If you have ever tried locking your bicycle to a bike rack (that already has several bikes in it) with a U bar lock, you may have tried asking the store manager to put another rack in a safe location, unfortunately they just don’t understand and don’t care that locking it in a place with low foot traffic is like asking some one to ‘please cut my lock, no one is paying attention’…(even in the middle of the day)
While it is true that most locks are cut at night (is it?) And most theft is of unlocked bikes, in full day light by some ass hole leaving his pickup truck running at the side of the road while he throws your bike in the back and is gone in seconds. With battery powered tools or a small cutting torch any thing can be cut. That’s why I lock my bicycle as close to the door as possible with two heavy duty locks and chain, heavy enough that it will take more than a hammer to get threw them. Noise will make most people pay attention and that’s not what the thief wants. (not that the jerk won't just claim that it's his bike)
A cable of any sort will cut with bolt cutters hidden under a jacket. And cheap chains and locks are worse than nothing. You need to think about how easy it is to open a lock with a crow bar also. Then some say that they will freeze and crack your lock, so use a Brass shielded lock? Well I think the Brinks hardened steel shielded lock may be one of the best. And the Kryptonite N.Y. noose chain, harder than bolt cutters is the way to go, if you have a motorbike. (The 'New York noose chain' is too heavy for a bicycle). The N.Y. U bar shackle is the best. (Both cheaper than a new bike). Actually the 'Steel-o-flex' may be the best for the weight, But I haven’t tried cutting or freezing any of these.
E-Mail from:
Deirdre Weinberg Department of Parking and Traffic Bicycle Program www.bicycle.sfgov.org
Any lock can be picked, cut with a welding rig, or made brittle enough to shatter with a sledgehammer with liquid nitrogen. However, with a good quality lock, all are impractical in daylight away from a street or parking lot open to traffic. I've heard of only a single instance of a Kryptonite Evolution lock being welded apart or picked, but it can be done.
My most excellent commuter bike was stolen from my front porch in San Francisco.
I was on my way out to work, remembered something in the house, and left my unlocked bicycle on the porch just a few minutes. When I got back I could see it in a pickup truck driving away. I called the cops and they wouldn’t even try to catch them. -Carrie