There are locks, and then there are LOCKS. The editors of "Cycling Plus" test bike locks once or twice each year. Crummy locks (all cable locks, and most chains and u-locks) can be opened in ten seconds to sixty seconds.

However, their editors have found that even using expensive, noisy power tools, the best locks take over ten minutes to open. CP found a couple of padlocks that their power tools could only scratch. And, they found a couple of chains that could not be cut. However, no company matched the "cut proof" padlock with the "cut proof" chain. So, to get the ultimate in protection, a customer must match a padlock from company "A" with a chain from company "K".

Likewise, the very best u-locks, such as the Kryptonite New York lock, can defeat a skilled crook who is using power tools for at least ten minutes. In my neighborhood, a theft using power tools is unheard of. But, I suspect that is someone was silly enough to leave a $2,000 bike at the same location, day after day, sooner or later, a crook would invest in the appropriate power tools.

If you are going to leave a bike locked in public at a large university campus, or in a big city, you need a couple of serious and expensive locks. And, those locks should be attached to a bike that LOOKS like it is worth only a couple hundred bucks or less (although it may be worth much more). If you leave a Trek Madone alone for long, it will soon be someone else's bike.