Locks you can't break
 

(don't exist)

What lock, locks or combination do you use?
Single lock with/ without a cable, or double locked?

Any tips on easily broken locks we should be avoiding?

Favorite strategies, new techniques or something entirely different, please share.

My favorite, the mini u-lock

U-locks are hard to break anyway, the mini's are tougher than the wider or longshackle cousins and with both wheels and a street post theres barely room to close the lock let alone insert a prybar.

If i just lock on wheel i lock through my helmet. Secures my helmet and though you could break it to make room for a bar, it would waste time.

I've been back and forth with either a light cable or a combo cable as a second.
A few times i've had the cable chewed up (never cut all the way through) or the combo left lying open (i guess they walked through the combo's to find mine...) but always the mini u-lock was intact.

I heard that the street cuffs are now easily breakable (i wont describe how but i could replicate it fast!)
so i dumped the street cuff.

I use this: http://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?Scree...4003318248481m

I feel rather secure with just this one lock. Before I bought this I used a smaller Abus chain and an Abus U lock.

I use a Kryptonite u-lock for the rear wheel, and a chain lock around my front wheel. This is all to stop amateurs, I realise - I work in a major hospital in Philly during the day, so I hope that the dedicated thief would find a better location then right outside where the guards are to perform their "work". Also, hopefully the fact that my bike is a scuffed-up Schwinn (not usually considered a sexy brand) Voyageur will make it less attractive.

Folk's, I'm sorry but a pro thief will get your bike...period.

For the rest of the walk-by crooks any quality chain & lock
will do. What get's me about this subject is that cyclist all
worry about grams of weight on each bike component then
throw pounds (!!) of steel on the bike with a locking system!!!!!

Yeah, too bad no-one makes titanium locks. They would be much lighter, but way more expensive, too...

some u lock makers have titanium bars tha the u locks into :P

my cable lock just became victim to the pen trick (luckily by me) so i just got a new key lock, same style, 18mm (really thick woven cable) x 80cm, to lock my front wheel and frame. I'm also going to pick up a "stocks" u lock to do the front wheel and frame again, and a longer BELL cable lock to the backwheel, frame, and front wheel. Breakable or not, i just trippled a theive's chances of getting caught even if they can break down each lock. I still haven't figured out the weight issue yet though, might leave 2 of the 3 locks there over night or something.

re: the Abus lock
I love the idea!

How many american bike thieves would know how to break that?

It may not be any harder to break than a US lock, but no-one will know how. (though i'm sure the basic principles are the same...)

I had a thought, (uh oh)
thought i'll accept on the surface that a professional thief could get any bike...

i thought that there are probably different skill levels in the thief world (just like any job) and though a world famous super thief might get anything, maybe i can stop a majority of the others, slow them down, make them give up, or try another bike.

the whole idea of cross locking (using 2 different locks) is betting that a thief won't have two tools.
(also helpful if one lock turns out to have a secret weakness (like kryptonite... like kryptonite (trust me that makes sense in a minute...))

and i'm not that sold that every lock is breakable. Sure you could spray liquid nitrogen on the cylanders but the case hardening protects from cold damage and protected cylander design and a down angle prevents immersing the mech in nitro (which is hard to get)
A mini jack may pull half of the ulocks, but every lock maker knows that and the u's have double indents now and mini's are too small for even a jeep jack.
You could try an oxy-acetylene torch if you dont mind waiting (again case hardening is TOUGH.)
Long prybars, levers, jacks etc have to be so long to work that you can't just walk around with them, and they as often would destroy the bike in the prying.

And anyone walking around with a 6' steel pole, a misting thermos of liquid nitrogen, a backpack oxy-acet welding rig and a truck jack messing with bikes is bound to get picked up.

I'm in a low-risk theft area so I just use a cheap specialized cable lock that seems to work just fine.

Why don't you just weld http://www.grahams-machinery.co.uk/N...es/Welding.jpg the bike to the rack... that's pretty unpickable.

Those of you who use the mini u-lock and cable combo, which one do you use to attach the bike to the pole, etc.?

Always anchor the most secure lock then use the lesser of the 2 to tie off your accessories.
So either chain or u-lock the frame to something immovable and then cable lock the seat and wheels.

I had been using a Kryptonite New York U-lock for years until i read about the pen trick, which has now left me lockless cause i don't trust the lock anymore, and from what i can tell, it's going to take ages for Kryptonite to replace my lock.

The question i really want answered: Is the Kryptonite New york U-lock still a good buy in it's modern updated state?

Crap, then my mini-u is too small for my commuter frame.

The problem with the kryptonite locks and the pen trick is not isolated to kryptonite. The lock with the circular key is called an ACE cylinder. Locksmiths have had a tool for a while (10 years...) that can impression (not pick) these locks. For some reason this wasn't alarming until people realized they could replicate this $200 dollar tool with cardboard and plastic. This affects all the circle keys which were used on laptop locks, bike locks, cheaper gun cabinets, soda machines, etc.

I filled out the information on Kryptonites website back when they announced their plans for replacement. It took a few months but in January I got the UPS return label and like 2 days later the replacement arrived.

The problem with the Abus lock is that it's just not available in the USA. Or if it is, it has to be imported in, so then it ends up being a ton more money. I'll pick one up when I'm overseas, but for now, the majority of us here in the States have to find another way.

I still use my Kryptonite NY chain, but I use the Mul-ti-lock for the lock part. I consider locks a way of slowing down a thief, but a real pro will always be able to break through just about any lock.

I have an OnGuard Brute and the Kryptonite chain with my new lock. Those work for me.

Koffee

actually, you can mini-ulock the rear wheel from inside the triangle (right behind the downtube) to a street post, rack etc without problems. On the smaller diameter racks or meters i can just barely fit the front wheel in there to. And that's tight!

i've heard some argument about the rear wheel locking method but there is no way to get the wheel off with the lock in that position (impossible.) And for the one person that previously suggested it, it's easier to cut through a frame than the rear wheel (which is under tention.)

anyway, rear wheel to post with a mini, with cable to front wheel.

(After that i cross lock with an onguard combo/ cable. 2 locks, 2 lock types, 2 key types)

Noticed something at work,
couple old, flat bikes with NYC chains that have been there for while.

Security did a sweep awhile back and had all the old, abandoned bikes cut and donated to charity. The few with NYC chains are still there. The pro-locksmith with cutting tools, picks and prybars just left them alone.

I guess they're just waiting to let them rust off...

I don't lock my bike, except for on very rare occassions, where maybe I stop at a restaurant and will be within sight of my bike. On my commute, the bike comes inside with me. I have spent far too much money on my bike to be leaving it out for anybody to steal or try and steal (which could hurt it just as bad as taking it altogether).

You should let the pro locksmith borrow your BIC pen.

If you want an Abus lock in the US, why not order it from some European web shop?

I have an Abus U-lock and the integrated rear wheel lock that comes standard with many bikes sold around here. Neither will keep a dedicated thief from stealing my bike, but they're better than 70% of bike locks I see.

It's like going to a safari with a friend: you don't have to outrun the lion, you only have to outrun your friend. :D

--J

Have a good site that sells them and has decent international rates ?

I use a Kryponite chain and round padlock. Weighs a ton, but with it and the bike being in a heavily trafficked and highly visible area, I feel safe. But I still check on it each time I walk by the doors!

Yeah, hook us up!