Commuting - making a bike lock

I was thinking of trying to make a Kryptonite-style chain lock, and think I can find a good enough lock, but I am unsure of where I would be able to get a strong enough chain. Any ideas? Also: is this an awful idea?

Also: is this an awful idea?

Only when your bike gets stolen & it will, buy a proper lock. ;)

My brain's not working at full power at the moment, but if you insist on getting your own chain make sure to find one that has that yellowish hue of the higher end Kryptonite, etc. ones. It's a side-effect of the hardening process required to make the chain worthwhile (I can't recall the specifics unfortunately).

are there alarms for bikes? I would imagine that one could be made fairly easily with a pager. Of course your 350 dollar bike would have a 400 dollar alarm. . .

I may be mistaken, but i think the Kryptonite chains are part Boron. The heaviest chains at Home Depot are crossed with Zinc and are about 1/2 in thick. Also one of the benefits of the Kryptonite chains is that they are hexagonal. For my lock I am using a master lock graded for construction contractors and a zinc chain with an old inner tube around the chain, but I also never let my bike out of sight. When you think in regards to the cost of your bike $80 bucks is nothing. I hope this has helped, and if you find out where to get some Boron chain send me a PM, Thanks!!!

You can buy hardened chain and armored padlocks at nearly any hardware store, and even get some heavy nylon at a fabric store to make a protective sleeve, but the lock you make will not have a guarantee like Kryptonite. You will also spend close to what you would have spent for a NY Chain anyway. Can it be done? Sure. Is it effective? Most likely, yes. Is it worth it? Probably not.

You can buy hardened chain and armored padlocks at nearly any hardware store, and even get some heavy nylon at a fabric store to make a protective sleeve, but the lock you make will not have a guarantee like Kryptonite. You will also spend close to what you would have spent for a NY Chain anyway. Can it be done? Sure. Is it effective? Most likely, yes. Is it worth it? Probably not.

I don't have much faith in that Kryptonite guarantee. All it takes is for the thief to make off w/ the lock and then it's void. You also have to spend extra money to get your bike appraised and have that information sent to Kryptonite. The thing that was really the nail in the coffin was that you need pre-existing insurance on the bike. I don't have that, so no guarantee for me.

... still use one though.

Hey everyone - just wanted to jump in to see if I could clear up a couple of things...
Strife - you are correct, the New York Chain and the New York Fahgettaboudit chain are "triple heat-treated, boron manganese". The New York Chain has trapezoidal links and the New York Fahgettaboudit chain is hexagonal (I think the product development guys just want to see if I can spell sometimes...)
Why these shapes and not round? Bolt cutters are made to cut things that are round but they have a hard time gripping something that is square or hexagonal.
Yes, you can buy chain at a hardware store, however much of that comes in a barrel that they cut lengths for you...hmmm...if they can cut it....
Eyefloater - sorry you don't have much faith in Kryptonite's anti-theft protection offer, it's the most inclusive one on the market. Also, you do not have to have pre-existing insurance on the bike for Kryptontie's offer. If you do have insurance and make a valid claim we pay the deductible up to the amount of the offer on the particular lock you have registered. If you don't have insurance and make a valid claim we pay the price of the bike up to the amount of the offer on the lock you have registered. Hope that helps clear up any confusion. No matter what lock brand you have, should you register for the anti-theft protection offer, please read the fine print. Just as all locks are not equal, not all of the offers are equal either!
Safe riding everyone.
Donna

I was thinking of trying to make a Kryptonite-style chain lock, and think I can find a good enough lock, but I am unsure of where I would be able to get a strong enough chain. Any ideas? Also: is this an awful idea?

Go for it. Develop it. Sell it.

When you design go find some thevies and ask them to break it. Then you'll know how good or bad it is:D

Who is your typical Bike theaf? Is it tweakers? Kids? organized jerks who do it for a living? Find someone who jacks bikes and talk to them. I know it sounds odd but they will tell you what you want to hear. Most guys that steal a car wont touch a car with the brake locks or a flashing light. Not because it makes them impossible but because they bring attention and add time to their "fund raising". You need to make a lock that incorporates the most hated features to pukes.

Has this been attempted?
A chain with a built in wire and a siren in the lock. If the chain is cut it would open a circuit and trigger the alarm. I would think 2-3 of these combined with a conventional lock would be good. if you can park your bike front and center. I figure most guys would run once they realize they have atleast 2 more locks to cut and an alarm is going off.

My Krytonite ulock that I bought years ago(and have since lost the key for) came with the cable extension for it. This is just as good as the rest of the high dollar locks that are out there. I like it so much that I went to the local farm center and purchased plastic coated cable and made one for each of my kids. The lock part itself I use a gun lock. They are bullet proof and also have an extended flexible shackle. I have taken bolt cutters and tried cutting the gun lock and can't do it. And this was with one of our large bolt cutters for cutting locks. I have a total of $3 invested in each lock. The gun locks can be had for free if you know where to look. Think outdoor festivals and the likes.
Hope this helps. You can do it yourself. I live by the motto
Its not what you buy, it's waht you build.

Whatever you do, don't use hollow links and fill them with sodium, which would burn intensely on contact with oxygen.

I went to the local farm center and purchased plastic coated cable and made one for each of my kids. The lock part itself I use a gun lock. They are bullet proof and also have an extended flexible shackle. I have taken bolt cutters and tried cutting the gun lock and can't do it. And this was with one of our large bolt cutters for cutting locks.

Yes, but did you try your cutters on the cable?

An alarm for a bike seems over the top. But... why not have the lock send a text message to your cell if someone is messing with it? OK that's over the top too.

I am curious Grovern. What's the motivation to try to make a new lock?

The lock part itself I use a gun lock. They are bullet proof and also have an extended flexible shackle. I have taken bolt cutters and tried cutting the gun lock and can't do it. And this was with one of our large bolt cutters for cutting locks. I have a total of $3 invested in each lock. The gun locks can be had for free if you know where to look. Think outdoor festivals and the likes.
Hope this helps. You can do it yourself. I live by the motto
Its not what you buy, it's waht you build.

Gun locks of the type that you speaks of are not designed to prevent theft, only to prevent accidental misuse of the firearm, or misuse by a young child who does not have the strength or knowledge to use bolt cutters. As someone who owns quite a few (free with each new gun), I'd have to say that the best are up there with a gym lock, and the worst are your basic luggage lock. Certainly none of them will withstand any sort of attack from a bolt cutter designed to lop off the shackle of gym locks, and they certainly are not bulletproof (not that I think a lot of thieves go around shooting locks off things). The best one I've seen is from Project Childsafe, and the shackle is make up of 1/4" steel links. Common sense dictates that it will be no harder to cut that than it would be to cut a solid 1/4" shackle, which just isn't that hard with the right tool.

The motivation is to save money, essentially because my bike cost $20 and buying an $80 lock seems like overkill in this case. I guess I could just go for a mid-range priced lock, but I still don't want the bike stolen and if I could find a high grade chain at a reasonable price it seemed like it could have been good idea, maybe.

Sounds like the bicycle is worth more than $20 to you. So is keeping it and not having to walk home worth the $50-80 a good lock will cost you?

i have the NY forgetaboutit... I am totally impressed with it. It is obviously heavy, but that is no concern because i just leave it locked to the rack at work. It is nice to be able to buy something, and never have to worry about it again. Keep in mind here that your current bike may only be woth a little, but how much will your next bike be worth? The best thing about a lock of that caliber is that 9 times out of 10 it is a once in a lifetime purchase... It will far outlast you... and your kids for that matter.


Mike

http://www.kryptonitelock.com/inetisscripts/abtinetis.exe/PublicArticleDetails@public?artid=3037&atf=products_item&pgrp=20