jack aren't included in the test
Are you sure about that?
Didn't you read the article in Cycle, the CTC magazine?
No, but are we sure they have their facts correct?
If they do (and I'd be surprised), then the workaround is to buy motorcycle-rated locks, as those are definitely tested with bolt-croppers.
Ben
TRICE Q with Streamer fairing for the fun stuff
Brompton M3L for the commutery stuff
LEJOG blog: http://www.benlovejoy.com/cycle/tripreports/lejog/
Brompton M3L for the commutery stuff
LEJOG blog: http://www.benlovejoy.com/cycle/tripreports/lejog/
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thirdcrank
- Posts: 36740
- Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm
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andymiller
- Posts: 1716
- Joined: 8 Dec 2007, 10:26am
thirdcrank wrote:andymiller wrote:
I think my lock weighs more than the frame.
That is a very good point and at the heart of this. One of the reasons for paying more for a nice bike is to get something lighter. Not much point if you are then going to lug a lock around.
Well yes except in my experience thieves won't turn up their noses at cheap bikes either. So get a bike you enjoy riding, insure it properly and get a decent lock and security skewers.
I work in a senior school and when the pupils have lost their keys (on about 6 diferent occasions) I have been asked to cut the locks off.
One was a cheap U lock and it did not take 5 mins to cut with a hack saw, with a helper to stop the lock moving.
The rest have been cables. The sold secure took of few seconts more as I had to do more than one cut in the same place but in less than 1 minute.
The hardest to get through was a Halfords job with thick clear plastic covering. The plastic did not cut but deformed moving the strands of the cable. When I got the wire strands to break I had to get a Stanley knife to cut the plastic outer so that took the longest.
If there is an incentive you do try harder, I had an audiance of pupils so saving face came in to it. Sir could not even break a lock with bolt cutters for weeks is not something I wanted to hear. If doing it for theft I suspect to quote Cycle "as though your life depended on it" would definatly come in to it.
One was a cheap U lock and it did not take 5 mins to cut with a hack saw, with a helper to stop the lock moving.
The rest have been cables. The sold secure took of few seconts more as I had to do more than one cut in the same place but in less than 1 minute.
The hardest to get through was a Halfords job with thick clear plastic covering. The plastic did not cut but deformed moving the strands of the cable. When I got the wire strands to break I had to get a Stanley knife to cut the plastic outer so that took the longest.
If there is an incentive you do try harder, I had an audiance of pupils so saving face came in to it. Sir could not even break a lock with bolt cutters for weeks is not something I wanted to hear. If doing it for theft I suspect to quote Cycle "as though your life depended on it" would definatly come in to it.