Howdy,

A buddy of mine has locked his ulock to his frame, and lost the key. The pen trick didn't work. How is it done?

Thanks! And no, I am not a bike thief...though maybe I'll become one, hehehehehahahaha!

1. Use one of the spare keys that came with the lock
2. Get a replacemet key from the manufacturer as you did write down the key code, right?
3. Ride over to the police, they have equipment to do this and will gladly help you once they verify it is your bike, legally purchased.

ps - you may very well be legit in this request and any of the above solutions will work, but sharing even well known methods on a public forum does a disservice to everyone who locks up their bike. Experinced thieft already know how, but some punk as kid may learn and try from any good suggestions posted here.

Al

does park make one of those?

I can tell you how. pm me.

Your question has been answered dozens of times in various threads about locks and security. One thread in particular is a "School for Crooks". I'm not mentioning anything that has not been posted many times before, so....

The "Your Brand New New Bicycle U-lock In Not Safe" thread at the top of "General Cycling" has over a thousand posts. During the first hundred posts, several guys teach you everything a crook would need to know to steal a bike. But, for each guy who posts to brag how quickly he can open a lock with a BIC pen, five guys post to say they failed. A thousand posts in that thread, and only about twenty guys who claim any great "prowess" at the pen trick...and their success is at the kitchen table with THEIR own lock, not on their knees, next to a bike rack, working on someone else's lock.

The BIC pen thing was a bit of a hoax...a pen is about the HARDEST way for the majority of people to open a randomly selected U-lock that is correctly attached to a bike and to a bike rack. (The guys who brag about using a BIC pen have never claimed any great success meeting each of THOSE conditions).

Every lock comes with a spare key. That is the fast way to open the lock. Leverage attacks can do more damage to the frame than to the lock (if it a Krytonite, and not a Wal-Mart brand lock...those fall apart with a good yank on a leverage tool).

So, cutting is the best way to go if you don't want to risk damage to the bike. Two minutes with the correct power tools. A couple hours with a hacksaw and several new blades.

Of several weeks if you gnaw thru with your teeth. That way your friend learns not to do something dumb like lock a lock to a frame and lose the key. (or buy a bike cheap that has a ulock already attached to it)

Al

When we traded out the old locks for the new ones at the shop, I tried the bic pen thing and it worked. I helps to have a hammer to hit the pen in.

I use sheer force of will. If this doesn't work for your friend, maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Hacksaw. Use a carbide blade. Takes about half an hour, and your elbow will hurt. (I speak from experience.)

If it is not a New York lock a scissors jack will get it open real fast.

Yes...

Has anybody tried liquid nitrogen and great big hammer? Just wondering.

okay my friend was in the same situation as you are
just get a power cutter or power grinder and cut or grind it off, watch out for sparks. or you can go to a machein shop or some one that has a plasma cutter and ask them to take it off for you.

Yes; hammer froze to my hand, and then shattered when I hit the lock with it.

Actually I'm calling shenaniegans on this one. You have no way of proving that no bike has ever been stolen using a BiC pen because the theives RARELY LEAVE THE LOCK. Why leave evidence at the scene? Especially when you can ride for a few blocks and ditch the incriminating evidence in a trash can far away from the actual crime scene.
The BiC pen IS a threat in as much as the general public knows about it and the average jerk on the street can easily get a disposable pen. If questioned the guy only needs to respond "I lost my key and I heard about this on the internet.

In fact I can get a Old style Kryptonite open in less than thirty seconds so it's NOT the hardest method by any stretch as proven by the test results that YOU brought to the table.

he's right, and it is true. I opened my Kryptonite U lock in about 2 minutes after practicing a bit, after a while it only takes 30 seconds or less.

Large bolt cutters (3 ft) go through like it was made of AL.

Enjoy

A dremel tool with a cutoff wheel will go through it in a couple of minutes. You can also put the lock in a vise and hit it with a 5 lb mini sledge. Use your imagination.

Security through obscurity, eh? That is not a good idea.

https://slashdot.org/features/980720/0819202.shtml

Well, here, just read some of these:
https://www.google.com/search?q=security+by+obscurity

If he lost the key, what's the sense of trying the pen trick? you may as well cut the lock, it's not going to do you any good without the key. So, what gives?

I dont know that pen trick, does anybody want to enlighten me?

And cheaply, i would use a hacksaw, quickly i would get hold some seriously big cutters of some kind..

Here's a thousand or so posts on it:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/67493-your-brand-new-bicycle-u-lock-not-safe.html

For the BIC pen thing to work, you have to match the correct pen for a given lock. If you have the match and the skills, you can do it in thirty seconds. But, there are dozens of variations of "round key" locks that have been made over the past three decades.

In the "real" world, crooks don't have the time, energy, or "balls" to sit next to a bike rack, trying pen, after pen, after pen, down on their hands and knees (a correctly installed lock is positioned just 19 inches off the pavement), and meantime looking over their shoulder to make sure the bike's owner is not walking up from behind.

And, that is why the number of PROVEN bike thefts using a BIC pen remains at zero. But like "ghosts", someone will say "Just because no one ever saw it, doesn't mean it's not real". And lots of people do believe in ghosts. That's way it is always easy to find a place to camp in a cemetary at midnight.