Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown
My Lock Strategy article is at
http://sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy
I do not recommend using a U-lock by itself for high security parking, I recommend a U-lock in conjunction with a good cable lock. The cable lock secures the front wheel.
The beauty of this system is that it takes totally different tools to cut a U-lock vs a cable lock, so only a thief equipped with both can succeed.
I advise against removing the front wheel for locking purposes for several reasons:
•It's too much trouble. You shouldn't need to disassemble your bike just to park it.
•It exposes the fork to damage. The fork ends are supposed to be protected by being attached to a hub, they're not intended to be bumped against concrete.
•I see too many people riding around the city who have done this and then made a dangerous error in re-installation of the front wheel; crooked wheels, disconnected brakes, brake shoes knocked askew, QR skewer set incorrectly...
Sheldon "Leave The Heavy Lock On The Rack" Brown
[/CODE]
I agree with using two locks, problem is most here on this forum think that cables are a useless defense. I happen to agree with you on this. Cables are light (but need to be thick), can be coiled to fit in a backpack, and if combined with a U-Bolt would indeed require the thief to have two sets of tools to do the job. Now if I lived in a very high bike theft area like NY or LA and parked the bike where visibility may be low then maybe I would get the Krypto NY Chain instead of a cable, but that thing is very heavy and a pain to have to carry everywhere you go.
True you can damage the fork ends, but there use to be either rubber or plastic fork end protectors you could buy for that very reason, but I haven't seen those in a while.
Removing the wheel and replacing it shouldn't be a big deal nor too much trouble, your talking taking about 30 seconds to take it off and 30 seconds to put it on at tops; also if it was that difficult then even those who get flats (which is everyone) would have the same dangerous situation you speak of thus no one should attempt to fix their flat due to removing the front wheel which would cause them to have "crooked wheels, disconnected brakes, brake shoes knocked askew, QR skewer set incorrectly...thus a dangerous situation"...that's just instilling fear in our little minds that doesn't exist except in very rare cases; and if a person is that nonmechanically inclined not to be able to put their front wheel on correctly then maybe they need a different hobby?
PS: I hope your feeling better, and it's good to see you back on this forum again.