Lost key Axa 'nurses lock'

[hamish]

My daughter's Dutch bike use at University has an Axa nurses/wheel lock thingy on it. Unfortunately she has lost the key. I am at a Los as to what to do with it! I have tried looking for a replacement and looked at YouTube how to pick the locks - with no success.

I hesitated in asking the forum because I don't really want to ask people to broadcast how to get around a bike lock. But it's sitting there useless in her room and I need to do something.

Any ideas?

[thirdcrank]

If you know the key number, there is a replacement service

https://keyservice.axasecurity.com/en-GB

[Mick F]

If the key number isn't known, and a spare key can't be found, all you can do is get a hacksaw to it, I reckon.

[Suffolker]

I think that, unless you know the actual key number, you're stymied as far as getting a replacement from AXA is concerned. For obvious reasons, there's no reference to it on the lock itself.

When last I encountered this problem, and after my amateur lockpicking attempts had failed, I had to cut the lock off, by sawing through the horseshoe. An angle grinder will do it quicker, but whatever is used, it needs a lot of care to ensure that the rim, tyre or spokes (or all three) don't get damaged.

It's then easy enough to remove the upper key section from the cycle, and replace the lock with a new one. They're not that expensive.

I've found, through bitter experience, that it's always worthwhile filling in the key number in the cycle paperwork or manual (if bought new or you have it) and/or otherwise keeping a record of it.

[Mick F]

We keep all our spare keys for everything in a box, and each key has a tie-on paper label to show what it's for.
House door keys, car key, padlock keys for the sheds, bike lock keys etc etc.

Though I'm not telling you where the box is!

[Paulatic]

Have a look on YouTube you’ll learn how to pick it on there.

[Norman H]

A good locksmith should be able to open it non destructively and may even be able to cut a new key but the DIY method is probably going to be cheaper. A less good locksmith will employ the same DIY destructive method.

Drilling out the cylinder generally works on that type lock and is probably safer than the angle grinder approach.

[Brucey]

an angle grinder is commonly used for this task.

The lock would originally have come with two keys. It is easy to be wise after the event but it is a very good idea to note the key number and keep the spare key in a safe place.

cheers

[hamish]

Thanks all for the quick replies.

I think an angle grinder would be needed.....

I tried picking it as per YouTube and failed.
The number we need is not the one on the lock
We bought the bike second (5th maybe) hand with one key and she didn't keep the number....
It has defeated my bolt croppers and a hacksaw just skids over the surface...

I recon it's the angle grinder next. I better dig it out and buy a new disk.

[thirdcrank]

... I recon it's the angle grinder next. I better dig it out and buy a new disk.

Unfortunately, that's also IME a certain way to find the key.

I remember seeing some locks for sale in Ellis Briggs. On the box it said something like "Comes with three keys. Give one to your Mom for safekeeping till you have lost the other two."

[BigG]

This thread is a good recommendation for the type of lock described. I use them on my touring and everyday bikes and have always believed that they were a good deterrent to would-be thieves. I use a lightweight chain anchored on the Dutch lock closing bar to attach to a convenient post. This deters casual vandalism but no thief is going to want to be seen carrying a locked bike away. Both my locks have captive keys which can only be removed when the lock is closed. They cannot therefore be lost while riding. They hang on a convenient nail in the garage when the bikes are not in use - not easily found in the glory hole that is my garage.

[Suffolker]

This thread is a good recommendation for the type of lock described. I use them on my touring and everyday bikes and have always believed that they were a good deterrent to would-be thieves. I use a lightweight chain anchored on the Dutch lock closing bar to attach to a convenient post. This deters casual vandalism but no thief is going to want to be seen carrying a locked bike away. Both my locks have captive keys which can only be removed when the lock is closed. They cannot therefore be lost while riding. They hang on a convenient nail in the garage when the bikes are not in use - not easily found in the glory hole that is my garage.

Yours sounds like a very similar arrangement to my Dutch Gazelle Davos (new 2006) which has an AXA Defender lock. This is, I believe, "chipped" as well, and the locking arrangements are the same. Mine also has a chain that plugs into the lock, but it is of a size and weight suitable to anchor The QE2.

As you say, they're very good locks, and I think in some ways better than the U-locks etc. (although I also put one of them on when leaving the cycle in a more vulnerable place). As the OP has found, they're hard to get off with bolt croppers or a hacksaw. Some of the would-be joyriders hereabouts, who have no experience of these locks, have been baffled by a cycle that appears unlocked but which they can't just wheel away.

[Tangled Metal]

Locks should come with a set of instructions like Tilley hats do for their lifetime guarantee + receipt the paperwork and guarantee says to put it with the receipt in the top drawer in your bedroom. Then inside your hat it has instructions on how to find the guarantee.

Needless to say I never put mine where it told me to a put it. Well if have lost it there.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

We keep all our spare keys for everything in a box, and each key has a tie-on paper label to show what it's for.
House door keys, car key, padlock keys for the sheds, bike lock keys etc etc.

Though I'm not telling you where the box is!

Maybe a "safe".........that's where mine live.............

[Mick F]

No, not a safe, but they are safely away.

We also have a spare back door key hidden somewhere, just in case we lose the front door key whilst we're out.
No, it's not under the doormat or under a plant pot.

Some years back, we had a front door with a Yale lock and once or twice we'd slammed the front door without taking a key! In those days, we had iron-framed windows at the front, so I used to go into the shed and get a nail and use a stone to drive out the hinge pins and take the whole window out. Climb in, open the front door, then put the window back in.

Can't do that these days because we are fully double-glazed with hidden hinges, and the glass panes can only come out internally. Also, we don't have a Yale lock and need to positively lock the front door.

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Anyway, thread drift here.
How's the OP getting on with the nurse's lock?