Originally Posted by alanbikehouston

Please look carefully at the video and tell us the tools and technique the crook used. I'll bet a nickle it was NOT a "BIC pen". Half a million people have viewed the various "BIC pen" threads on this forum over the past year. Not ONE poster have provided meaningful evidence that the "BIC" technique has ever been used to steal a single bike.

Why? It turns out, the "BIC" technique is fast and easy, if you practice with ONE type of round cylinder and a specific pen barrel that precisely matches that particular round cylinder. Especially easy if you are working on a well lighted kitchen table.

But, out on the street, at a rack of twenty bikes packed in side by side, there will be numerous sizes and types of round cyclinders, inconveniently positioned about fourteen inches above the concrete. A crook would need to get on his hands and knees, going through boxes of pens, hoping to find a pen that matches a particular lock. As the crook stoops low, his head two feet above the concrete, trying pens after pen, he has got to keep looking over his shoulder, hoping that the owner of the bike is not about to slam the crook's face down into the concrete.

No crook has that much time or patience. They use tools and techniques that open about 90% of U-locks, 100% of the cable locks, and about 95% of chain locks in under one minute. Probably half the locks in common use out on the street can be opened with standard tools and techniques in under thirty seconds. A crook would be a blooming moron to waste time fiddling with a BIC pen.

The strongest locks sold widely in the USA are the Kryptonite New York 3000 U-lock and the best Kryptonite chain. Both can last forever against common manual tools, and will ten minutes or more against power tools.

The next best locks in the USA are the OnGuard Brute U-lock and the best OnGuard chain. Both are too heavy for most cyclists to lug around, but are as tough as the best Kryptonite locks against manual attacks. OnGuard locks are inferior to Kryptonite locks against power tools, but luckily, outside of New York, and urban universities, attacks with power tools remain rare.

Many companies make chain locks and U-locks designed to look identical to the best Kryptonite locks. They are sold by crooks for the benefit of crooks. The "discount" U-locks sold at Wal-Mart and K-Mart, especially those sold by "Master Lock", are pure junk. They can be opened in seconds. Likewise, an eight pound chain sold at the corner hardware store can be opened in seconds. Sadly, the best chain locks are VERY expensive.

No lock can stop a top Pro crook if he targets your bike. If someone leaves a $2,000 or $3,000 bike parked out in a public place, especially on a regular basis, day after day at the same location, it WILL get stolen eventually. Sooner or later, a skilled Pro will spot the bike. He will study the brand and model of lock. He will return with the appropriate equipment and take the bike.


My rule of thumb:

$1,500 bike: Never out of my sight in a public place. I lock it even when I'm sitting ten feet away.

$ 600 bike: Lock it in well-lighted, high pedestrian traffic areas in broad daylight. Daylight ONLY.

$ 200 bike (spray-painted to look like $20 bike) Lock it next to the front door, during late night visits to the movies or store.