Originally Posted by rideabike
Round locks are very hard to pick. Also, I don't think that you should be overly concerned about people picking a lock. Very few people have learned how to do this and fewer have the tools, especially for round locks. You can't pick a round lock with the tools you use to pick a typical lock, unless the lock is defective, as the kryponite locks that were recently recalled were.
That's just plain untrue. You could call the infamous evo series defective, but the truth is that many-many other tubular locks are only a bit more difficult to pick. Even I can pick them. It takes a bit of 'technique' and common sense approach, but it's pretty easy. As far as I know, the better companies have stopped making them altogether.
Here's a video that documents my fastest pick on a $25 Master Lock:
http://cyrex.axio.hu/stuff/masterlock.wmv
4 seconds... That's way less than it takes to cut the shakle of the crappiest U-locks with powertools.
Even the wicked expensive street cuffs have been picked this way.
This sort of theft may be rare, but it sure does happen, and if you are buying a lock, avoid tubular tumblers if possible.
Ask alanbikehouston, the lock expert here. He said something like he wouldn't trust them to secure an emtpy beerbottle.