a pedaling locksmith?
07-17-07, 12:16 PM
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 3
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
a pedaling locksmith?
Hi,
I'm a freelance journalist and cyclist in Los Angeles and I'm working on a story about high end locks for a major daily newspaper. I'm looking for a someone who knows a bit about cycling and locks to chat with. This person, if he/she exists, is hard to come by. I've posted on message boards and googled like crazy. Nothing. At least no one who isn't associated with a shop. Since shops sell locks and an argument can be made that these folks won't be entirely objective, so I need someone who is unaffiliated with a retailer.
If you know of such a rare bird who may be willing to help out please e-mail me.
Thanks,
Steve
I'm a freelance journalist and cyclist in Los Angeles and I'm working on a story about high end locks for a major daily newspaper. I'm looking for a someone who knows a bit about cycling and locks to chat with. This person, if he/she exists, is hard to come by. I've posted on message boards and googled like crazy. Nothing. At least no one who isn't associated with a shop. Since shops sell locks and an argument can be made that these folks won't be entirely objective, so I need someone who is unaffiliated with a retailer.
If you know of such a rare bird who may be willing to help out please e-mail me.
Thanks,
Steve
07-17-07, 12:48 PM
#2
POWERCRANK addict
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: North Acton, West London, UK
Posts: 3,783
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
sorry - slightly off topic - but maybe some of the video posters may help if you can find a group or person near you
https://video.google.com/videosearch?...=1&sa=N&tab=wv
https://video.google.com/videosearch?...=1&sa=N&tab=wv
__________________
shameless POWERCRANK plug
Recommended reading for all cyclists - Cyclecraft - Effective Cycling
Condor Cycles - quite possibly the best bike shop in London
Don't run red lights, wear a helmet, use hand signals, get some cycle lights(front and rear) and, FFS, don't run red lights!
shameless POWERCRANK plug
Recommended reading for all cyclists - Cyclecraft - Effective Cycling
Condor Cycles - quite possibly the best bike shop in London
Don't run red lights, wear a helmet, use hand signals, get some cycle lights(front and rear) and, FFS, don't run red lights!
07-17-07, 05:41 PM
#3
Really Old Senior Member
"At least no one who isn't associated with a shop. Since shops sell locks and an argument can be made that these folks won't be entirely objective, so I need someone who is unaffiliated with a retailer."
Why not interview several and see if there is a common consensus?
Typically, if you interview anybody that owns just one of a certain type product, they'll be biased toward that one. That's hardly unbiased either!
Why not interview several and see if there is a common consensus?
Typically, if you interview anybody that owns just one of a certain type product, they'll be biased toward that one. That's hardly unbiased either!
07-17-07, 07:36 PM
#4
tired
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 5,651
Bikes: Breezer Uptown 8, U frame
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Please check your PM.
__________________
"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."
"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."
07-17-07, 07:37 PM
#5
Trans-Urban Velocommando
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Lenexa, KS
Posts: 2,400
Bikes: 06 Trek 1200 - 98 DB Outlook - 99 DB Sorrento
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Hi,
I'm a freelance journalist and cyclist in Los Angeles and I'm working on a story about high end locks for a major daily newspaper. I'm looking for a someone who knows a bit about cycling and locks to chat with. This person, if he/she exists, is hard to come by. I've posted on message boards and googled like crazy. Nothing. At least no one who isn't associated with a shop. Since shops sell locks and an argument can be made that these folks won't be entirely objective, so I need someone who is unaffiliated with a retailer.
If you know of such a rare bird who may be willing to help out please e-mail me.
Thanks,
Steve
I'm a freelance journalist and cyclist in Los Angeles and I'm working on a story about high end locks for a major daily newspaper. I'm looking for a someone who knows a bit about cycling and locks to chat with. This person, if he/she exists, is hard to come by. I've posted on message boards and googled like crazy. Nothing. At least no one who isn't associated with a shop. Since shops sell locks and an argument can be made that these folks won't be entirely objective, so I need someone who is unaffiliated with a retailer.
If you know of such a rare bird who may be willing to help out please e-mail me.
Thanks,
Steve
07-18-07, 01:47 PM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 5,250
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
7 Posts
The best "neutral" discussions of bike locks are from the editors of the UK magazine "Cycling Plus. For a fee, CP will fax you copies of their bike lock test articles (they test locks about twice each year).
Although CP accepts ads, their editors are brutal in evaluating locks. A typical "Master" lock lasts five or ten seconds in their tests. Will Masterlock be advertising in CP? Probably not.
The "Cycling Plus" tests are done in two phases. First they use the manual tools that are most commonly used by street crooks. Then they use the sorts of power tools that might be used by a tiny number of "pro" level crooks. They report the precise time in seconds that each lock lasted, making it clear which locks are the best, and which are the worst.
The CP tests get much the same results as the results posting at soldsecure.com. The "gold" level locks at "Soldsecure" last a long time in the CP tests. The "silver" rated locks in the "Soldsecure" ratings do well against manual attacks in the CP tests, but only seconds against power tools.
www.soldsecure.com/Leisure.htm
Also, Kryptonite and OnGuard, the two largest distributors of high quality bike locks in the USA, have their own rating systems. Their corporate rating systems are very consistent with the results in the "Cycling Plus" tests. The locks that get the highest rating in the corporate rating system do very well in CP tests. The locks with the lowest ratings in the corporate rating system do less well in testing...so, the corporate rating systems are a reliable means to compare Kryptonite lock "A" with Kryptonite lock "B", and to compare one OnGuard model with another OnGuard model.
The best "experts" on bike locks in most big cities are the downtown bike messengers. Any messenger who has been on the job for a couple of years has become very cautious about bike theft. Experienced messengers constantly trade tips on which locks work, and which locks don't. Messengers with expensive bikes tend to prefer the mega-buck chains from Kryptonite and OnGuard, or the top u-locks from those companies. Heavy locks, but they work.
Although CP accepts ads, their editors are brutal in evaluating locks. A typical "Master" lock lasts five or ten seconds in their tests. Will Masterlock be advertising in CP? Probably not.
The "Cycling Plus" tests are done in two phases. First they use the manual tools that are most commonly used by street crooks. Then they use the sorts of power tools that might be used by a tiny number of "pro" level crooks. They report the precise time in seconds that each lock lasted, making it clear which locks are the best, and which are the worst.
The CP tests get much the same results as the results posting at soldsecure.com. The "gold" level locks at "Soldsecure" last a long time in the CP tests. The "silver" rated locks in the "Soldsecure" ratings do well against manual attacks in the CP tests, but only seconds against power tools.
www.soldsecure.com/Leisure.htm
Also, Kryptonite and OnGuard, the two largest distributors of high quality bike locks in the USA, have their own rating systems. Their corporate rating systems are very consistent with the results in the "Cycling Plus" tests. The locks that get the highest rating in the corporate rating system do very well in CP tests. The locks with the lowest ratings in the corporate rating system do less well in testing...so, the corporate rating systems are a reliable means to compare Kryptonite lock "A" with Kryptonite lock "B", and to compare one OnGuard model with another OnGuard model.
The best "experts" on bike locks in most big cities are the downtown bike messengers. Any messenger who has been on the job for a couple of years has become very cautious about bike theft. Experienced messengers constantly trade tips on which locks work, and which locks don't. Messengers with expensive bikes tend to prefer the mega-buck chains from Kryptonite and OnGuard, or the top u-locks from those companies. Heavy locks, but they work.
