Which Bike Lock to Get?

MrPeaBuddy

I've recently bought a new racing bike worth in abouts €1000 and i need a proper lock to use with it, especially in Dublin city and in college. I've already got a cable lock which has lasted me but i need a U lock to go with it. Ive been researching and I have a few contenders withing my price range of about €50.

Onguard Brute mini:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Onguard-Brute-Shackle-Lock-111mmx202mm/dp/B0010VLO4E/ref=sr_1_89?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1304884118&sr=1-89

Onguard bulldog:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Onguard-Bulldog-Shackle-Including--115x230x13/dp/B0010VRLGY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304884196&sr=8-1

Kryptonite Evo mini:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kryptonite-Evolution-Mini-Lock-Bracket/dp/B000AMPRG0/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1304884245&sr=8-9

and the Kryptonite series 4 standard:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kryptonite-Evolution-Standard-EZMount-Bracket/dp/B000LPG3D2/ref=pd_sim_sg_6

Not sure whether to get a full sized one or a mini. I heard the mini one's are less prone to leverage attacks and are lighter to carry. Plus I'm the bike I'm getting is a racing bike so i don't think i'd need the long length of a standard one. Opinions please? =]

DisasterIRL

Ideally you should really be spending more on the lock, 10 to 15% is suggested

-K2-

I've got 2 Kryptonites: a Fahgettaboudit and a New York Lock Standard. I've found that the Fahgettaboudit can be too small when trying to reach some locking points on the street.

I use the Fahgettaboudit for the road bike which is kept in the carpark (and isn't locked outside) with a cable through the wheels and the Standard for the other hack bike which goes into town.

seeing_ie

Locking it in town and college??

Get about €150 worth of locks or you can wave goodbye to it.

I'd recommend locking it in a supervised multistorey carpark in town and even locking a heavy chain somewhere in college so you don't have to carry it with you.

and forget the cable lock.

blorg

I'd suggest taking the €100 you would otherwise spend on locks and buy a cheap secondhand hybrid for college/town. Keep the racer for long spins.

seeing_ie

blorg wrote: »

I'd suggest taking the €100 you would otherwise spend on locks and buy a cheap secondhand hybrid for college/town. Keep the racer for long spins.

Probably a better idea long term.

dubmess

Why not save all your money and get a bus card? Apparently your bike will just disappear unless you tie it up like Houdini.

tomasrojo

I have a tourer that cost me just under 1000 and I leave it in town all the time. I do have two locks and a Kryptoflex cable on it when it's locked though.

Fahgettaboudit through the rear triangle a la Sheldon Brown (Fahgettaboudit, though small, always seems able to do this):
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

Then a Kryptolok securing the front wheel, with a Kryptoflex running back from the Kryptolok to secure the back wheel again, plus the frame.

I also added mudflaps out of Avonmore Easy Pour jugs and leave a plastic bag on the saddle. Certainly it looks less attractive now than when it left the shop. I don't have space for more than one non-folding bike, so I can't have a beater for going into town.

blorg

The €100 hack hybrid is what I did after I got sick of having four nice-looking Trek hybrids stolen in the space of two months back in 2000. A new €1000 racer is quite flashy and personally I would not be locking it for any length of time in any college in Dublin, or for that matter out in town. A tourer with rack mudguards and so on looks less attractive to a thief I think.

The hack hybrid (and one successor hack hybrid) did me well for ten years and I didn't have anything stolen in that time, despite locking the thing anywhere I liked for any length of time with a reasonably cheap cable lock... this would include leaving it for the weekend in town, in Heuston, and so on regularly.

A flashy racer I would only park in secure parking. For the money I think the hack makes more sense than (at least two) very expensive locks.

tomasrojo

blorg wrote: »

A tourer with rack mudguards and so on looks less attractive to a thief I think.

Ah yeah, very true.

MrPeaBuddy

Well financially i don't want another bike to be worrying about. I'll be using this bike for trips to places like Cork and the like and commuting. I was just wondering which, if any of the locks I should get. Was planning on getting two U locks: one for the back (Sheldon method) and one for the front & frame. Should I be attaching the back lock to the pole, or the front one?

Civilian_Target

I've had the evo mini for about 5 years now, living in Dublin, London, Nice and Boston - never been nicked... although someone clearly gave it a go when I was in London (dents in lock, bent wheels). It's not a 100 euro beater, but it's no flashy racer either!

Rather than carrying a second lock around, I invested in a set of pitlocks to secure my wheels and saddle - it also means that in a pinch I can lock the bike by just the front wheel and still expect the whole bike to be there when I come back.

Civilian_Target

BTW, the Kryponite Mini is always sufficient to lock to something... but you may have to look a little longer/further to find something to lock to. A lamp-post, for example, will be too large. However, on most bike racks, you can lock the frame and back wheel to the rack and completely fill the lock.

MrPeaBuddy

Civilian_Target wrote: »

Rather than carrying a second lock around, I invested in a set of pitlocks to secure my wheels and saddle - it also means that in a pinch I can lock the bike by just the front wheel and still expect the whole bike to be there when I come back.

I've head good things about these. Unfortunately the price wasn't in this group. I've been reccommended hose clamps on the quick release mechanism and tie it to one side of the fork.

tomasrojo

MrPeaBuddy wrote: »

Was planning on getting two U locks: one for the back (Sheldon method) and one for the front & frame. Should I be attaching the back lock to the pole, or the front one?

The Sheldon method requires you to encircle a fixed object with the back lock. If you can encircle a fixed object with the front lock as well, so much the better.

Explosive_Cornflake

MrPeaBuddy wrote: »

Well financially i don't want another bike to be worrying about. I'll be using this bike for trips to places like Cork and the like and commuting. I was just wondering which, if any of the locks I should get. Was planning on getting two U locks: one for the back (Sheldon method) and one for the front & frame. Should I be attaching the back lock to the pole, or the front one?

Sheldon method has it's problems.
Always try and get some frame in also.

Squidgy Black

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Sheldon method has it's problems.
Always try and get some frame in also.

Yeah but a thief in town or in a college is hardly gonna take out a hack saw, cut open the tires and rims, and then proceed to wheel the bike away without raising any suspicion at all.

Just make sure you don't go with one lock through a quick release wheel, I've seen 25 bikes this year get robbed out of a secure enough secondary school because of idiots locking their bike using the quick release wheels :rolleyes:

tomasrojo

Also, they really put their thumb on the scale in that clip. They used a long, thin clamp instead of a lock and a bike with plenty of clearance between the rear wheel and the seat tube, all so they would have room to accommodate and then move back and forth a huge hacksaw.

MrPeaBuddy

tomasrojo wrote: »

Also, they really put their thumb on the scale in that clip. They used a long, thin clamp instead of a lock and a bike with plenty of clearance between the rear wheel and the seat tube, all so they would have room to accommodate and then move back and forth a huge hacksaw.

The reason why I want to get a smaller lock. It says it on the Sheldon Brown website that the smaller ones are better. I just have to decide whether to spend the money on a Kryptonite mini evo with a sturdy bracket or a heavier, but thicker Onguard Brute 9I'll have to buy a new holster for it. Apparently the one it comes with can't hold it)

blorg

MrPeaBuddy wrote: »

I've head good things about these. Unfortunately the price wasn't in this group. I've been reccommended hose clamps on the quick release mechanism and tie it to one side of the fork.

Don't do that, what will you do when you get a puncture? If you cant afford Pitlocks you can replace the QR with Allen key skewers for around €10- just needs the tool to remove but could be enough to prevent opportunistic wheel theft if you are only leaving the bike a short period. But as easy really just to lock the front wheel.

thebouldwhacker

stetyrrell wrote: »

Yeah but a thief in town or in a college is hardly gonna take out a hack saw, cut open the tires and rims, and then proceed to wheel the bike away without raising any suspicion at all.:rolleyes:

Wouldn't be so sure, read this

tomasrojo

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

Wouldn't be so sure, read this

Yeah, there was another clip posted here showing someone trying their damnedest to be conspicuous stealing their own bike. No intervention by anyone, including a nearby cop.

Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of thefts, by police and cycling campaigner accounts, are somewhat stealthy, fast and far from spectacular, even though they may not have to be. As that post above shows, if your bike's components have great value, there's nothing to stop the thief cutting the frame, if they're that determined and blatant.

I've yet to hear a real-world account from anywhere of the rear wheel being cut through to steal a bike locked Sheldon-style. There probably has been, but I don't think it's a very likely event at all, especially if the front wheel is locked as well. If your bike has little clearance between the wheel and seat tube and especially if it has mudguards, the thief is going to have to use a much smaller saw than in the clip above, and consequently take longer and be more of a pain. The nearby bike with a cable lock should look a lot more attractive.

I personally prefer Sheldon's style because my previous locking strategy was taking too long and making frequent stops impractical, and because I wanted to use a Fahgettaboudit as my primary lock.

Still, as for most things, it's important that people make up their own minds.