Windows XP was still supported in 2005.

The effectiveness of your lock depends a lot on where you use it. Find out how common bike theft is and what methods the thieves use. Here in NYC, if you leave your bike for a long time, you better (1) use an excellent lock and (2) understand you still may lose your bike.

I'm looking at a couple of these -- one for me, one for my daughter:

https://www.etrailer.com/p-8218DPS.html

Master has been good to me. I also have an OnGuard (cheapie, but still useful) and an Oxford lock/chain combo.

Personally, I avoid using/buying cables, doesn't matter how thick they are or who makes it. Seen too many cut ones lying around bike racks and poles. I always use 2 locks for my bikes, chain for the rear and ulock for the front wheel to the frame. The extra weight and time to secure my bike doesn't bother me. You don't have to spend a ton of money either for locks/chains that will stop most thieves.

I used to have a Bulldog LM, and I like it because it's not too heavy to carry. But one day I accidentally dropped it on the floor, it disintegrated. I posted somewhere around these forums with a picture but that was too long ago for me to find it.

I've actually had an On-Guard lock since ~2005. It's still going strong. :)

:thumb: (so I didn't drop it. It could be the result of past occasional bumping/dropping, thought I was usually careful)

Now I use Abus steel-o-chain.

I was once a messenger in NYC, (80's) and I had my Fuji Sagres stolen on Park Avenue while I was making a drop. The guy used a 6 foot 2x4 to break my Kryptonite U lock. The hot dog guy on the corner told me all about it and the 2x4 was still lying on the curb.

Yeah bike theft is brutal in NYC and Boston. Crime of most kinds have come way down, but not bike theft, for some reason. That's a brutal story, [MENTION=429243]Roytoy[/MENTION].

I prolly brought it on myself, if you believe in karma. When I first arrived in NYC I was a foot messenger and was saving for a bike. Some guys uptown on Broadway approached me with a Fuji mountain bike and asked if I wanted to buy it for $40. I couldn't get the money out fast enough. Upon looking the bike over I noticed some slight bending in the rear stays. "Crap, I think I just bought a stolen bike." I had a big bike shop on 14th street straighten the stays and I went to work. I think it was called Stuyvesant Bike Shop.

I don't think you deserved to be robbed, not even for that mistake you made in good faith. You were new and didn't know enough yet. And I got my first ten speed bike from Stuyvesant, in 1975. It was a life-changing thing.

Was it a top of the range Kryptonite U lock? Or I guess back then U-locks may not have been as strong as the best ones today?

Dang dude, you're making me ferklempt. A friend of mine borrowed that Fuji and totalled it on 34th street. He tried to run that downhill stretch on 5th Avenue that ends at 34th, and he tried to cross 34th at full speed. He got hit by 3 or 4 cabs and all that he brought me from my bike was the rear cluster/hub with a bunch of broken spokes attached. He remained bedridden in our residential hotel room for 3 days. A few of my messenger buddies kicked in and scraped up enough for me to get my Fuji Sagres, which was an absolute dream bike at that time. $350 of 1980s money. I also bought that bike at Stuyvesant. I cried when it was stolen. Back then we covered our bikes with cloth tape, or old tubes from the LBS dumpster. One day I decided I wanted to ride my beautiful maroon bike uncovered, so I took the cloth tape off. The next day it was stolen.

Good stories, [MENTION=429243]Roytoy[/MENTION]! We wondered whether those ugly frame coverings work. Your story suggests they do.

At the time it was the only one offered. $35 in the 80s, or about 10 deliveries at Sprint Messenger Service.

There are guys roaming the streets in my city .... armed with high powered portable battery angle grinders. They cut through Kryptonite fahgettaboudit D-Locks in seconds

They do this in broad daylight irrespective of CCTV cameras (they wear hoodies) ....

pop into the supermarket for a few minutes, and your expensive bike is gone. They strip the bike, and sell the individual parts

thats why I use an old ugly looking 1970's Gitane TDF whenever I pop into the city and need to leave my bike locked up ... if you have a front quick release wheel, you need to lock that aswell with a D-Lock as even those without the portable angle grinders will steal them (a front wheel with a good tyre gets them some drug money for the night)

Looks like OnGuard makes a combination u-lock. Any reason to think that a combo lock is inferior to one with a key? I've just always preferred combo locks.

Edit... Hmmm, after reading post 30, maybe it's a moot point.