Question about bike locks

If you're in Manhattan, get some heat treated chain, cover it with
fabric, and get the most bad-ass padlock money can buy.

Anywhere else, I really like the mini u-lock +cable approach, using
Sheldon's method: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

I got an On-guard mini lock and cable from REI. Great price, strong
enough for my city, and visually it looks pretty damn invincible. I'm
not saying it's better than Kryptos, just that visual deterrents are a
good thing. ;-)

Freewheeling said:

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about bike locks. I
had an Evolution Mini Kryptonite that got lost, and I'm wondering if I
should just get another one, of if there's now something better.
Looking for something that's both lightweight and secure. Or etwas anderes.

There's a handcuff-like lock out that's pretty good. Too large to use
as handcuffs (unless the perp is huge) and works well with parking
meters. Might add a cable or chain to it to secure more of the bike.

I had one and it got stolen out of my car in downtown Detroit. They
found the spare keys to it, but didn't take those. (If they were smart,
they'd have real jobs.)

HTH

--Karen D.

Veloise said:

Freewheeling said:

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about bike locks. I
had an Evolution Mini Kryptonite that got lost, and I'm wondering if I
should just get another one, of if there's now something better.
Looking for something that's both lightweight and secure. Or etwas anderes.

There's a handcuff-like lock out that's pretty good. Too large to use
as handcuffs (unless the perp is huge) and works well with parking
meters. Might add a cable or chain to it to secure more of the bike.

I had one and it got stolen out of my car in downtown Detroit. They
found the spare keys to it, but didn't take those. (If they were smart,
they'd have real jobs.)

HTH

--Karen D.

The handcuff one is made by Master; HostelShoppe for one place sells it
for $75 or so. I just ordered one as I saw a lot of others said it was a
good combination of easy to carry and easy to use.

landotter said:

If you're in Manhattan, get some heat treated chain, cover it with
fabric, and get the most bad-ass padlock money can buy.

Anywhere else, I really like the mini u-lock +cable approach, using
Sheldon's method: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

I got an On-guard mini lock and cable from REI. Great price, strong
enough for my city, and visually it looks pretty damn invincible. I'm
not saying it's better than Kryptos, just that visual deterrents are a
good thing. ;-)

Sheldon is not as smart as he thinks. Or maybe his lock-strategy has
changed--I saw no cable at all.
?????
The frame of the bike is the most-expensive part, and the hardest part
to replace. Only locking up the back wheel doesn't protect the frame. It
would be pretty easy to saw through the wheel and walk away rolling the
bike, leaving the lock on the pole.
~~~~~~

DougC said:

Only locking up the back wheel doesn't protect the frame. It
would be pretty easy to saw through the wheel

Have you tried it? It seems to me a bike wheel would be a bit tricky
to saw through. The rim is in moderate compression, and sawing
through things in compression can be difficult, because the sides of
the saw-cut grip the saw-blade. There's also the tyre bead to get
through. I think it would be easier to crop through the wheel,
assuming you can find croppers whose jaws open wide enough.

regards, Ian SMith
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Freewheeling said:

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about bike locks. I
had an Evolution Mini Kryptonite that got lost, and I'm wondering if I
should just get another one, of if there's now something better. Looking
for something that's both lightweight and secure. Or etwas anderes.

One article:
<http://www.slate.com/id/2140083/>

Freewheeling said:

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about bike locks. I
had an Evolution Mini Kryptonite that got lost, and I'm wondering if I
should just get another one, of if there's now something better.
Looking for something that's both lightweight and secure. Or etwas anderes.

Abus has a new foldable lock called "Bordo" (see www.abus.de). It
doesn´t reach the security levels of heavy U-locks, but it´s more or
less "lightweight" and quite compact when folded.

In Germany the Bordo lock is currently out of stock (maybe because of
its success among folding bike owners), but AFAIK it will be available
again within the next weeks.

Regards,
Christian
http://www.tinyworld.de

DougC said:

The handcuff one is made by Master; HostelShoppe for one place sells it
for $75 or so. I just ordered one as I saw a lot of others said it was a
good combination of easy to carry and easy to use.

I got mine recently from amazon.com for $50 with free shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009V1WQQ?v=glance

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"Ian Smith" wrote: Have you tried it? It seems to me a bike wheel would
be a bit tricky to saw through. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What woukld go through the mind of the thief? "Sawing through this wheel
will take time, and will obviously not look like innocent activity."

The bike magazines tell us there's no way to prevent a bike from
getting ripped off if a thief wants the bike. Anecdotal evidence
suggests recumbents just don't get stolen by professional bike thieves
because there's no immediate market for the bike. (Anyone from the
insurance industry have reliable data? I've never seen anything
specifically about 'bents.) No one wants the skinny little wheel off my
TE and my mechanicals are deliberately not high zoot so I don't worry
about the bike getting stripped. No, what I fear is random vandalism,
coming out of a store and finding the frame trashed. No lock will
prevent that. I have a Master Cuff at the apartment but I just carry a
simple cable and combination lock around town.

You could try searching the forums on Bicycling or Cycle Sport
magazines for useful reviews of lock systems and each of the magazines
runs a lock review every two years or so. The European mag, Cycle Sport
always reviews interesting locks not easily obtained in the States.

david boise ID

In rec.bicycles.misc Ian Smith said:

Have you tried it? It seems to me a bike wheel would be a bit tricky
to saw through. The rim is in moderate compression, and sawing
through things in compression can be difficult, because the sides of
the saw-cut grip the saw-blade. There's also the tyre bead to get
through.

You and Sheldon are right about this, hacksawing a frame is much much
easier than hacksawing a rim and wire bead tire. Locking just the rear
wheel through the rear triangle is about as secure a locking method as
one can use, when combined with securing the front wheel to the frame as
well.

Quoted message said:

I think it would be easier to crop through the wheel,
assuming you can find croppers whose jaws open wide enough.

Probably just easier to crop the lock itself.

--
K.

Freewheeling said:

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations about bike locks. I
had an Evolution Mini Kryptonite that got lost, and I'm wondering if I
should just get another one, of if there's now something better.
Looking for something that's both lightweight and secure. Or etwas anderes.

Nothing much has changed in the past year. Cylindrical keys are still
disparaged due to the ball point pen trick, and other types have
replaced them. No lock will stop a determined thief, and cable locks
won't even slow down even a casual thief. In general, light weight is
less secure than heavy, according to the consensus of the NYC bike
messengers visually surveyed; they carry those honkin' big Master
locks and hardened chains. What's effective in your area can only be
established by the kind of experience that you don't want to acquire.
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Werehatrack said:

No lock will stop a determined thief, and cable locks
won't even slow down even a casual thief.

Got that right. My 10-yr-old had a cable lock on his bike, and lost the
key. I took a pair of diagonal cutters (a bit larger than standard, but
nothing industrial) and gnawed through the cable in about 10 minutes.

"Gary Fritz" wrote: (clip) gnawed through the cable in about 10 minutes.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not only that! Based on my own experience, I'll bet people walked by and
didn't even pay attention.

Leo Lichtman said:

"Gary Fritz" wrote: (clip) gnawed through the cable in about 10 minutes.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not only that! Based on my own experience, I'll bet people walked by and
didn't even pay attention.

Why should anyone pay attention? There's nothing illegal about a guy
cutting through a bicycle lock/chain on a bike he owns.

If someone did pay attention, what should they do? Confront a potential
criminal who is holding all sorts of dangerous tools, etc.? Or call the
police, who won't get there until the guy is long gone?

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On Tue, 09 May 2006 00:33:45 GMT, Victor Kan

_UCEloopdrive.net said:

Leo Lichtman said:

"Gary Fritz" wrote: (clip) gnawed through the cable in about 10 minutes.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not only that! Based on my own experience, I'll bet people walked by and
didn't even pay attention.

Why should anyone pay attention? There's nothing illegal about a guy
cutting through a bicycle lock/chain on a bike he owns.

If someone did pay attention, what should they do? Confront a potential
criminal who is holding all sorts of dangerous tools, etc.? Or call the
police, who won't get there until the guy is long gone?

Walk up to him in a 1950's British tropic-weight undress uniform, and
slap him with a fish. An halibut, to be precise.

What, you don't keep these implements at the ready at all times? No
excuse!
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Victor Kan said:

DougC said:

The handcuff one is made by Master; HostelShoppe for one place sells
it for $75 or so. I just ordered one as I saw a lot of others said it
was a good combination of easy to carry and easy to use.

I got mine recently from amazon.com for $50 with free shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009V1WQQ?v=glance

This sounds interesting, thanks. I bought a Bulldog mini for $25 just
because I needed something right away, but it's pretty heavy for a mini.
I guess that's the idea.