tcs

Hmph - the battery in his angle grinder died before he got through a hardened chain (3+ minutes). Otherwise, no major surprises.

Video
Story


(Sorry if this has been posted - I tried 'search' and didn't come up with anything.)

Turtle Speed

Interesting, thanks for the link!

This is the first real-world scenarios I've seen with the TiGr lock, and I had a feeling it sounded too good to be true.

Thank goodness the theft situation in most places isn't as dire as in the video. Where I live, a decent-quality U-lock puts you head and shoulders above the competition, especially when there are adjacent $1,000 bikes locked with cables.

I think I remember reading at one university that about half of bike theft was unlocked bikes, half was bikes with cables, and only 2% of stolen bikes had U-locks. And of those U's, I'm guessing probably most were lower-end ones. I don't know of those stats are correct (or apply everywhere), but it roughly correlates to what I see around me. People in Chicago seem to be trusting U's a lot, even leaving wheels unlocked. And people who ride as their jobs in much worse crime areas than me say that bikes that are locked with high-quality U's or chains don't really get messed with

So I'm not that much more paranoid after seeing the video. I'll keep my hardened chain on the shelf unless I know I'll need to lock overnight or to something of unusual size.

Ghost Ryder

I just read this article earlier today @ the market.
Thanks for the video.

tcs

I thought it was interesting they claim to cut (with an angle grinder) through two 18mm hardened steel shackles on a Kryptonite NY-FU Mini in under a minute (other testers have taken twice as long), but can't cut a chain with 10mm hardened steel links before the battery poops out (3+ minutes).

Also, other testers in the past had little trouble compromising lower spec Abus Bordo locks with hand tools, but Mr. Ruzal couldn't. Perhaps Abus has improved this product?

erig007

A chain is flexible so hard to grab an ulock is rigid and easy to hold especially with a clamp like shown in the video
You've just noticed how the skill of the guy who cut matter. I doubt that it is the abus lock that magically improved

Darth Lefty 

What I noticed is that there were a lot of attack demonstrations that only made it into the video as two-second clips, including one against that lock with a crowbar. Wonder how that turned out?

erig007

Here the abus bordo granit x-plus cut with a hacksaw.
Also in this video a kryptonite evolution and spybike tracking system tested (or i would say...defeated)

Darth Lefty 

Also, this author is not an engineer:

Darth Lefty 

This story on the Bicycling site is related and has more detail

https://www.bicycling.com/news/featur...e-locks-broken

tcs

Clamping a u-lock in a bench vice is a good deal less realistic as a theft scenario than duct taping a chain down to hold it still while it is being power cut. In any event, I think a cordless angle grinder is the wrong tool for compromising security chains: cheaper, quieter, just as portable.

As a design engineer who has spent 35 years in factories, I can assure you product improvement is not 'magic'.

peterw_diy

Years ago, Bicycling actually employed engineering to their reviews -- for instance, they used machines to measure frame/BB stiffness. Now... they have writers that don't understand the relationship between Fe and steel? I wish I were surprised.

erig007

What i meant is that in this video Hal tested the ulocks in perfect condition using a clamp to hold the ulock on a nice table etc... not very realistic. Hal by saying that good chains are his favorite choice ended up with the same result that i've found years ago from many youtube videos (now removed) where you could see thieves attacking locks for real spending 20 min or so just trying to hold them in their hands. I'm not talking about videos with locks on the ground or in clamps but on a bike in real conditions with people passing by where the thief has to check every second who is passing by etc..Those videos have been removed since.
Art rating is implying the same thing by giving more stars to chains than ulocks. Why do you think i went for a 19mm hardened chain and the strongest abloy padlock instead of a 18mm kryptonite ulock?


What i meant by magic is the fact that you start from a design and make small improvements from time to time but unless it is magic, you are a genius or lucky you don't make a weak design becoming one day better than strong designs. Art rate the abus bordo xplus 2 stars, good chains are rated 5 stars and cable locks 1 star that must means something.

Turtle Speed

Took 8 minutes, so I was happy to see it lasted so long!

tcs

Here is the TiGr test video mentioned in the Bicycling article.

tcs

Kryptonite sez a NY-FU Mini weighs ~2kg (4.5 pounds). A quick 'net check suggests one meter of 19mm security chain weighs around 6.3kg (~14 pounds) and an Abloy 362 adds another 1.4kg (3 pounds).

You're in training for some kind of competitive event?

MNTC

I was surprised by the chain's resilience as well. I recently worked at a place where I would cut abandoned/illegally parked bikes' locks and never had to spend more than a minute getting through typical u-locks and chains. I'll have to look into these chains they tested, maybe they are really that much more secure than the other options.
The grinder blade makes a very large difference though. Thinner blades will cut through a lock much more quickly than thicker ones, with the caveat of wearing out faster and being much more likely to shatter in use.

erig007

You get used to it and being over 200 pounds on an heavy bike, the weight of the security chain is not too high relatively to the total weight. It is just noticeable when i try to carry my bike and on hills. The rear wheel where my chain is doesn't live the ground when i try to lift my bike. It's kind of funny. All i do is lifting the front wheel. It's just impossible without using both hands or adding extra weight on the front.
Something like this:



rather than this



Hopefully, nobody saw it the few time i tried