Best bike lock on the market?

Bri

Am I to believe the blurb and conclude that Kryptonite make the best bike locks around?

Ive looked around a bit, and if using reviews as a guideline over prices, Im confused:

Some student review panel said this:
The test panel could not open the Kryptonite New York Chain. We do not believe that Kryptonite New York Chain is the best chain lock. The triple-heat-treated-steel monster chain with square-link design gives extra high security, but the padlock has an exposed shackle. The St. Pierre Quadrachain lock has no exposed U-type shank that can be cut with bolt cutters.

So what qualifies as the best and why?

Even if you get the most unbreakable lock around - costing more than the average bike Id say - Ive still heard the Irish thieves use chemicals in places like colleges to burn the locking mechanism and then come back when the lock is useless. True?

Any suggestions? I'm not buying a good bike till I get this straight! :rolleyes:

Victor

Bri wrote:

Even if you get the most unbreakable lock around - costing more than the average bike Id say - Ive still heard the Irish thieves use chemicals in places like colleges to burn the locking mechanism and then come back when the lock is useless. True?

Apparently one of their favourites is glue in the lock. Ultimately it is a trade-off between bike and lock, how much are you willing to spend. Locks deter, they do not stop.

Bri

Victor wrote:

Apparently one of their favourites is glue in the lock. Ultimately it is a trade-off between bike and lock, how much are you willing to spend. Locks deter, they do not stop.

Let say I had unlimited cash (I wish). Whats the best lock then?!
How does Glue work apart from vandalising your lock?

Im not the quickest in the mornings.

uberwolf

I'd imagine so the chav can be done with your bike quickly during daykight, and prevent you from taking your bike with you. Then they can return at nightfall when there is less chance of them being spotted with the hacksaw.

I do recall a seasoned bike thief saying that he could have lock off in under a minute, so don't presume good lock - I can leave my bike in the bronx over night

Bri

Thanks for the reply - I think I get what your saying but...

How do you protect your bike?! :eek:

Victor

Bri wrote:

How do you protect your bike?!

You make it unappealing to steal. Use an "old" bike around town and leave your good bike for the long hauls.

seamus

Victor wrote:

You make it unappealing to steal. Use an "old" bike around town and leave your good bike for the long hauls.

Pretty much. If you want a serious bike for serious biking, then you buy something else to ride the rest of the time. Plus it cuts down on maintenance costs.

A while back, kryptonite had a guarantee on one of their locks, that if it was broken, they'd give you £5000 (to replace your bike obviously). The drawback being that any thief knows his stuff and would probably rob your unbreakable chain to protect the thing he's just robbed - so no broken lock, no cash.

Bri

Yeah Ive heard the 2 bike option before. Thing is it's just not practical. I cant put my good bike anywhere except out on the street or in storage away from me. I dont feel like cycling some peice of crap 90pc of the time after spending a fortune. Thats like buying an iPod and using a walkman to commute.

How'd he rob the chain if its unbreakable?!

The guarantee is only for North America.

seamus

Bri wrote:

How'd he rob the chain if its unbreakable?!

Well, they'd break the lock and take the chain...unharmed.

tribble

If you want to protect you're bike then for christ sake don't use a chain.

A lock is only as good as the weakest point.
A chain has a couple of dozen weak points (the links)..
They simply don't compare to the much thicker shackle locks (solid D shaped lccks).

Plus a padlock cannot hope to match a barrel lock lock as used in shackle locks.

Here is an excellent link examining all types of lock.
http://www.whycycle.co.uk/safety-locks.htm

tribble

fiacha

it is usually much easier to bypass a lock than break or pick it. a large amount of padlocks (even the expensive ones) can be opened using a shim (do a google and you should find a few vids of this). they can be made from an alu / steel can in a couple of seconds and open the lock just as quickly. I have tried this on all the padlocks around my house and it works.

there are a number of tools available to pick d-locks that can be used without looking out of place. they are not that expensive and are easy to get in the UK.

most locks can be picked / bypassed / broken quickly by experienced thiefs. chains can be cut / broken. the object the bike is locked to can be cut etc.

if the git wants your bike, he can get it. as someone already said, if you need to lock it outside the best you can do is make it more hassle for them to steal. use a strong chain and a padlock with a covered shackle to prevent easy access with bolt cutters. try to lock it up somewhere busy and think about what you are locking it to.
people used to lock their bikes to railings outside a post office near me. none of them noticed that the railings were rusted at the top and the bike could be lifted up and over the bar !

i never bring my bike into town, and luckily I have secure parking in work. out of interest, how many people have had bikes stolen from public places ?? do you lock your wheels to the frame if you have quick releases etc?

uberwolf

fiacha wrote:

out of interest, how many people have had bikes stolen from public places ?? do you lock your wheels to the frame if you have quick releases etc?

I'd always take off the front wheel and lock it through the rear and to the frame. Lock through the chain as well... this way the lock is what they'll have to go through. ANd if you make it inaccessible in anyway then all the better. A girl I knew had her bike stolen from her railings in front of her house. She came back to find the lock still securely locked to the railing... no bike though

blorg

fiacha wrote:

i never bring my bike into town, and luckily I have secure parking in work. out of interest, how many people have had bikes stolen from public places ?? do you lock your wheels to the frame if you have quick releases etc?

I consider myself quite an expert on the subject of bicycle theft, having had four bikes stolen over the last few years. I'm now 100% on the two-bike (good bike/bad bike) model which works well for me.

- 1 stolen when I went into a shop for two seconds without locking it;
- 1 stolen because I dropped the keys beside the bike.

Ok, ok on those two.

- 1 stolen from immediately outside my workplace on Pembroke Street, locked securely with two locks (frame and both wheels) to a railing (they cut the locks). Stolen between 6-7pm
- 1 stolen from the landing outside my apartment.

A friend of mine had his bike stolen from the underground carpark under his apartment, so you would want to be 100% sure on the 'secure parking' thing. Also there are many stories of cars being stolen from car parks, so...

I've also lost my keys and had to get a locksmith to free my bike, so I've seen first-hand how quickly they can do this (he picked one, cut the other).

With quick-release wheels on my good bike, I used to use a small cheap lock to lock the front wheel to the frame. I haven't bothered with my cheap (€100) bike, and it was never a problem. Are people interested in wheels if they aren't particularly good ones? I've had my water bottle cages stolen before on a bike with unlocked (and untouched) quick release wheels... Besides which if you are a thief surely it's about as easy to get non-quick release wheels off as quick release ones, it's only a few twists with a spanner.

I'd tend to support locking the wheel in place rather than removing, partially from a less-risk-of-fork-damage point of view, but also because a bike with the front wheel removed and locked to the back really screams 'expensive bike' from a distance...

Bri

Interesting, I guess the 2 bike system is about it. Oh well I guess Ill have to wait.

Who buys all these bikes? For parts or export?

luckat

My bike was locked to the Corporation's bike-rack outside the side of Penney's in O'Connell Street. The bike wasn't taken, but the thief attempted to saw through the lock part of the Specialised lock.

Frustrated in this, he took the cheap Chinese speedometer and the ting-ting bell that had cost me €4.50.

The weird thing about it is that O'Connell Street and the side streets off it are well known as the most bike-theft-prone area in Ireland - and it's well known that bike theft is one of the societal barometers for general crime (see The Tipping Point's essay on zero tolerance in New York) - yet there are no cameras trained on these bike racks.

A cheap webcam would be enough to identify bike thieves and show them being arrested on a nice big screen... but when I rang the cops they said "Oh, cameras and that kind of thing are very expensive."

Zut alors.

uberwolf

yet there are no cameras trained on these bike racks.

A cheap webcam would be enough to identify bike thieves and show them being arrested on a nice big screen... but when I rang the cops they said "Oh, cameras and that kind of thing are very expensive."

a mates bike was robbed ages ago, a 1600 quid bike he'd brought back from the states. A few months later I saw it locked on O'Connell street. I was dead certain it was his and I strolled into the Garda station there. Ban Garda there was dead friendly and trained a camera on it, and when I explained it's value she said they'd keep an eye on it until someone came to unlock it and they could nab them (they couldn't just take my word for it). I rang my mate and I had to leg it.

He rang me from the station when he got there. She'd gone on break, not mentioned it to anyone and it had vanished mean time. So even with camera's you shouldn't be too hopeful!!!

Good news is my mates brother saw someone on it in town and grabbed them off it and brought them to Pearse St.

Lennoxschips

Chains are the only way to go. Cables aren't up to the job and U-Locks are too inconvenient for locking in less than ideal places. I bought one of these by ABUS in 1996. Mine looks differend than this newer model of course, but I believe it's of the same calibre. Still never had anything stolen with it, I use my bike almost everyday, in the city of Amsterdam - where 200,000 bikes are stolen every year. (yes, you read that correctly) Cost me a whopping 175 guilders at the time (80 euros, not adjusted for inflation). Best lock I ever bought, it's covered in scratch marks and indentations from where people have attempted to open it. And the lock is unpickable, it has a special key that has hundreds of thousands possible combinations.

Another guy I know who also has this lock had his bike stolen, but they didn't saw the chain open or pick the lock, they sawed the bike rack open! I currently cycle a 40 euro second hand city bike and use my 80 euro lock on it. It's madness, but it's the only way to get by in Amsterdam.

ToxicPaddy

So save the good bike for the weekends and the crap bike for the daily mid
week commute to the office..

So where is a good place to pick up a cheap bike in dublin, something thats not
gonna fall apart after a week? I know you only get what you pay for, but a half
decent second hand mountain bike, which isnt rusted to bits would be good..?

Anyone any suggestions?

Tox

blorg

The best place in my experience is Buy & Sell - I've got two cheap second bikes there at €100 for a brand new 'Eurotrek Alpine' (RRP c. €230 - and I got a free lock and pump) and most recently €125 for a 2004 Dawes Discovery 201 which retails at €375.

There seem to be a lot of people selling bikes in B&S who thought of taking up cycling, tried it for a few days/weeks, but then chickened out (my two both fall into this category) - so you can get good condition bikes for really very little money.

You have to be picky however as there are a lot of people selling things *way* overpriced too. I'd go for a hybrid over a mountain bike personally (unless you actually want to go off road).

Capt'n Midnight

The lighter the bike the heavier the lock - sorta balances around town
bike frames are easier to cut than locks, some expensive bikes have had that done to get the parts.

glue in locks - if it's superglue then acetone/nail varnish remover can help - lots of grease in the lock should help

U locks aparently can be opened by a Hiace van hydraulic jack so make sure the U is filled.

fletch

I had my bike robbed from Clonsilla train station. I bought a fairly decent lock and one Friday they tried to rob my bike but couldnt saw through the lock. But me bein stupid, didn't go out & buy a new lock so they came back the next Friday and sawed through the rest and got the bike.
Oh I was delighted when I told the ticket agent at the station & she informed me that over 20bikes had been stolen in the past few weeks on Fridays. I asked for the CCTV video tape & surprise surprise it wasn't turned on!
Lucky for me I had insurance on the bike

Trojan

Serious defect has been (re) exposed in Kryptonite D locks - it's possible to open these locks with the barrel of a Bic pen. Not the most reassuring thing in the world, eh? See www.bikeforums.net for more info.

Anyone want to buy a Kryptolok Plus for use as a paper weight?

Trojan

bedlam wrote:

"The current Kryptonite locks based on a tubular cylinder design continue to present an effective deterrent to theft"

Yes, quite an effective deterrent to the millions of people who are unable to get their hands on the obscure Bic biro.

If I'm replacing my kryptolok, you can be damn sure I won't be spending a penny on "new disc cylinder lock" or any other product from Krypotonite (unless they reply to my polite email and offer to replace the lock and/or cylinder).

comet

Does this mean all U-locks can be opened with a ball point pen or is it just Kryptonite locks? Its kind of worrying, bike thieves christmas comes early.

Trojan

No replies to my email, but they've updated their website - FYI:

KRYPTONITE OFFERING FREE UPGRADE WORLDWIDE FOR CONSUMERS’ HIGH END TUBULAR CYLINDER LOCKS

Unprecedented Offer Intended to Address the Needs of Loyal Consumers

Canton, MA September 17, 2004 - Kryptonite today announced it will provide free product upgrades for certain locks purchased since September 2002, in response to consumer concerns about tubular cylinder lock technology. Consumers can visit the company’s Website (www.kryptonitelock.com) on Wednesday afternoon, September 22, 2004, to learn how they can participate in the security upgrade program.

Consumers who have purchased an Evolution lock, KryptoLok lock, New York Chain, New York Noose, Evolution Disc Lock, KryptoDisco or DFS Disc Lock in the last two years are eligible for a product upgrade free of charge from Kryptonite. Customers will need to have either registered their key number, registered for the Kryptonite anti-theft protection offer or have proof of purchase to qualify.

Specifically, Kryptonite will provide for free cross bars featuring the company’s new disc-style cylinder lock technology to consumers who have purchased Evolution and KryptoLok series products. In addition the company will replace for free recently purchased Evolution Disc Locks on New York Chain and New York Noose with its “Molly Lock”, a heavy duty solid steel padlock. Kryptonite also will upgrade recently purchased disc locks.

Consumers who have had one of the Kryptonite locks mentioned with a tubular cylinder for longer than two years will be eligible for a sizeable rebate on the upgraded products. This program will be administered through Kryptonite dealers and distributors.

A distributor and dealer swap program will be rolled out through direct communication from Kryptonite to all its partners.

Full details about this unprecedented program will be available on Kryptonite’s website by afternoon Eastern Standard Time, Wednesday, September 22, 2004, at www.kryptonite.com