Touring - strong touring bike lock

Hi everybody,
I bought my touring bike recently and in a couple of months ill be touring in India :)
most of the time I will wild-camp or sleep in guesthouses. I haven't bought a bike-lock yet and I wanted to hear some recommendations about which lock is very strong yet not too heavy for touring?
Thanks!

On Tours, camping, away from home for weeks, several options go with me.

I bring a long cable, with loops on the end,
to attach the bike to stuff bigger than sign-posts,
like trees and picnic benches.
you can find plastic coated cable at hardware stores, and an end piece,
to form a permanent loop, by closing with a hammer.

Frame mounted ring locks are great! AXA & Abus both make some.
it goes around the back wheel.. so a quick lock to prevent roll off at cafes.

Have used an armored cable Lock before,tube segments of steel over a cable.
Specialized had one that coiled up small so I made a mod to the bracket,
and put it suspended from the top tube, so as to not lose a bottle cage..

recent buy, an On guard version, not so easy to coil up, so I hang it from my handlebars,,
And an Abus link lock, 6 hinged segments fold up and go into a pouch,
that fits to the frame, so easy to stow, out in the open, to always be handy..

they range in price, .. 20 to 200$

so a combination of stuff, is good. a convenient lock, and a long cable,
or 2 shorter ones since you can link eyelets,
combine to keep things that go bump in the night, to not be someone nicking your ride.

Get one with a combination lock. You do not want to be somewhere and discover you lost your key.

Wait until this becomes a product:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1051734209/tigr-titanium-lock-as-cool-as-your-bike

I backed the project. I hope to have mine by the end of the summer.

NOTE: I have no stake in the company. I just thought it was a cool idea and thought I'd share.

Wait until this becomes a product

That does look interesting , I'll be watching for it.

I use 2 U-Locks and a Krypto Cable...

I just bought a cable lock for my upcoming trip. I don't plan to leave my bike locked up anywhere for a long time where lots of people will have access to it. And, even if I did, even the most sturdy locks are only a deterrent to an accomplished thief. With that in mind, I opted for something that is strong and sturdy enough to deter an opportunistic would-be thief, while still being relatively light in weight. I ended up with an On Guard cable lock with keys from REI. I think it's the .39 in or .41 in one or something like that. It weighs about 14 ounces.

Also, regarding combination locks vs keyed ones, combination locks are supposed to be pretty easy to pick. Mine came with a bunch of keys and my friend and I will both have locks, so we're taking spare keys for each other.

That does look interesting , I'll be watching for it.

same

Honestly, I wonder why anyone thinks that locks are effective especially in highly populated areas. Even when your bike is locked, a thief can still steal virtually every (highly valuable) component in under a minute. And if they want the whole bike, they just wait for you to unlock it, knock you over, and one guy rides off while 4-5 others harass or beat the crud out of you. The only thing a lock is going to do is deter the opportunistic, non-professional thief. Virtually any lock will do that, so you might as well pick the cheapest, lightest lock you can find. At least that way you won't be deluding yourself about how safe your bike really is...

I agree with the lanky-bird-that-brings-babies.

When touring, a curly cable lock with a combo is what I use. I completely agree with the combination idea vs a key for avoiding a lost key. Cable locks come in many qualities and lengths, but the point about a long one for going around trees etc is very valid. When I have been with a friend, we tend to lock the bikes together, just so its harder to just pick them up in the night for example, giving more time to hear something.

In the end, its always a crapshoot, and circumstances are so diff and vary, and then there is always the "bad luck factor" of wrong place, wrong time, wrong bad guy...but you can't obssess about it.
I can see how some urban spots are always going to be way more dangerous, but "touch wood", a good quality coiled cable lock is for me the balance of space/weight/security. Another advantage to coil or just cable locks is that you can run them through pannier handles etc, again, to thwart a "quickie" grab of stuff.

In the end though, you have to use your common sense as much as possible, and sometimes just be quick in stores. Some settings however are always going to risky, but in general, being paranoid is good, and I tend not to leave my bike alone anyway. Travelling with a companion/s is a big plus for a lot of situations, one can keep an eye out. Overnight stuff in hotels, pensions, etc is another story, and having your bike with you is obviously the best thing is possible.

there certainly is no formula for safety is there? I'm going to touch wood again, just to be safe....

Wait until this becomes a product:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1051734209/tigr-titanium-lock-as-cool-as-your-bike

I backed the project. I hope to have mine by the end of the summer.

NOTE: I have no stake in the company. I just thought it was a cool idea and thought I'd share.

Hi, looks great! do you have any idea when will it be available for sale?

kickstarter is about fundraising investment capital, from the future consumers,
since the banksters :mad:
are using the taxpayer bail out money to buy back their stock on Wall St.
and raise the share price.

Hi, looks great! do you have any idea when will it be available for sale?

I don't, but you could send a message to John or Josh via their web site:

http://tigrlock.com/pages/

I'll be interested to hear the results of their independent testing, but if you watch the videos they've created, it appears to be at least as good as a U-Lock.

I'll report back here with some feedback once I get mine.

kickstarter is about fundraising investment capital, from the future consumers,
since the banksters :mad:
are using the taxpayer bail out money to buy back their stock on Wall St.
and raise the share price.

Yea, there's something odd about kickstarter. The creators of the project offer some kind of "reward" for backing the project, but the backers get no stake in future profits (at least not by default). I guess that could be one of the rewards, but in the case of the Tigr Lock, the rewards were the locks. If you look at the price of the locks for backers, they're a bit on the high side. I doubt they will be able to retail the locks for the same price. It was worth it to me to get it early since I commute to work and hate the weight of a u-lock.

frame mounted Ring Locks, on tour , are excellent, because they are on the frame.

Tubus Locc rear rack would be the best way to cope with a U lock, it seems ,
as the lock stows inside the left leg of the Rack, so convenient,
and not occupying main triangle space
Apparently made around a particular Abus U lock.

... another option: Folding Link locks, Abus sells those too.
they fold up and, compactly, stow in a pouch.. several price points ..

Of course, you need to carry (and use) some kind of lock. But be cognizant of your surroundings. When I toured in rural Switzerland in 2004, in one town, nobody locked their bicycles. I happened upon the local bike store, which was closed for lunch, and saw many very expensive bicycles for sale... all were outside the store, and unlocked.

Not sure what you will find in rural India, but it was good to know that that there are still places in the world where people don't steal stuff!

I will be using a cable lock. I won't be going through many large towns so I am not overly concerned. The cable lock while it can probably be easily broke with the right tools it acts as a deterrent to people. When possible I park my bike up next to other bikes so if there is another bike that looks like an easy target then they will more likely go for that than mine. I also read somewhere that MTB's are a more desirable to thieves anyway as they are easier to sell on... I don't know how true this is, but makes sense as MTBs are much more popular than road bikes. I don't think it is worth spending silly amounts of money on bike locks as they can all be broken pretty easily.

In the evenings I will be staying in Youth Hostels which all have cycle stores. The B&Bs I am staying at have also offered to store my bike in their garage overnight.

On tour I never leave my bike out of sight, except when going into stores for a few minutes. Even then I'll scurry to keep it in view. A cheap cable lock is enough. It's just too important to be left alone.

My commuting bike which I sometimes have to leave in the city is a different story.

I like the Abus Bordo,the "link-lock," mentioned above. The two special things are that the tumblers are seperated from the latch so a thief can't can't feel his way through the combination. It also has that neat holster that fits right to the frame.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b7T1Z0gDp5g/TbV9pfcwD5I/AAAAAAAABgM/xe-kH3Fu0YI/s400/IMG_0717.JPG


http://simplecycle-marc.blogspot.com/2010/11/locks-improvements-and-more-locks.html

I like the Abus Bordo,the "link-lock," mentioned above....

3.5 lbs and $170 :eek:

ymmv

I use a little cable lock.It's just keeps the honest people honest.If a crook wants my bike bad enough,they'll get it,no matter how much I spend.

On tour,the bike doesn't leave my sight for long and gets parked in the busiest places I can find.I'll bring it in the store and shop if they will let me and many will do just that.It isn't that much wider than a shopping cart.Some will let you park inside the store also.

I don't really worry about it while in a park or something.I've found that people who like to camp are some of the most honest people I have met.Most of them want to feed me food and ask if I need anything.Even the homeless people around L.A campgrounds are friendly for the most part.

I can't remember a time when one of my neighbors asked me if I needed something at home,there all afraid of me.

I can't remember a time when one of my neighbors asked me if I needed something at home,there all afraid of me.

well with your finger up your nose and that farting problem, no wonder....(theees ees joke)

but yes, my take too on bike saftey on tour etc etc.

3.5 lbs and $170 :eek:

ymmv

They're not for gram counters and ain't cheap. On the other hand, it's only part of the weight carried on tour and I got mine for around $100 from Clever Cycles. I thought that was expensive enough.

Marc

They're not for gram counters
They're not even for pound counters :)


It was worth it to me to get it early since I commute to work and hate the weight of a u-lock.
So why not just leave the u-lock at work instead of carrying it?

FWIW: I have generally used a light cable lock on tour. I try to avoid cities and when I am in them I try to never leave my bike unattended. Depending on where the tour locale was I might even forgo the lock altogether, but thus far have not done so. It helps that I ride an inexpensive bike and have mostly fairly inexpensive gear all of which I can afford to replace.