Bike lock

captain_boycott

any recommendation for a secure lock? Chain or u-lock, key or combo - what's regarded as the most secure?

Beasty

I use the Kryptonite New York to secure rear wheel and frame and a cable lock for the front wheel

Kryptonite have a good reputation and in many cases a U lock will "encourage" bike thieves to look for something a little easier to get through

Wishbone Ash

If you don't have to transport the lock, you won't beat a length of agricultural chain with a €50 padlock. Thieves will move along to something else.

tomasrojo

Abus and Kryptonite do great locks.

I use a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit u-lock as my main lock for my regular bike. It's very tough, but it's very short. I use an Abus City Chain X-Plus 1060 as the main lock for my cargo bike, as I need the extra length. It's about as tough as the Fahgettaboudit but way more expensive. Good chain locks cost a lot more than good u-locks, because it's harder to make them as invulnerable.

Pitlock security skewers are good for securing your wheels without carrying extra locks or looped cables.

Lemming

tomasrojo wrote: »

Abus and Kryptonite do great locks.

I use a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit u-lock as my main lock for my regular bike. It's very tough, but it's very short. I use an Abus City Chain X-Plus 1060 as the main lock for my cargo bike, as I need the extra length. It's about as tough as the Fahgettaboudit but way more expensive. Good chain locks cost a lot more than good u-locks, because it's harder to make them as invulnerable.

Pitlock security skewers are good for securing your wheels without carrying extra locks or looped cables.

I've got a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit u-lock as well, and whislt yes it's short, that's also to its benefit given that is less space in which to fit tools to try and exploit a U-Lock's single weakest point. That siad, it's a pain in the ass if you're trying to lock your frame to anything particularly chunky. I use a kryponite flex cable to sort out my wheels, hooking it all up to the U-lock.

A word of caution: don't drop this lock on your foot. You'll know you've done it ...

steamsey

All good locks mentioned thus far. I'd recommend to get a lock with at least Gold rating by Sold Secure - any lock with this rating will have a Sold Secure Gold logo on the packaging.

Diemos

Make sure you understand how to lock it properly.
No point having a great lock if you do not use it properly.

Everyday I see examples of people locking a quick release front wheel only.
Or locking the bike but not locking it to anything.

captain_boycott

Thanks for all the suggestions & tips guys!. Since the OP, I realise that its not just a case of asking what's the best lock, but every choice is a compromise on how you use it, the weight to carry, cost, etc.

check_six

Diemos wrote: »

Make sure you understand how to lock it properly.
No point having a great lock if you do not use it properly.

Everyday I see examples of people locking a quick release front wheel only.
Or locking the bike but not locking it to anything.

Or using a good heavy duty u-lock as a giant padlock on a skinny cable tether! :eek:

rubadub

captain_boycott wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions & tips guys!. Since the OP, I realise that its not just a case of asking what's the best lock, but every choice is a compromise on how you use it, the weight to carry, cost, etc.

You can leave heavy locks at their location, if allowed, e.g. locked to railings in work. You can look up videos on youtube, you will see lads breaking open almost every lock going with massive bolt cutters, even ridiculously expensive high end motorbike locks. A common thing you will see though is the lads doing it are big heavy lads, and do not hold hte bolt cutters with both hands, they put one boltcutter arm on the ground and hope up and down on the other arm with all their weight and might.

If you lock is up high in the air they cannot use the ground like this. I see many slack locks lying low, which could easily have been wrapped around the frame to keep them up high.

See a regular size guy cannot open this even with a decent bolt cutter and hopping up and down and making use of the ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr5C3koX1-I

Luckily the heroin and ecstacy keeps our typical scumbags thin...

I can't find the video now, but it was a big lad in a workshop cracking them open with ease, as they were slack though.


Grinder will get through them all, just takes longer on decent locks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xey9p_vhclc

Get In There

steamsey wrote: »

All good locks mentioned thus far. I'd recommend to get a lock with at least Gold rating by Sold Secure - any lock with this rating will have a Sold Secure Gold logo on the packaging.

OnGuard locks are cheaper alternatives to the big names of abus and kryptonite but have sold secure gold ratings.

muckwarrior

I have one of these, and on at least 3 occasions I've had bikes stolen from beside mine, but they've never even attempted to tamper with this https://www.abus.com/eng/Mobile-Security/Bike-Safety-and-Security/Locks/U-locks/Granit-Strato-61 Always locked through the rear triangle btw

Wishbone Ash

muckwarrior wrote: »

... on at least 3 occasions I've had bikes stolen from beside mine, but they've never even attempted to tamper with this...

It could be that your bike is just not desirable!

muckwarrior

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It could be that your bike is just not desirable!

I was waiting for that Mine is nothing special, but on a couple of occasions ****ty BSOs were taken when mine wasn't.

Type 17

The key (no pun intended) to bike security is the context - you need your lock and locking method to be better than your bike and its location/duration.

My metaphor for bike security is the TV David Attenborough-type scenario with the lions chasing the herd of zebra on the plains - to keep your bike, you only have to avoid being the zebra at the back of the herd. You don't have to be the one at the front, but being right at the back, or near the back is the danger.

What this means is that if you have a medium-level bike (€500-700), you need at least a medium-level lock (€50-70 standard Kryptonite/Abus), but if you are locking it in an (eg) inner-city area or a college campus during the day, or a busy suburban area overnight (or nearly anywhere if you lock it there in a consistent pattern), you need to have have a higher level lock (eg Abus Granit or Kryptonite New York, with cable for front wheel).

At the other end of the scale, if you have a tatty old 1990's ATB and are locking it during the day in a quiet suburb, you can probably get away with a €15 combination cable lock.

caputmundi

I lock my not-that-good-looking unbranded bike with a Kryptonite New York and a very long looped cable that goes around the wheels, seats and then through the U-Lock.



Never had it stolen, but the cable is annoying. It is just awkward to use. I'm thinking to ditch it altogether and just use the U-Lock.

Type 17

You can secure the front wheel and saddle with security fasteners for everyday stuff, and only bring your cable if locking in a high-risk scenario.

caputmundi

Thank you. I have thought about that before, but they cost way too much to make it worthwhile compared to the hassle of a cheaper cable.

tomasrojo

If your seat has a hex-style nut, you can fill the head with epoxy putty. Takes a few minutes to drill it out. Cheap alternative to security nuts. Same for the fork nut.

I have a security skewer on the front wheel. The rear wheel I secure with a silver-rated lock, the frame with a gold-rated lock.

I was thinking of getting the Foldylock Compact to use as my secondary lock. It's probably the lowest-security of the silver-rated locks, but it would be an ok secondary lock in the city centre, where its main job is to secure the rear wheel, and in the suburbs it would give me more locking options, since sometimes you can't find anything that will accommodate a mini u-lock or even a standard u-lock.