This happened yesterday, 07/10? The metal on the lock rusted fast didn't it?

Yeah it rained hard just after it was cut, and I suspect a lot of heat was involved during the cutting process too. The picture was taken maybe 3 hours after the fact.

EDIT - my timing was off, CCTV shows the theft occurred at 10am not later in the day, see later post for timeline.

Jon

Yes it does. Especially if this was done as quickly as the OP says.

Yeah, friends are all over me about that ... I just want to locate and call 911 from my NEW cell phone (why? cause new/old one was also on bike). Personally I wish it disappeared - sold in a worse part of the city - but no. It's right here. And just to slap me in the face more --- I can see the house they've been seen around from the local bar I go into - again - a block from my house.

And I was on my way downtown 2 days ago (on new bike) and was going to stop at friend's store - when I saw this kid flailing his arms around - and got off his bike and walked into the store with it. Then promptly walked out announcing to everyone loudly that he has to sell this bike.

And the dumbas walked up to me and asked if I wanted it ---- brand new canary yellow Cannondale hardtail mtb ---- before I could say something he said "$200" and you know how much they go for? I said yes, as I snapped a picture of him and the bike and calmly walked into the store with my bike. Kid scurried off - he needed to sell the bike for his next fix judging by his profuse sweating and wild eyes.

I'm the very last person who needs to see that junk now.

So then I stopped at my workplace and e-mailed the photo of the kid to a couple of my cop friends who made sure it got to the right people in case someone turns in a police report for that bike.

No, if you know how to think critically, it doesn't prove that at all.

More importantly, it shows you how good a DeWalt or Makita cordless sawz-all with the right blades is. I think it's more of an endorsement to the power of the "breaker" tools than the weakness of the lock. The fact that someone had to resort to a professional cutting tool is a credit to the strength of the lock.

I saw it on the Internet. It must be true!

Right!

And how often does that happen? Once in a blue moon, because it's so much easier (and safer) to cut a cheap cable lock, which is why there are tons of stolen bike reports involving a cut cable lock, and very, very few stolen bike reports involving power tools cutting a high end u-lock.

It doesn't mean it can't happen, but it's rare.

Looking at the photos, I don't see HOW the crook got your bike. The "cut" area on the shackle is less than a half inch wide. That is far too small a space to pull the frame of the bike through the cut, or to pull the rear wheel through the cut (if you had the lock around the rear wheel).

If the "cut" lock was sitting on a workbench, I'd guess you could rotate the shackle, and open up the "gap" between the two sections. But, if the interior of the shackle was filled by the rear wheel and a beefy locking post, it would not be possible to rotate the shackle enough to pull the bike through a single "cut".

When "Cycling Plus" used power tools to open the Kryptonite New York lock, the editors pointed out that the New York Lock has dual locking bolts. The shackle is not going to open unless BOTH legs are cut. With power tools, and new cutting discs, cutting both legs is a very time consuming task.

There are some odd things about the photo shown in this thread. If a single cut was made, using a power cutting disk, I'd expect the cut to be very thin, around 1/16th of an inch wide. Bright, shiny metal.

Instead, there is a cut of about 1/2 inch wide, badly corroded. The size of the cut is consistent with the shackle being cut twice, with each cut being located about 1/2 inch from the other. The corrosion is more consistent with the cut being made several weeks or months before the photo was taken.

Without a doubt, any lock can be opened with power tools. But, according to "Cycling Plus", on THIS lock, cutting both sides of the shackle with power tools is a long and noisy job. Not something most crooks are gonna want to spend their time doing. But, if a crook has power tools, lots of time, and lots of nerve, no lock in the world is gonna stop him.

It has been a while since I looked at the warranty on a bike lock. But, my recollection is, the Kryptonite insurance policy does NOT cover a lock cut by power tools. However, homeowner's insurance or renter's insurance may cover the loss, minus your deductible.

No, it's not. Unprotected steel rusts immediately when wet. Have you ever looked at steel automobile brake rotors after a washing?

To the OP, sorry to hear about your loss. Actually, I'm really sorry because I have a 19" Cronus on order scheduled to arrive in the next couple of days! I'll check the serial just to be safe! :p

In fact, I just received my onguard bulldog mini lock a few minutes ago and then stumbled upon this thread. I think my best defense is that the bike will be locked up in a high traffic area and many employees will be around it constantly (outside of a costco). I am shocked to see how your stronger kryptonite lock was defeated and to hear that it was in broad daylight under the watch of a camera -- :eek:

Without it being on a workbench or in a bench vise, a prybar will introduce enough play into the system to slip a frame tube out from that cut. It looks like someone hacked a section of the shackle with a sawzall. While a grinder or disc cutter would take a long time, an industrial sawzall with the right blade could do that kind of damage in under a minute.

Again, industrial sawzall. You wouldn't believe some of the things I've managed to slice like butter when using one in our shop.

Not odd at all. The corrosion is consistent with about 24 hours exposure for unprotected steel. The scratch patterns are equivalent to the standard marks a reciprocating cutter makes. Additionally, the flattened protective casing on one side, and non-directionally frayed opposite side leads me to believe that a rotary cutting tool was not used.

That puzzled me for a while too. I actually went to look at my NY lock. I finally realized that yes the shackle would be held from rotating by the frame, wheel, crank arm, post, etc. But the locking cylinder is sticking out on the end and you just rotate the cylinder and the shackle is held still by all the other parts.
Just as if you put the shackle in a vise and rotated the locking cylinder by hand or with a lever.

The rust is typicall of just one day or even less. That kind of steel rusts easily.

I think it proves the the lock is WORTH LESS, maybe not worthless. If it can be cut with common tools, then it is certainly not worth alot of money. Maybe $5 more than a coomon cable lock.

There is nothing "professional" about a battery powered sawzall. It is a common tool, that could easily be stolen from a work truck or a worksite. That's assuming the person didn't just buy it.

The "safety" of these locks is HIGHLY overstated.

This makes me angry as hell :mad: this scumbag is so lucky it was you and not me, I'd love to catch a bike thief and make him eat broken glass.

Wow. I've been locking my bike outside our office building where all the smokers go all day long, but maybe I'll look into the option of parking it in the ramp right next to the attendant for $50 a year. It seems worth it all of a sudden..
So sorry to hear about your bike :(

Then this story will warm your heart, and possibly Tude's.

Jon, sorry to hear it.
I definately feel your pain, as some low life piece of $hit also stole my Specialized RockHopper two nights ago. Right out of my backyard. They had to climb over a 6 foot block wall to get into the yard.
Joe

That's great that someone got their stolen bike back, too bad they didn't re-educate the thief.

The guy was most likely high on meth. I wouldn't go there with that kind of potential aggression. On the other hand, I wouldn't have put it past this particular group of Zoobombers if said methhead insisted on keeping the bike.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/371235128.html

Thats a dead give away for the thief NOT to post there. Anyway, look on ebay and good luck finding it. If he shows up on ebay bring cops to his door.

With reference to the "cut Kryptonite", the world has a problem. In the last year or two, cheap rechargeable angle grinders have appeared on eBay, imported from China. I lost the key to my u-lock last year, and had to take measures to get my tourer back. Turned out one of these grinders was about the same price as getting the locksmith out, and it would of course have a use for me in future, whereas the locksmith would go home to his family. Let me tell you it cut through my lock in about 30 seconds, and nobody said a word to me about it. Nothing will stop a thief who's prepared to shell out £50 to be equipped to do his job well.

I don't think I've come across anyone on meth as it's not quite as big a problem here yet, but there was a thing on TV the other day about how it's getting worse. I've heard that meth heads can get very violent.

Holy S H I T!

I always thought that Krypto U's were indestructable, and people whose bikes were stolen were using cable locks or not locking them at all.

Jesus!