I am not going to say that bolt cutters won't work but I couldn't get them to do the job. I bought 3' bolt cutters from the hardware store and then proceeded to ruin them in the first hour trying to cut a u-lock. Not only did it not do the job but it didn't even leave a mark large enough that to make anyone think that someone was trying to cut their lock. I don't steal bikes for a living but I was totally obsessed with breaking an abandoned lock off of our bike rack this year.