The problem with cables that I use is that a simple pair of small wire rope cutters will have a cable cut in less than 15 seconds, and a bike thief will carry those.

Look, myself and a few others have said this before on other posts and forums, the best deterrent against bike thief is to buy a used nice bike for $300 or so and lock it up with medium priced locks.

When I say locks I mean 2 locks, a medium priced U Lock and another of your choice that is portable like a OnGuard Cable, this way the thief will have to have two sets of tools instead of just one which he'll just move on. It's a $300 bike so don't go buying $200 in locks! You can can 2 decent locks for less than $100; and here is a list of the best locks for under $50: 3 of the Best Bike Locks Under $50 | Top Trusted Reviews If you get the combo U bolt with cable I would buy a separate lock for the cable so in case someone defeats the U bolt lock they also haven't defeated both the U bolt and the cable, I happen to like the Abus Discus lock for my cable system because it's compact and it's 35 years old and still works great.

Here's the proper way to use a U lock: Bicycle Lock-up

Here is a test done on some locks for breaking: Smash Lab: Bike Locks Broken | Bicycling

Here is a lengthy discussion/test on fewer locks; see: The Best Bike Lock | The Sweethome

You can also use locking skewers but I can't really get into those because then I have to use a tool just to fix a flat which defeats the purpose of having quick release wheels.

Also don't get hung up on lock guarantees because they're almost all but impossible to get money from a claim due to numerous requirements such as: you must register your lock within a certain time period, (this is tricky) you have to send them your original UPS code and original receipt to register the lock and then send the original package with the UPS code attached again when a theft occurs? how's that done when there is only one UPS code on the package and you sent the original receipt in too? That pretty much prevents you from collecting, but they're not done with the requirements, you need a police report which in most major cities the police won't come out to do a report on a stolen bike so again you're screwed, but wait there's more, you need pictures of the unmolested crime scene and lock with whatever it was attached to so they can determine if you locked it properly and if the bike was in a well lit highly traveled area, plus you need to send the broken lock back, and then just before the first 2 years of the insurance expires you have to renew it which means pay money, then just before the second 2 years is up you have to buy another lock in order to keep the insurance going. When Kryptonite was questioned once by a major bicycle magazine as too how many claims do they pay out in a year, their answer was: "that is confidential information which we do not publicize"! In other words very few and probably none.

You could make a claim on your homeowners insurance but usually most people have a $1,000 deductible, and it could raise your rates depending on the company.