To all Pitlock users:
Just bought a set of Pitlocks and I don't know if is going to be worth the protection they give vs the pain of carrying a special key and the extra time for changing a tire.

My plan is to buy a mini NY Kryptonite Forgethaboutit, secure the frame with the lock and leave the tires and seat protection to the Pitlock. Now, I'm second guessing my choice.

My question is do you think the Pitlock with the 18mm mini Kryptonite, is better protection than a harden chain to secure both tires and the Kryptonite as above to secure the frame?

On the one hand I'll save about 5-6 lb of chain, with the slight inconvenience of having to have the special key and extra time it will take to change a tire on the road and limiting places to secure the bike, vs, having proven protection and flexibility of securing the bike and the inconvenience of carrying a total of 10lb or more on security system.

The Pitlock is well made and looks like quality, my concern is that it could be compromise with regular pressure pliers or something like it. Plus having the inconvenience of the key getting lost and taking extra time to change a tire and missing the train. I don't carry the locking system (current is a harden 6' chain and a cable ( soon to be the Kryptonite mini U)) all the time, only when I have a plan stop I carry the chain (movies, Dr. appointments). Day in, day out, I carry the cable, but keep the bike insight at all times if I lock it at all (bike outside of restaurant window, rest room at gas station)

Keep the Pitlock and ditch the chain? or, Keep the chain and ditch the Pitlock (it will go to the tandem)?

Thanks in advance, Double O

How often do you get flats? If you get a bunch of them, it's time to get new tires or a better pump.

I live in the city and do a lot of utility cycling, shopping, errands, etc, and I carry a 5 pound cable lock from Avenir. The other day, I went to Target to buy a toaster oven and when I got there, I realized I forgot my lock. My first thought was, oh well, I'll have to come another time, but then I thought, well why not just take the bike in with me? I mean, they sell bikes there and advertise that you can roll them to the register. So that's what I did. Since then, I have been taking it into other locations (not restaurants), but convenience stores, etc. My thought now is that if you value my business, my bike comes with me. I know it's not always possible, it would not fit in a gas station bathroom, but maybe I would leave it at their counter, or at least ask. So far, I haven't been told no yet.

I have the NY Faghettaboutit (or however the hell they spell it). I do feel that my bike is plenty secure with it because I know that even if someone was going to take the time to cut the shackle, they'd have to do it twice. Apart from maybe the freezing technique, (which I just learned about today and am skeptical that it could be applied on a properly locked bike, i.e. lock not on the ground) a grinder is basically the only way that someone could compromise this lock without doing damage to the bike itself. Hopefully by the time they cut it once, their grinder's battery will have died or their cutting wheel would be spent. Obviously the downside to this lock is that it's incredibly heavy. I bike to school so I generally just leave that lock there so I don't have to tote it around. I use a lighter u-lock that I keep on my bike for use at locations other than school, and for when I am at school (I unfortunately have to leave my bike unattended for several hrs each day), then I have two u-locks. With my bike having two u-locks on at school, there are always easier targets on the rack and unfortunately it happens often.
As for the security skewers, I can't comment on the pitlocks but I had another type of security skewer that was compromised...as far as I could tell, they just used a hammer to hit on the part of the skewer that's on the outside of the fork until the wheel broke free. I was considering the pitlocks but after that happened I figured ...what's the point? If I really want to protect my wheels they just need to be u-locked.

My advice is save yourself some money, don't put crazy expensive wheels on your commuter that are more likely to be stolen, and just buy a basic security skewer like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Lock-n...ecurity+skewer

Then lock up with one u-lock around the rear rim and frame.

That is the least of my worries, only had 3 flats in a year and a half of commuting in South Florida. But I listed as a down side of the Pitlocks, however small it is.

i already do this. And that is why I only carry a low security cable all the time with the bike. I figure shoes are as dirty as my bike tires. I want to be able to go almost any where in South Florida (Tri-Rail system) and lock my bike and enjoy what ever it is I'm doing and not think about the bike. That's why the Pitlocks.

I already got the Pitlocks, I think I'll keep them on the bike and buy two u locks for unknown areas and extended exposure. For in and out I'll use one mini u lock and the security skewers. My tires are not expencive, front $375 with dynamo hub and rear $175 w/ shimano 105 hub 7 speed cassette (read ancient and archaic) Thanks for the link, I may get some of those for the other bikes (mine, kids and wife) 7 total.

Double O

My sister let her then-teenage son borrow her bike once; he locked it up (locking cable through the frame, around a big light-pole base at a K-Mart), and came back out to a wheel-less frameset. When I was able to help her replace the wheels, I got the type of skewers linked above (Walmart.com lists them as Trans-X, about the same price). I also put a set of those on my bike. (NOTE: He hasn't borrowed her bike since, but has helped himself to his slightly younger brother's bike a couple times -- that wasn't pretty....)

I don't trust cable locks at ALL; you're gonna have to SHOW me a cable that a decent bolt-cutter won't make short work of. But, cables are easier to carry than a good chain, so my younger nephew has a thick cable and padlock (his cable is from a trailer lock for an RV....). It wraps through the wheels and around whatever he locks up to, and so far, he hasn't had a bike stolen.

I have a BIG Master U-lock, and a 1-meter trapezoidal chain with heavy-duty padlock, for my bike; I can take one or both, it depends on my destination and how long I expect to be there. I HAVE taken my bike into stores before, some have been accommodating, others crappy about it.

I don't usually push the issue -- some folks say, "if they don't let me bring my bike in, then they don't want my business"; some businesses DON'T want your patronage, if you demand it on your terms -- it's their place, not yours. They make rules for their place that they think are necessary, and if that conflicts with you, they make a value judgment on the spot -- to allow or not -- and things go on from there. They allow, you do business; they don't, you decide whether or not to do business. They aren't REQUIRED to serve you.

Okay, back OT...I've been looking at upgrading from those skewers, since I can see how easily they can be defeated WITHOUT damaging brute force; I already know what will take my wheels off should my sister and I both lose our "keys". Since bike theft is fairly uncommon here (so few actually ride anything of worth, most of it is big-box crap), it's good enough for now. I'll get to it. My standard precautions are sufficient for the time being.

It's just being a little harder to steal or strip, your bike, than the one next to yours in the rack.


the heavy security [bolt cutter resistant] chain will make it obvious to shift the attention to the other guy's bike .

Pitlock will be something the thief will defeat/remove at their leisure after taking the whole bike, away..

pitlock ismore about stripping the wheels instead of QR...

myself , where I live, allen bolt skewers are Ok. I use the ones my Schmidt hub supplied.

though with disc brakes I substituted a steel nut to get it tighter,
seeing the wire pulled around from torque . probably dynamo more than the disc.

My Koga WTR has an AXA ring lock + a chain , it resolves the wheels
and the fixing the bike to a post or rack..

I have pitlocks and am happy with them; I keep one key in the rema box that has my tire patches, and another on my keychain. The extra 15 seconds it takes to remove the tire (if that, since you're going to be getting out your patch kit if you have a flat anyway) is much less than the time you would spend separately locking your front wheel every time you lock your bike. And I think that they are at least as secure as my main lock; it's probably simpler for someone to angle grind through my U-lock than to figure out how to remove the pitlock.

Pitlocks are great. We use them on all of the kid's university bikes (major university in urban setting) and have never had a problem. It's not that hard to change a tire with them. Also, you only really need to put them on the front tire if you are doing the Sheldon Brown locking method.

What you can also do, if your frame geometry is right, you can get a U lock to do the Sheldon Brown method on the back and get a lighter weight and smaller U lock that goes from the front frame to the wheel. It's a little more to carry but it's easy and fast and no pitlock.

J.

My grocery/errand bike has a full set of pitlocks; front hub, rear hub, seatpost (with secure cable for brooks saddle), and fork/dynamo light. They aren't much more difficult to change a tire versus quick release. The set in combination with a ABUS Bordo Granite X make a quick, easy, and relatively light approach to securing a bike. One I certainly prefer to carrying two (or more for the items listed) means of securing the bike with locks. YMMV

Get two keys for the pitlocks, I hear that they only come with one know - truly stupid thinking on behalf of pitlock. When I got mine about 5 years ago they came with two keys; I keep one on my keychain and one at home tied to a 14mm wrench. I run a 5mm allen through the holes in the pitlock key when I'm on the road to loosen and tighten the pitlock.
One thing, just be careful not to over tighten the pitlock, you can break the skewer; its easy to do with a 14mm wrench. Just let it "click" a few times and it's tight enough.

I had to take off a pitlock for a friend who lost his key (sounds sketchy, I know). Huge pain! I used lots of conventional tools but ended up having to use a power drill. Anyway, I'd say it does a good job of keeping your parts on your bike.

Replacement keys can be ordered.

I like having pitlocks so that I don't feel worried about getting my wheels stolen. I also use pitlocks on the headset so that my fork is secure, and just for the heck of it I lock my seat post too, even though the lock and clamp probably costs more than the seat post, lol. My hope is that my bike will look more like trouble than money to a thief and that they will go for an easier bike than mine.

Good move. I take my bike indoors with me almost everywhere. Nothing worse than coming out and seeing that your bike was stolen. At work, I park it in my office instead of out on the bike rack. People have commented about that, but I say my bike is too expensive to leave on the outside rack. It's not, but people don't know that

I use pitlocks. When I ordered from Peter White, I got a matching set and extra keys. They are a bit of extra work changing tires etc but when I was working on my wheel the other day I noticed where someone tried to remove the lock by tapping the edge with a screw driver. I don't know when it happened but I still have my Rohloff wheel.

I think the key thing changed this year. Last year when I ordered, I got two keys. This time when I ordered, I got one key. So I think timing was important on that one.

We have several bikes that are "pit locked". I worked with Urban Tech (US Distributor - https://www.urbanbiketech.com). They were great in very quickly getting additional sets that are all keyed alike.

J.

That's reassuring!

Another reassuring tale!

I got two keys with my order, and I ordered 10 days ago. Maybe first time orders get two keys? I used the same distributer as you. Double O

Hmm. That's interesting.

J.