question about kryptonite locks

Haakon Studebaker said:

I remember seeing a lot of news about their U locks being easily beaten by
a pen. My bike was stolen more than a month ago and I got a replacement
bike along with a Kryptonite lock. Before I bought it, I asked the guy at
the LBS if I could borrow his pen to see if I could defeat it.

No dice.

Have the locks gotten better? I don't want to have another stolen bike
anytime soon.

If the lock has a tubular key...consider the bike gone. If it has the
new style flat key, you should be ok.

\\paul

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
http://www.underthecouch.org
..:you may want to fix my email
address before you send anything:.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Haakon Studebaker said:

I remember seeing a lot of news about their U locks being easily beaten by
a pen. My bike was stolen more than a month ago and I got a replacement
bike along with a Kryptonite lock. Before I bought it, I asked the guy at
the LBS if I could borrow his pen to see if I could defeat it.

No dice.

Have the locks gotten better? I don't want to have another stolen bike
anytime soon.

Just make sure the lock takes a flat key, not a hollow,
cylindrical key (those are the ones susceptible to the
Bic pen attack.)

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Any bike lock is a more or less minor setback to the skilled B.T. A
simple can of freon, for example can make it shatter as if it were made
of glass. Your best bet is to park the bike where 1) you can keep at
least a periodic eye on it, or 2) would make it extremely difficult for
a thief to do his (or hert) thing without attracting unwanted attention.

- -

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

A simple can of freon, for example can make it shatter as if it were made
of glass.

Although freon can be used to break locks, its use by bike thieves is an
urban legend. And you can't just get "a simple can" at the auto store.

--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

Diablo Scott said:

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

A simple can of freon, for example can make it shatter as if it were
made of glass.

Although freon can be used to break locks, its use by bike thieves is an
urban legend. And you can't just get "a simple can" at the auto store.

Doesn't a can of compressed air sprayed upside down work for this? Those
are easy to get.

Reid

"Reid Priedhorsky" wrote: Doesn't a can of compressed air sprayed upside
down work for this? Thoseare easy to get.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Compressed air does not cool enough on expansion to get that cold. I am not
aware of any ready source of cans of compressed air. A CO2 extinguisher
might work, or, perhaps, a couple of chunks of dry ice.

I know one thing that WILL work--I've done it: an acetylene cutting torch.

I was under the impression that only CERTAIN of the Krypronite locks can be
picked with a Bic pen. The ones I have looked at are larger in diameter
than the pen barrel, so I don't see how it would work on them. What am I
missing?

Leo Lichtman said:

Reid Priedhorsky said:

Doesn't a can of compressed air sprayed upside down work for this?
Those are easy to get.

Compressed air does not cool enough on expansion to get that cold. I am
not aware of any ready source of cans of compressed air. A CO2
extinguisher might work, or, perhaps, a couple of chunks of dry ice.

I looked again and it's not really compressed air. I was thinking of the
spraycans one uses for cleaning electronics. The one I have is billed
"Fellowes Air Duster (tm)" and has in small print "CHEMICAL COMPONENTS:
1,1,1,2-Tetraflouroethane CAS: 811-97-2". The can sloshes when shaken and
gets too cold to hold onto after extended use.

Reid

On Thu, 18 Aug 2005 17:08:20 -0400, Paul Hobson

Quoted message said:

If the lock has a tubular key...consider the bike gone. If it has the
new style flat key, you should be ok.

even though the locks were defeated with little effort few of the
bikes were stolen compared to how many had locks.
Knight-Toolworks
http://www.knight-toolworks.com
affordable handmade wooden planes

Steve knight said:

On Thu, 18 Aug 2005 17:08:20 -0400, Paul Hobson

Quoted message said:

If the lock has a tubular key...consider the bike gone. If it has the
new style flat key, you should be ok.

even though the locks were defeated with little effort few of the
bikes were stolen compared to how many had locks.
Knight-Toolworks
http://www.knight-toolworks.com
affordable handmade wooden planes

That's probably true...I really don't know. But, the cost of a new lock
compared to a new bike would make it a pretty safe assumption, I feel.

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
http://www.underthecouch.org
..:you may want to fix my email
address before you send anything:.

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 14:26:13 -0400, <[email hidden]>,

Paul Hobson said:

Steve knight said:

On Thu, 18 Aug 2005 17:08:20 -0400, Paul Hobson

Quoted message said:

If the lock has a tubular key...consider the bike gone. If it has the
new style flat key, you should be ok.

even though the locks were defeated with little effort few of the
bikes were stolen compared to how many had locks.

\

Quoted message said:

That's probably true...I really don't know. But, the cost of a new lock
compared to a new bike would make it a pretty safe assumption, I feel.

That the hack was known in lock-smithing circles long before it became
common knowledge is what irks consumers. Kryptonite was relying on
"security through obscurity". It came tumbling down in the light.
The hack was also generally used for stealing laptops.

I've succeeded in opening a few off-brand locks but have not been able
to open any of the three different model "Bike Guard" branded locks I
tried. They all have tubular keys but not all tubular key locks are
susceptible to the bic hack.
--
zk

So you are saying that kryptonite has not been able to solve the
problem with it's cylindrical pin / tumbler locks? Are they still
selling them? I don't fear theft much but might be moving to an area
with higher crime.

Ken