Best Combination Lock?
 

I’m moving into a new condo. They have a bike room which is reasonably secured (key card entry). I’m going to put at least two, maybe 3, bikes in this room. I can’t really lock them all together and I hate to carry around three more keys so I was thinking of a combination lock:


I’ll leave the lock in the bike room so I don’t care about weight. Cost isn’t too much of an issue either. Any suggestions for the best combination lock? The reviews I’ve read so far are pretty mixed.

Thank you, Scott

I have an Abus Bordo combination folding lock. it's an awesome lock, very secure, and folds super compact for easy transport, though it sounds like that won't be important for your application. when i bought mine years ago, it retailed for ~$100, but the price may have come down by now.

https://smartbikeparts.com/images/li...arge/39305.jpg

How will you be locking your bikes then? Will they be locked to something solid, or will you be locking them to themselves individually and not each other? The lock you mention looks kind of expensive for a simple job. This Onguard 6' cable lock looks like it would do the same thing for 1/5th the cost.

I'm using one of these Kryptonite combo cables:

http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/pub...4Q7EPf6_lBYMEl

and while it has never been cut, and has not required much maintenance (graphite to help the dials spin), after X years (5?) pretty much all of the numbers have worn off. It has dots for the zeros and squares for all the others, so I count up or down by feel but I don't know which way is which (if each click is moving closer to or farther from the zero). But if it doesn't work the first time, I rezero, count back the other way and do it again.

1. If you can use a ulock, I would highly suggest a ulock, cables have a reputation for being very easily cut. They do sell combination ulocks -
http://www.kryptonitelock.com/Outlet...=1000&pid=1106

2. If you want to use a cable combination lock, I would just use a regular cable -
http://www.kryptonitelock.com/Outlet...=1001&pid=1124

(They sell shorter versions of the same cable as well)

And a regular combination lock, anything like these -
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-17...5663027&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-65...5663027&sr=8-5
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-17...663027&sr=8-14

The cable locks with the combination built in always require twice as much cable and I find more annoying than a regular cable - you just loop the cable through itself on the thing you're locking it to, then wrap the end of the cable around a piece of the frame of the bike and lock it. It looks like like this:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=202296

People often think

3. If it was me personally, I would first go for the ulock. But if that's not possible (due to the way that you have to lock your bike up), *and* the thing you are locking it to is secure (no point in an very secure lock if they can just unscrew 2 screws and walk off with everything), I would personally consider getting a bike chain. I use the Kryptonite New York Noose -
http://www.kryptonitelock.com/Outlet...=1002&pid=1196

That's what I use for locking up my bike when it's in my car but sitting in a parking lot, or when it's on my bike rack. Though this would still require getting a combination padlock as well.

I really think any of those Kryptonite combination locks will work for you. A keycard entry bike room isn't going to be up to many strange passerby messing with your bikes, so really you're just trying to deter people in your condo association from getting sticky fingers. Ask the association if they've ever had problems with bike theft or vandalism in the past; that should give you a fair idea of how much security you really need.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

In response to one of the follow-on questions, I would be locking it to something stationary. In my case a wall mounted bike hooks (I'll see if I can find a picture to post later). Now that this has brought up I wonder how secure the wall mount is. No sense in buying the ultimate lock if the point I attach to is the "weak link". I better check.

So far I'm most intrigued by the Abus Bordo lock. I have read report about how easily cables can be cut. Maybe I don't need anything that secure but if I'm going to lock up my $2000 road bike then I'm willing to spend $50-100 on the lock. I guess the U-locks are the most secure but I really don't want to carry more keys. (It would be nice if you could get a common key among three locks.) Any thoughts on how secure the Abus Bordo is compared to a Ulock?

Thank you, Scott

Follow-up. I just re-read posts and see comment from PaulRivers about combination u-lock. That sounds like a good option too. I'll look into that. Thanks!

I don't know what your budget is, but you can get some high-end locks keyed alike. Pair them with high quality chains for infinitely more safety than a cable lock. I'm guessing you're looking at $200 per bike for that though.

[edit] here's the first link I came across
http://lockitt.com/chain2.htm

I think you should pass on the combo locks. There are many ways to crack them and it is possible that someone in a condo would find a quick google search worth the work for a 2000 dollar bike. Id get a nice strong ulock or a big chain style lock.

fyi, personally, I would not lock up my $2000 road bike in any shared space. I would definitely keep it in my apartment, personally, unless I was really, really, really rich. :-)

Less expensive bikes I probably would, sure. I think $2,000 is about the limit where I simply wouldn't trust it to be kept in any sort of shared space.

^ yeah, i would not store anything (bicycle or otherwise) worth 2 grand in a communal area.

If I was locking up two or more bikes together I would be using one of these chains:

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/2030.html

Secure it with your fave mini u-lock or padlock. If I had to use a combination lock it would be this:

http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?Scree...=4003318357633

+3

Now you guys are making me rethink my whole strategy. In response to on comment, I’m rich but not really really really rich.:) But the common space is in a high end condo with card key entry throughout so I think it is far more secure than any apartment common space (no way would I store my bikes in common space).

I’m thinking now I’ll forget the combo lock and either buy keyed alike locks or look into long tough chains so I can reach across to two bikes. Either way I guess I’m looking at $200-$400 for locks.

Thanks for all the comments and keep em coming!

-Scott

Oh, one more thought, I see Abus make a lock which can be re-keyed with my Schlage house key. How cool would it be to have your house key also work on your bike!

ABUS Schlage Combatible Lock

Who would think there would be so many options. More research needed ...

Please get a Ulock =)