Right, so a crook is only going to steal bikes locked with $5 chain or cable locks or $10 U locks...where do you come from Mars? The only bikes I see locked up with locks like that are cheap ashe Walmart bikes that some 8 year old rides to school on. So a "professional" bike hacker is going to hock that bike he risked going to jail on for $5? Are you out of your mind?

And no, most locks can be defeated in less then 2 minutes by mechanical means, not picking. However with different locks on the market it now takes about 4 or 5, maybe more different types of tools to break a lock with the most effective tool being a tiny hydraulic jacks that pops the most expensive U-bolt lock like it was made of cardboard. but these tools are expensive, make noise, and cumbersome to carry around while trying to go undetected. This is why picking has increased in Japan and Europe.

Here's a web site to tell you how to break a Krypto lock rather quickly: http://www.totse.com/en/bad_ideas/sc.../takebike.html

Here's more for the doubtful: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...ckbusters.html

You want documented reports, I gave you one site for Japan. I can't even find documented reports on the internet about bike locks being broken no alone picked!