Originally Posted by
crawdaddio
I have never seen a theft of a bicycle due to lock picking. The lock is always broken/cut/ground in some way. I have seen a few where the cylinder (keyed part) has been drilled out.
Keep in mind that most bike thefts result in the thief taking the lock with them, so I cannot conclusively tell you that it never happens.
Cases of thieves actually picking locks are usually relegated to high dollar (think bank/jewelry/million dollar mansion style), highly skilled, intelligent, well planned attacks.
I totally agree. I used to locksmith years ago. Thieves will break a lock first and most do not know how to pick locks. If they do know it takes them too long to do it for it to be practical. It's quicker for them to break/cut the lock. Using several locks (U and chain/cable) causes them to spend too much time on it. They want a quick steal and getaway. The longer they take, the better the chance of getting caught. Same with house break ins/car thefts.