Originally Posted by
freako
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!
You do realize that the post about breaking U-locks is ancient and deals with cylinder locks that most major lock makers no longer use, don't you?
No one has doubted that lock can be picked; anything that a man can design another man can defeat, the question is does it happen in the real world? The answer is that bike thieves don't pick locks in the real world, they break them or cut them.
BTW, I'm in Europe and can tell you as CdCf did that most bike thefts are a crime of opportunity, the bikes were locked improperly or the bikes were locked with a low end lock. The same held true when I lived in the States, Canada, and Australia.
You seem to be a prisoner of the 'what ifs' and 'worst case scenarios' that are running around in your head. Those are the locks you should be concerned about defeating. Good luck breaking free.