Originally Posted by
erig007
That's exactly what electronic will do. It will make defeating it very easy. On a physical aspect it seems that there is no big difference between the strongman ulock and the skylock but on the former you would need to bring tools (probably a portable grinder which is big, heavy and require noisy work for about 1min and that put the thief at risk of being caught doing so) on the later lock you would just need to get near the lock with the hacking device in your pocket. What do you think is the easiest to do?
No, if and until it's hacked. until then it's safer.
I'd also say that the majority of bike thieves are not sophisticated. Most of them (at least in the urban venue where it's an issue for us) tend to be doing it for the drug money. They don't have the patience or time to figure out hacking. In point of fact, that's just plain funny. Now the serious hackers who are bike thieves - nothing is going to stop them including any of the top flight locks by any manufacturer if they want your bike. These are not your usual thieves.
I'm pretty confident in saying that ultimately I'd bet there is no difference between the two locks in practice in terms of relative theft rates when all is said and done. Most of the thefts are a lot more due to improper locking than to defeating the lock, not even close. My kids have had their bikes for a combined total of 7 years around a major urban university where bike theft is epidemic and at least 4 of those years where the bikes are out 24/7. Far and away the reason bikes get ripped off is a poor locking job in general, less to the quality of the lock. And it's easy to verify because all you need to do is walk around and look at the bike carcasses remaining (or wheels) or bikes without parts etc... A decent lock, pitlocks, and locking in areas where other bikes are not locked properly has been a winner for us. No issues and have even had bikes stolen from right alongside my kid's bikes. Our bikes are actually pretty nice bikes - racing bikes from the 1980s with handbuilt wheels etc.... We have a lot of experience at this.
So I think these are just fine and no worse (and probably better in many respects) than the other good locks out there - all of which can be defeated by dedicated thieves in short order. And if that happens? That's what insurance is for.
J.