Folding Bikes - Attaching a u-lock to a Brompton?

I have been rapping by head of late trying to find a way to attach a u-lock to my Brompton when I am cycling and when I am not using the bike. There is absolutely no space available on the frame to attach without affecting the fold. The current option is to carry the lock in a bag which is a pain as my u-lock weighs 2kg and I fear sometime I will forget to bring it with me.

I use a u-lock as i believe they are the best deterrent to potential thieves and I do need to lock my bike on the street sometimes.

Has anybody thought up of a solution for this problem, we need a new invention, someway of incorporating the lock into a frame?

- shay:)

We use the Abus TexKF (http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?ScreenLang=us&sid=28753298517523627112011671771562&select=0104b08&artikel=0000000000000) strap bracket to attach Abus Granit X-Plus u-lock to the left of Brompton's top tube. It required a bit tweaking of the orientation of the counterpart brackets on the tube and lock to get a right positioning for the lock, without pedal and fold interference, but it works.

Thanks 2_i.

I would be interested to see how that works, do you have a picture?

I have been rapping by head of late trying to find a way to attach a u-lock to my Brompton when I am cycling and when I am not using the bike. There is absolutely no space available on the frame to attach without affecting the fold. The current option is to carry the lock in a bag which is a pain as my u-lock weighs 2kg and I fear sometime I will forget to bring it with me.

I use a u-lock as i believe they are the best deterrent to potential thieves and I do need to lock my bike on the street sometimes.

Has anybody thought up of a solution for this problem, we need a new invention, someway of incorporating the lock into a frame?

- shay:)

In the 6 years I owned my Brompton, I never had to lock up up beyond snapping a cable lock indoors to deter the grab-&-run opportunistic thief or two when my hands were not actually on it and I was not beside it (and very rare at that). I realize that it is a choice for each owner/user to decide on, but I don't understand why anyone would buy a Brompton if a regular bike would do being locked up like that. One of the choices I made when I bought my own Brompton was I would keep it as light as possible when I carried it around. Keeping it with me is the best theft protection ever. Around here in Gangland, locking up any bike folding, junker, or super expensive never worked anyway for anyone here.

Abus Bordo Link locks are like a folding U lock that goes in a pouch
you can strap on,
or as I use on my Bike Friday by their top of the top tube bottle bosses.

mostly I used an Armored Cable lock, OnGuard, though there Abus offers one too,
better reviewed, In Bike Radar's destructive testers opinions.
The Lock in that case, just hangs over the Brompton's handlebars.

FWIW I've seen a Seat post mount use such that the U lock lays parallel
to the main tube.

In the 6 years I owned my Brompton, I never had to lock up up beyond snapping a cable lock indoors to deter the grab-&-run opportunistic thief or two when my hands were not actually on it and I was not beside it (and very rare at that). I realize that it is a choice for each owner/user to decide on, but I don't understand why anyone would buy a Brompton if a regular bike would do being locked up like that.

Oh, yes, I go to the beach and drag my Brompton across the sand, stay in the water and look whether it is still there, go hiking and carry my Brompton on my back, go to the restaurant and stick my Brompton under the table. Please, please use the imagination;).

The photo will come, but may take up to 24h as I have a work stuff to complete.

Oh, yes, I go to the beach and drag my Brompton across the sand, stay in the water and look whether it is still there, go hiking and carry my Brompton on my back, go to the restaurant and stick my Brompton under the table. Please, please use the imagination;).

The photo will come, but may take up to 24h as I have a work stuff to complete.

I don't take my dogs everywhere I go, even though I like them all very much. Children are handled the same way and are left with a babysitter when the adults want to go out alone. That does not mean that the little ones are less loved. The same goes with all my bikes-Brompton & the others. I do leave my bikes home on occasion when having them around is not convenient or simply in the way of the planned non-bicycle activities participation by myself.

I am sure many other Brompton owners follow suit.

I would be interested to see how that works, do you have a picture?

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Incidentally, the folded bike with U-lock attached fits into a B&W case and rounds it up to exactly 23kg our monopolist carrier here accepts. One negative of the U-lock mounted this way is in the fact that people tend to treat that U-lock as some sort of handle and try to grab the bike by that lock at a moment of your inattention. Amazingly, the bracket is strong enough to withstands such attempts, with the bike hanging from it in the air.

Thanks 2_i.

I get it now from the image, makes sense now. I did'nt think of that. My next question is, is the strap specific to your U-Lock or is generic, could it be modified easily to fit all u-locks?

The bracket is Abus specific and must match a plastic counterpart piece that appears on all Abus U-locks and at least some of their non U-Locks. (Presumably you can go to the Abus site and magnify photos to see details.) However, I have seen such pieces on some generic U-locks, where a company seemingly decided to follow the Abus suit rather than invent the wheel on their own. In my memory, I had no problem mounting such a non-Abus lock on an Abus bracket. The piece from the U-lock side allows to slide the lock onto the bracket attached to the frame. I do not know whether you can buy such a piece for the U-lock side separately.

P.S. Just in case I misunderstood your question, I bought the TexKF bracket (on the frame side) separately from the lock.

Thanks 2_I

I catch your drift. My lock isn't an Abus but I should be able to modify to fit bracket. Thanks again

2-fish has a 3 strap velcro U lock mounting kit , might hang it from the handle bars,
assuming no front bag... got a front bag you just put it in the bag, of course.

Thanks Fietsbob, might have a look at the Velcro option.

The on the front is extra cluter to me, I prefer my bike to be a as basic as possible, for ease and speed of use. I tend to use the the bike as a run around.

I always carry a mini U lock in my back pocket. It just fits, and give me quick access if I feel the need to have it in my hand.