World's best bike lock?
 

I just saw this over on kickstarter.com. Not sure, but as I recall Titanium is very difficult to cut through. This guy is creating a bike lock made out of titanium. Figured I'd post it here in case anyone is interested. (If I'm wrong about the strength of Titanium, please disregard)

The usual disclaimer: I have no relationship to the project being funded, don't know the guy, etc. Locking bikes comes up a lot here, so I figured I'd pass it along FWIW.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-bike?ref=card

Interesting concept.
I would be very interested in impartial third party analysis results.

Is titanium really that tough? I know it's corrosion resistant, but I have a titanium watch and it's really easy to scratch. Dental implants are titanium, and the hygienists have to use non-metal instruments to scale them so they don't damage the implant. A nice steel chain or u-lock would be tougher than the thin piece of titanium in the above lock, I think.

A Rottweiler and a chain to attach the dog to your bike.

The main advantage of that titanium lock is that it's probably lighter then even a mini-Ulock. I think the security level is about the same. Both require power tools to defeat in a reasonable amount of time.

Titanium would be significantly lighter but slightly less strength, depending on the various alloys of steel or titanium being compared.

As my LBS guy says, the best policy is if your bike is not under your ass, it's in your house (I won't even keep mine in the garage).

As I recall, the designer of that lock posted to this forum some time ago. I'm to tired to try and pull it up, but a search for Tigr should do it. It's a cool sounding idea, and it does have some advantages over a standard u-lock; a jack won't really do much damage to the design, and taking an angle grinder to titanium produces dramatic results. However, it doesn't provide much in the way of a secure appearance, so thieves may try to steal it, fail, and get mad. I'd fund it if I had the spare cash at the moment, it seems like it could be the right lock some of the time.

I am of that policy also. As to commuting with a bicycle, not possible, it will not be there when I get back. Only until bike theft is dealt with can we use bicycles for anything other than sport.

LC

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...on-Kickstarter

I believe a nice hard strike from my 22oz framing hammer would knock the locking mechanism clean off. Ti could probably be used for a lock, but I think it could be easily defeated in that configuration

Titanium sounds exotic but it is actually almost worthless as a lock because it's a soft metal. Their easy to defeat with a stone cutting blade. Titanium is useless as knife because of it's softness thus it won't hold an edge long. A battery powered angle grinder can cut through one of those locks in less then a minute.

There's video of the inventor cutting a U bolt lock then trying to cut his, the U-bolt he used in the demonstration is a cheap Walmart U-bolt!!

Now had he used a Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U-lock he would of had a far different outcome because he would had been up against 18mm of hardened steel, he also would had been in trouble with his demo had he went against the Beast...that is the OnGuard Beast chain lock.

But any of lock can be picked in less then a minute and would look like someone fooling around with his key to a passerby. Picking is becoming more common because locks have become more difficult to defeat otherwise. And no lock will protect your components from being stolen either.

So the best lock actually is buying a cheap $100 used bike, park that one in high risk areas with a mediocre lock and leave the nice one at home.

One of the first thoughts I had when I saw the TiGr was that the fancy lock should be ditched. Drill a hole through the ends instead and lock it with a high security disc-shaped padlock, or better yet, a Medeco padlock with a shrouded shackle.

I'm afraid I don't agree with you at all. Yes, bikes can be stolen by determined thieves in less than a minute. But that's also true for cars. I don't see the point of hunkering down in your house with a possession that is so precious that you can't use it. I use my bike for virtually all of my local trips: commuting, fun rides, shopping, meeting friends at pubs, you name it. It's incredibly useful to me, and I have no intention of hiding it in my house. I take reasonable precautions, and I doubt it will be stolen, but if it is, it's insured, and at least I'm getting very good use out of it. It's a tool, fer Chrissakes, not a family heirloom.

best policy revised: if you plan on leaving your bike locked outside, bring all of your stealable accessories inside with you, and make your frame look as ugly as possible. If you're someone who also likes to bike for sport, you should really invest in 2 bikes. Buy a nice one you use for rides where you're not stopping anywhere / can bring your bike indoors with you, and a commuting bike you can buy from wally world or craigslist and uglify.

Making the bike as ugly as possible is why I mentioned the cheap used bike.

Difference between stealing a car and a bicycle is that with a car it's grand theft due to the value, a bike is not as valuable as a car thus the police dept's will never seriously go after bike thieves, and when they do catch them it's never grand theft unless their caught with a bunch of bikes. Grand theft is determine by wholesale value of said item on the market, you could have a $3,000 bike but if it's 3 or 5 years (or more) old it may not be worth more then $250 wholesale. Most stolen bikes are stripped of parts and the frame repainted and sold or scrapped for junk value. Some stolen bikes are ridden for a short distance then ditched, those sometimes are recovered. Of all recovered bicycles only 5% of them ever find their rightful owners! Why is that? The owner has no proof, no receipt, no model registration number either in hand when they go to claim it or never given to the police at time of loss so the police have no way of knowing whose bike it is.

Bicycle thieves are actually more difficult to track as well due to no registration of said bike, none of the parts are numbered, anyone will buy it and no one would know it was stolen. The only way to protect yourself, and this is extremely limited in the protection it offers is to have the registration number of the bike recorded somewhere, the year make, model, and color, description of accessories, where you last saw your bike and when. But even with that info recovery is slim to none. What makes it more frustrating is that a lot of large cities won't even waste their time taking a report on a stolen bike!! So if you have home or renters insurance your screwed because you don't have a report, you might be able to get a reference number telling you that you reported the incident but no official report; make sure too you have the reporting officer's name, badge and contact info. Most people who own bikes have not written down and have no idea what the bike's ID number is, so most are screwed right from the start.

The model registration problem is why I think there should be a one time fee on all new bikes sold of $25 that registers the bike on a state data base system so if a bike should be stolen it can be quickly checked to see who owned the bike at registration time. The only time the fee would have to be reapplied for is if you sell the bike and the new owner wants to transfer the title to their name. Also the $25 fee would be optional for anyone who has a current bike and wanted to make sure it was registered for protection. That money could then be used for bike infrastructural improvements.

I recently got an ABUS link lock , all hardened steel , it's advantage , the 6 links fold,
and goes in a storage pouch that you can strap on the frame ,
and the links don't let you get a pry bar on it like It's possible with a U lock .

add a length of hardened steel square link chain, and it should be there when you return..

proportionally lighter the bike, the heavier the lock to keep it. :rolleyes:

Somebody KNOWS about locks! ^^THIS^^

A Medeco,
Will not be picked, or broken with normal tools.
In fact, it WILL NOT be picked at all!

what silliness. i have a locked basement storage room at my place of employment where i am allowed to stash my bike. it has been there every single time i have returned for years now.

the best lock is to get your bike off of the street.


and if worse comes to worst, my bikes are covered by my home owners insurance policy, so it's not like the universe would implode or anything were something bad to happen to one of them. i would hate to be so phobic of potentially losing a bicycle that i would be too scared to ride one. the world can be a scary, risky place, but life has to be lived.

My plan for when I buy my first $500+ bike is to get a vinyl sticker printed with a bulls-eye on it that says "GPS Enabled". What bike thief is gonna call my bluff and try stealing a bike that has GPS built in? Almost like putting a "beware of large dog" sign on your door before going on vacation. Combined with proper locking I highly doubt that anyone would be bold enough to steal your bike.

Nope, your incorrect, any lock can be picked including Medeco; kindly read: http://www.thesidebar.org/insecurity/?p=89

This is true, but there are conditions for coverage to work. You need proof that your bike was secured and locked properly; a police report must be filed, and some cities won't do that; you need the original receipt of the bicycle and receipts for any accessories that were on the bike, along with a photograph of the bike; it's also wise that if you buy a new bike that you inform your agent of the purchase, which you should do for any large ticket item (along with receipts). Then after all of that you will have to pay your deductible, most homeowners policies today are either $500 or a $1000 deductible, so if your bike is worth less then that you get nothing so don't even bother going through the motions. If you have a very expensive bike that you lock up off premises of the home then you should consider a floater, a floater has no deductible, the bike is covered for appraised value at time of the floater purchase (you can update the appraisal if by some slim chance your bike increases in value); floaters covers anything that happens to the bike including accidents; the average cost is about $9 to $10 per $100 of coverage so if you have a $3500 bike it will cost you about $315 per year. But here's why I don't have a floater, I haven't had a bike stolen in over 40 years thus if I would have had a floater on my oldest bike that I bought new in 84 paying for this type of insurance would have bought me very nice bike, just in the last 10 years alone I would have spent about $3000 (prices went up very little in floaters for bikes) for a floater, then add to that 8 other bikes I own! No, the insurance is a rip off. The best thing to do to protect yourself from bad situation is like I said earlier...buy a cheap bike and lock it up at school or work, then you won't have to worry about it.

When I commute I take my bike right into my office, it's a great conversation piece too.

Ok, if you read it on the internet it MUST be true.

Go ask 100 locksmiths, new ones old ones, everyone you can find.
Your chances are better at winning the powerball than finding one that will tell you he can pick a Medeco.

The true pro thieves, would rather go thru what ever it was holding. per say a medeco on a door, the wall, or door would be easier.
But you can believe anything you wish. After all if you look hard enough, you can find something written on the web that will agree.

I like the idea because of the size/weight and storage. Locks are like doors, they keep mostly honest people honest. They do nothing to dissuade the criminally inclined.

Edit: Mostly honest people and criminally incompetent, rather.

Please not another bike lock topic. You guys just keep convincing yourself that a bike lock is a safe option. About the only thing it may prevent from being stolen is your bike frame.