Originally Posted by dutret
Exactly, that is why it is incorrect. He says that it's alot harder then you think to cut a rim and then backs that up by explaining how a hacksaw would have trouble. He overlooks that a hacksaw is the worst possible tool for the job and if you use bolt cutters it is not that hars. Therefore his statement that it would be near impossible to cut a tensioned wheel is wrong.
42" is a common bolt cutter length. Check out pawn shops they are usually full of them. According to someone I know who works with tweakers and has had extensive conversations with the less desireable ones about bike theft the two most common tools are the 42" bolt cutter for cables, chains, and small locks and the hydraulic jack for u locks.
edit: By the way,the tweakers advise use of both a U and a big cable or a chain locked seperately since it is hard to carry around both giant tools of thievery at the same time.
Sheldon says it is difficult, he doesn't suggest it's near impossible, that's you.
Back to bolt cutters, 25mm - diameter- is a lot, even 42" bolt cutters will not fit all of a rim in its jaws. Where are the bolts, chains & shackles with this diameter that are not severed with a cut-off wheel? No one uses non-pnuematic bolt cutters on anything over 7/8". 25mm is a low profile shimano rim w/out tire, Sheldon's own example looks a lil larger. The drug addicts you mention don't cut wheels, tire or no tire, with bolt cutters.You still fail to address how easy it is to cut a rim with bolt cutters. It's no easier than with a hacksaw, and with success comes a bike you can't ride away.
I know it'd be cool to be right where Sheldon is wrong, and that's very attractive to you, but it isn't any easier to cut a wheel with bolt cutters. With a hacksaw or bolt cutters it is a multi faceted operation, a process. Any of those drug addicts would tell you how unattractive it is, almost like work. Especially when there are other bikes with cables & cheap u-locks waiting to be clipped or sawn through.
Sheldons method is sound as long as the super-duper kingboltcutters with multi-jaw killer teeth are still a fantasy.