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locks- options and opinions

Old 06-12-08, 07:45 AM
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locks- options and opinions

Seems most locks under 70 bucks get a bad reveiw somewhere. Cables can be cut, locks picked and combo locks cracked and removed. Will the extra cash save the bike or will a determend theif defeat any of them? i would hate to see a 25 dollar lock on the ground and my bike gone ... worse yet would be to see the bike gone and both a 25 and 75 dollar lock on the ground. Any thoughts? Anyone ever try to claim the insurance some locks say the provide? what kind of info do they need and do the cover things youve added to the bike . A few years back the top rated lock was discover to be defeated by a ball point pen. Don't want to make the same silly mistake. Thanks for any help.
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Old 06-12-08, 10:18 AM
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All locks can be defeated. You're merely picking a deterrence level and playing your odds. The best anti-theft technique is to avoid leaving the bike anywhere. Using good locks and using them to best advantage is your next-best option. I summarized the "conventional wisdom" about bike locking on this page, if it helps: https://www.mechbgon.com/lock

If I were leaving one of my commuting bikes somewhere for an hour or more, the minimum I'd be comfortable with would be a Kryptonite Evolution Series 4. And my commuting bikes aren't modern "nice" bikes... an old steel Gary Fisher plastered with reflective tape, and an '80s Trek road bike.

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Old 06-12-08, 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by mechBgon
All locks can be defeated. You're merely picking a deterrence level and playing your odds.
I agree, but there's also this:

The first lock that you put on your bike, no matter how cheesy, is about 90% effective because it eliminates the casual thief who doesn't carry tools with him. To improve from 90% you engage in a high tech, high cost game of one-ups-manship that you will ultimately lose.
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Old 06-12-08, 11:22 AM
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I just bought the OnGuard Pitbull MINI DT 5008 Bike U-Lock w/ Bracket from https://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesom.../265/1861/6404

It has a cable with the U-Lock and is the smaller size U to decrease the about of prying room. I can always pick up a second lock to lock the cable but I think this is more than enough security for me.

Product Features
  • Utilizes OnGuard's new ultra steel shackle, M-Cylinder technology and Dual Steel Bar lock mechanism
  • Delivers up to 10 tons of pull strength
  • Includes 4 laser cut keys and 1 light key for night time use
  • 13mm hardened ultra steel shackle. Double bolt locking mechanism. Vinyl coated and weatherproof
  • Size: 90mm x 140mm, 120cm x 10mm Cable. Weight: 3.02 lbs
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Old 06-12-08, 12:46 PM
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caught me it was a double post but thanks for your feedback. i think i may purchase the pitbull you recomended...good price too, thanks. Emersonhart13
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Old 06-12-08, 07:04 PM
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I can't tell from the picture, but the U Lock looks too small to lock a bike properly. A U Bolt should be large enough to lock at least the rear wheel and rear stay to a sturdy pole; but ideally large enough so you can remove your front wheel and place it next to the rear wheel and stay and lock it all to a pole. Then use the cable to lock the wheels and the frame to a pole with a seperate lock. It won't do much good if the U Lock is defeated and your cable is using that for it's lock! I would get a Discus Lock to lock the cable with.

Make sure anything you lock your bike to can't be either cut (like small trees, poles or chain link fence), pulled out of the ground, or the bike pulled over the top with the locks attached.
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Old 06-12-08, 07:38 PM
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Personally, I don't think there's very much merit to having a super-high quality lock. A normal u-lock (gray or orange kryptonite) would do fine because it requires tools to break. And if they have the tools to break a lock, not even your super mini lock is going to stand much chance. The idea is that you just don't want somoene walking right off with it or clipping a crappy cable lock with a pair of scissors.
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Old 06-12-08, 11:33 PM
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Originally Posted by freako
I can't tell from the picture, but the U Lock looks too small to lock a bike properly. A U Bolt should be large enough to lock at least the rear wheel and rear stay to a sturdy pole; but ideally large enough so you can remove your front wheel and place it next to the rear wheel and stay and lock it all to a pole. Then use the cable to lock the wheels and the frame to a pole with a seperate lock. It won't do much good if the U Lock is defeated and your cable is using that for it's lock! I would get a Discus Lock to lock the cable with.

Make sure anything you lock your bike to can't be either cut (like small trees, poles or chain link fence), pulled out of the ground, or the bike pulled over the top with the locks attached.
Most of your advice is consistent with what I've read elsewhere, and I especially agree that one should use a cable to supplement a U-lock -- anything that makes the bike look harder to steal. I just wanted to point out that many people do advise using the smallest U-Lock you can, because a smaller lock is harder to stick something in the middle of to pry it open.

Here's a "locking strategy" blurb on this point from the venerated Sheldon Brown.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

And here's the Missing Link Bicycle Co-op making a similar point.

https://www.missinglink.org/Pages/bike_locking.html

Of course, what constitutes the smallest U-Lock can vary depending on the bike and the thing that it gets locked to.
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Old 06-13-08, 08:22 AM
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Smaller the better... I followed Sheldon Brown's methodology... But luckily I don't have to lock up often!
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Old 06-13-08, 10:34 AM
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I distrust cables so much that I use up to two U-locks -- one locking the bike to an object and the other to lock the wheel (usually the front) to the bike. The big one's a Kryptonite NY Lock and the mini is a Kryptonite Evolution.

I also got tired of wrapping & unwrapping cable locks long ago, but that was more of a convenience thing.
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Old 06-14-08, 07:27 AM
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Originally Posted by mds0725
Most of your advice is consistent with what I've read elsewhere, and I especially agree that one should use a cable to supplement a U-lock -- anything that makes the bike look harder to steal. I just wanted to point out that many people do advise using the smallest U-Lock you can, because a smaller lock is harder to stick something in the middle of to pry it open.

Here's a "locking strategy" blurb on this point from the venerated Sheldon Brown.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

And here's the Missing Link Bicycle Co-op making a similar point.

https://www.missinglink.org/Pages/bike_locking.html

Of course, what constitutes the smallest U-Lock can vary depending on the bike and the thing that it gets locked to.
While a smaller U-Lock is better as you say for prying, BUT a flaw in Sheldon Browns report is that you can't lock the front wheel to the rear with a shorter one, thus leaving your front wheel exposed to being stolen, and some wheels today can be worth $1000 for just one! And just using a cable to lock the front is ********.

If you use a larger U bolt that can lock both up as I described in my earlier post your still going to have problems prying it open because the front wheel going back to the rear eats up any space you had for prying.

Then you use the cable lock to lock the front and rear wheel with the frame to a sturdy object just as you have with the U bolt.
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Old 06-14-08, 07:18 PM
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My whole bike isn't worth that much and I don't park in areas where I even remove my front wheel.

Problem solved!
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Old 06-14-08, 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by EmersonHart13
I just bought the OnGuard Pitbull MINI DT 5008 Bike U-Lock w/ Bracket from https://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesom.../265/1861/6404

Product Features
  • Utilizes OnGuard's new ultra steel shackle, M-Cylinder technology and Dual Steel Bar lock mechanism
  • Delivers up to 10 tons of pull strength
  • Includes 4 laser cut keys and 1 light key for night time use
  • 13mm hardened ultra steel shackle. Double bolt locking mechanism. Vinyl coated and weatherproof
  • Size: 90mm x 140mm, 120cm x 10mm Cable. Weight: 3.02 lbs
It has a cable with the U-Lock and is the smaller size U to decrease the about of prying room. I can always pick up a second lock to lock the cable but I think this is more than enough security for me.

+10!!!

I bought this lock a little less than a year ago, and from inspection, I can see that it's doing it's job really well. I saw a few cut marks on the rubber casing of the U-lock, so I can assume that either I dropped it too many times or someone used the wrong tool for the job.

However, the best security is to never leave the bike outside, especially if your bike is nice enough to get stolen.
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Old 06-14-08, 11:01 PM
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The best solution and most consistent answer came from those who suggested having a beater bike to use for trips to the store and locking up.

That has worked well for me so far.
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Old 06-15-08, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by freako
I can't tell from the picture, but the U Lock looks too small to lock a bike properly.
A clever trick I learned from bikeforums.net is that the lock need not enclose both the frame and the rear wheel. It only needs to enclose the rear wheel. If you put the lock around the rear wheel from INSIDE the rear triangle, you won't be able to remove the frame even though the lock does not enclose it. To remove the frame, you would have to break the lock or cut open the rim of the rear wheel.
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