Best type of lock to prevent theft?

aniascor

I'm looking for recommendations for a bike lock. I have to leave my bike at the train station every day, and last Thursday my bike was stolen in the middle of the day. It's the second one this year that I've had taken from there. This time I thought I had a decent lock on the bike - it had certainly cost enough - around €40 if I remember correctly. But they still cut right through it to get the bike.

So what type of bike lock is best to prevent them from doing this? Because I have seen chains left on the ground down there that have obviously been cut through too, so they're no good either. And they seem to be able to pry the U-locks apart. I'm really at my wits end with it, because I like to have a decent enough bike for cycling up and down to the station everyday, but if bikes keep getting stolen on me I'm going to have to start driving everyday - which I don't want to do.

Wheelworx

Oxford revolver or sentinel both include an insurance policy.
Rob

Ghost Rider

Sorry to hear about that. I reckommend two locks of two different kinds: a cable lock and a u-lock. Both should be of decent quality i.e. spend at least 40 on each, and more if possible.

aniascor wrote: »

I'm looking for recommendations for a bike lock. I have to leave my bike at the train station every day, and last Thursday my bike was stolen in the middle of the day. It's the second one this year that I've had taken from there. This time I thought I had a decent lock on the bike - it had certainly cost enough - around €40 if I remember correctly. But they still cut right through it to get the bike.

So what type of bike lock is best to prevent them from doing this? Because I have seen chains left on the ground down there that have obviously been cut through too, so they're no good either. And they seem to be able to pry the U-locks apart. I'm really at my wits end with it, because I like to have a decent enough bike for cycling up and down to the station everyday, but if bikes keep getting stolen on me I'm going to have to start driving everyday - which I don't want to do.

Gavin

Not a cable lock, a chain lock and ulock. Cable locks are far to easy to cut through.
http://wiki.redbrick.dcu.ie/mw/Cycling#Keeping_your_bicycle

Ghost Rider

Not if it's thick cable. This kind is quite hard to cut through, for example:

http://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-Gorgon-Diameter-2%6011%60%60-720018240/dp/B000GZFTA0

Verb wrote: »

Cable locks are far to easy to cut through.

DavyD_83

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Not if it's thick cable. This kind is quite hard to cut through, for example:

http://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-Gorgon-Diameter-2%6011%60%60-720018240/dp/B000GZFTA0

Thats what i used to think. But i managed to get through one in about 10 minutes.:eek:

It was my bike and lock, i'd lost my keys yet again.

Alkers

If you're locking your bike in the same place every day buy a super-heavy duty motorcycle chain and lock and simply leave it at the train station when you're going home, then the next day use it to lock your bike again. No harm in still using a U-lock and another lighter chain/cable and just having the heavy one as extra security as your bike is in the one place so often.

Ghost Rider

Was it a Kryptonite Gorgon? What did you use?? Myself and a mate watched a Garda using two or three different tools trying to get through one a few months ago. (My mate had broken his key in the lock.) Can't remember what he used in the end but it took him quite a while.

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Thats what i used to think. But i managed to get through one in about 10 minutes.:eek:

It was my bike and lock, i'd lost my keys yet again.

cunnins4

I've two of these (the one at the top). I have a big one at home to lock the fancy shmancy roadie in the shed at home and a smaller one for college. I lock it nice and high off the ground so bolt cutters are hard to use on it and point the keyhole towards the ground. Tend to leave it in college overnight. My bro's similar one jammed a few years ago when it was incredibly cold and he had to cut it - took him about half an hour, so they seem to be fairly solid. Neither of mine, or the one he bought after that has frozen again, so they seem like a good bet. I'm gonna get a cable to loop around my rear wheel after this happened me.

I hope to fúck the guys that steal bikes get hit by a bus on their way home on them. Every last one of them. Wánkers.

aniascor

Thanks for all the replies guys. I bought a thick cable lock - it must be at least an inch thick - took me 2-3 minutes to lock it this morning because it is difficult to bend it's so thick. I think I'll take your advice and get a second lock (maybe a smaller one) just as an additional deterrent. Fingers crossed it's enough to stop them.

Ghost Rider

Two locks. Always.

aniascor wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys. I bought a thick cable lock - it must be at least an inch thick - took me 2-3 minutes to lock it this morning because it is difficult to bend it's so thick. I think I'll take your advice and get a second lock (maybe a smaller one) just as an additional deterrent. Fingers crossed it's enough to stop them.

rp

Wheelworx wrote: »

Oxford revolver or sentinel both include an insurance policy.
Rob

I read the small print on my Gold 'sold secure' U-lock, and it only applies if the bike is robbed in the UK...

penexpers

aniascor wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys. I bought a thick cable lock - it must be at least an inch thick - took me 2-3 minutes to lock it this morning because it is difficult to bend it's so thick. I think I'll take your advice and get a second lock (maybe a smaller one) just as an additional deterrent. Fingers crossed it's enough to stop them.

You are guaranteed to have your bike stolen again with a cable lock, no matter how thick it is.

Personally I would recommend something like the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-lock. Lock it so that your rear wheel + frame are locked together. In order to get your bike then, the thief would have to cut through the rear wheel, which would be pointless.

unionman

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Two locks. Always.

Ditto, it's the only way. I combine a heavy duty U-Lock and cable lock. Spent about €50 on each of them. Never so much as tampered with in 3 years.;)

penexpers

Ghost Rider wrote: »

Was it a Kryptonite Gorgon? What did you use?? Myself and a mate watched a Garda using two or three different tools trying to get through one a few months ago. (My mate had broken his key in the lock.) Can't remember what he used in the end but it took him quite a while.

Sorry but the Gorgon is a heap of junk that should never be trusted. I had one and the keys break very very easily (practically no force required). I got a standard bolt cutters and had the lock broken in < 2 minutes.

Ghost Rider

You have your experience, I have mine (or at least the surrogate experience of a Garda). In any case, I don't think the Gorgon is available any more.

I bought a Krpytonite New York u-lock recently but it was so heavy I had to send it back. Unless I was going to be leaving the lock at a particular location, it'd be simply too awkward. There is no way I'd carry something that heavy around with me; there's enough sh*te to carry as it is. I bought a Kryptonite Evolution Mini - much more manageable and really small so it's harder to lever open. I also bought a cable lock.

As someone else pointed out, a cable lock alone will never be enough. You need BOTH u-lock and cable to be even half confident about your bike's security.

How much you spend is up to you - I've spent up to 95 quid on a u-lock for one of my other bikes - but do go for cable and u-lock together. Two different locks means a thief needs two different tools.

penexpers wrote: »

Sorry but the Gorgon is a heap of junk that should never be trusted. I had one and the keys break very very easily (practically no force required). I got a standard bolt cutters and had the lock broken in < 2 minutes.

rp

All lock are defeatable, given the right equipment (you can fit an oxy-acetylene set in a rucksack)
It's where you lock the bike that'll make the difference.
Think about how you'd use a hack-saw, bolt cutters or torch to rob a bike:
You want to be able to have a helper or two block the view of what you are doing; If using bolt-cutters, you really need to lean or jump on them, so the lock needs to be near the ground (try using bolt cutter above shoulder level).

My fave is to U-lock the bike to railings in full public view, with the lock at about head height.

Ghost Rider

Very good point, that.

It would be helpful to know what other tools are used and how exactly.

rp wrote: »

If using bolt-cutters, you really need to lean or jump on them, so the lock needs to be near the ground (try using bolt cutter above shoulder level).

youcancallmeal

Ghost Rider wrote: »

I bought a Krpytonite New York u-lock recently but it was so heavy I had to send it back.

I reckon you should get one of those locks and leave it at the train station. I remember watching a video where it took a guy 45 minutes with an angle grinder to cut through it :eek:

doozerie

I use an Abus Granit X-Plus u-lock (plus another cheapy u-lock for my front wheel). It cost about €90 but it is worth it for peace of mind. One good thing about the Abus locks, apart from some of the very good design features, is that they are rated according to the level of security they provide, and the rating on this lock (maximum rating of 15) seems to be honest enough based on a comparison that Cycling Plus made of a bunch of bike locks some time last year. There is more info on the lock here (it is available as a standard length u-lock or a longer version - longer version is more versatile as it will often get round a railing and your frame where a shorter one wouldn't reach):

http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLang=us&sid=801784694160049061120071931228242&select=0104b01&artikel=4003318229756

No bike lock should be considered unbreakable though, it is simply a matter of how long someone has to attack it. If you are leaving your bike somewhere where a thief has plenty of time to attack the lock unseen (although some don't care about being seen, especially if it is a large bike park where they may not be noticed), then they will get through it eventually.

Whatever lock you go for, do not leave it behind when you take your bike, as someone determined to steal your bike will work on the lock overnight to get it to the point where it is a very quick task to finish the lock off once your bike is locked with it.

From the train station bike parks that I have seen, they are a very easy and convenient place for a bike thief to target. People passing through will barely pay them any attention at all. If I were in your shoes I'd consider something like a folding bike that I could take with me, if it was at all practical.

doozerie

Oh, and if you are considering a cable lock, avoid the Oxford Revolver like the plague (this one: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8482). I used to use one, and always thought that it was fairly substantial. Someone cut it with a bolt cutters (I believe) in a matter of seconds. I examined the lock later and the cut was very clean, as if the cutter had gone through it like butter. It certainly woke me up to the fact that my initial perceptions of a lock being "good" (based on bulk, weight, etc.) can be badly wrong.

Cable locks in general do not seem to be as resistant to cutting as some of the solid steel alternatives. A cable lock might be useful as a second lock (Abus do one that seems to fare well against the competition, but still is easier to break/cut than the Abud u-lock that I mention above), but personally a u-lock is still my preferred main lock.

rp

doozerie wrote: »

Whatever lock you go for, do not leave it behind when you take your bike, as someone determined to steal your bike will work on the lock overnight to get it to the point where it is a very quick task to finish the lock off once your bike is locked with it..

Another variation of this one is to super-glue the key-hole of the lock during the day, so you can't ride it home, and have to go and get tools/help. It's now dark & quiet and they can work away on it at leisure.