A u-lock that is wide enough to go around both the rear wheel and the seat tube is also wide enough to permit the crook to use a $10 tool that will quickly break any u-lock below the "Gold" rated level. Crooks have learned that if a Wal-Mart quality u-lock is around the seat tube, they can use the bike as a lever to "pop" the lock. That technique works well with a Wal-Mart quality bike, with its ultra-thick seat tube.

When a crook uses the "lift and twist" method with a bike with a high quality frame with thin walls on the seat tube, the seat tube gets twisted and bent. End of frame.

So, if you want to help a crook steal or destroy your bike, use an extra-wide u-lock and put it around your seat tube. If you want to keep your bike, and prevent a crook from damaging your frame, buy a compact u-lock, such as the OnGuard TC Mini or the Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit u-lock and put it around the rear wheel ONLY and never around any portion of the frame.

The number of documented, proven cases of a bike stolen where the owner combined a "gold" rated u-lock with the "Sheldon Brown" locking method remains at zero. Not ONE of the people who have questioned the Sheldon Brown method on these Forums has produced any credible proof that the SB method, correctly used, has ever failed in the "real world", as opposed to their vivid imaginations.