WesDrakeSanborn

So I bought a bike on craigslist for $100 and I was skeptical because the guy said there is a rope lock(one of the cheap ones) on the frame of the bike and he can't get it off himself, he said he has the receipt for the bike with the matching serial number, so I checked everything out even called the store he got it at and confirmed it was bought there he told me he forgot the code for the lock.

I have tried bolt cutters to no avail, what other options would I have to get this off? it is one of those cheap rope locks like this https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Spor...-LOCK/17619568

but it is the thicker variety, any advice? I am going to harbor freight for some tools in a few

Weston Drake Sanborn

Booger1

Angle grinder will cut it like butter.

Retro Grouch 

If you clamp the cable in a vise it will cut easily with an ordinary hacksaw.

wschruba

You need to adjust/sharpen your bolt cutters if they're not going through that. Or do the above stuff, it'll work fine as well.

Seattle Forrest

I was going to say hot knife, but that's not a rope. So bolt cutters or hacksaw.

jefnvk

You could do what I did when I did the same thing, and sit with it in front of a TV one night and try every combination, then you have the added bonus of a cheap lock...

But yeah, any cheap cable cutter should take care of that. Dremel tool with a cut off wheel should, too. Worst case, you could probably bash the locking mechanism with a hammer and break it.

KBentley57

+1 hacksaw, angle grinder, anything. Otherwise, one combo every 3 seconds gets you a little less than three hours total combo checking time for 0000 - 9999.

Camilo

It's a cable, not a rope. I'm really surprised your bolt cutter didn't work, but any or all of the suggested tools should do the job.

alcjphil

Cut the lock, not the cable, even if your bolt cutter is dull, it should be able to cut right through the lock

Fastfingaz

Might not be that cheap,,, if you got to go through all that

cyclist2000

I have done this, the benefit is not wasting a cheap lock.

CliffordK

Look up "Wire Rope"... a very common term, especially in some professions.

The problem with many "bolt cutters" and similar tools is that they tend to flatten the cables rather than cutting them.

Cable cutters, on the other hand, have round cutting surfaces that keep the cables bunched together for easier cutting.

I tried to cut a cable lock a while ago with a hacksaw or ordinary wire cutters, and was quite impressed at the resilience.... but I also know that a good cable cutter can make quick work of them. Or, at home, a grinder if a cable cutter is not available.

VegasTriker

If you own a circular saw that uses 7" blades you can use a metal cutting abrasive saw blade to make fast work of the cable. To see what I mean, see here DEWALT 7 in. x 1/8 in. Metal Abrasive Saw Blade Bulk-DW3511 - The Home Depot I've used this to cut lots of different types of metal. The only one that was difficult was a lock and cable that I got at a garage sale. Never heard of the brand of lock that was on the cable but it was extremely hard to cut. You can cut the hasp on most locks in less than a minute but that one took about 10 minutes. Too bad I didn't have the key.

baldilocks

If your not used to using a grinder or cut off wheel, I'd use the hack saw. Use what you know, safely. I also think putting it in a vise was a good idea. Personally, I like this.

Search results for: 'electric cut off'

Slash5

I've read that pruning shears will cut locks like that. Bolt cutters just mash it flat.

Darth Lefty 

This sounds wrong. 10,000 combinations x 3 seconds = 30,000 seconds = 500 minutes = 8 hours 20 minutes... or 4 hours 10 minutes if you have exactly average luck and the combination is 4999. Am I making too-simple assumptions?

hankaye

Howdy All;

A 1" Cold chisel and a 4 lb. hammer. It's basic and will give you a good work out at the same time.
Oh yea, place the cable or lock on a hard surface or the force of the hammer blow will dissipate into
the softer surface.
Also an excellent way to work off any frustrations or angry thoughts. Some may call it therapy.

hank

Darth Lefty 

Not entirely unrelated... my wife recently wanted to bust open a geode and chose from my toolbox a wood chisel that belonged to my grandad. so long, chisel! Fortunately my grandad bought cheap tools and I have a lot of them, so other than him, it wasn't anything special.

hankaye

Darth Lefty, Howdy;

My most sincere condolences for the chisel . Did she bust the rock open?

hank

FullGas

fire...?

oxy-acetylene rig should take care of that in about 2 secs...

Camilo

]

Yea, sorry about that. I'm familiar with that term. But he just wrote rope, not wire rope. I was thinking he might be a non-English speaker and didn't know the term cable or as you point out, wire rope.

KBentley57

It was a slip of the calculator on my part . However, I gave a bike to a friend, with this cable lock, and he actually did set down one evening and try all combinations until he found the one that worked! I asked him how long it took, and he said about 3 hours, so he must have gotten luckier than most. There's also techniques to guessing the most probable combinations (by excluding combos that probably aren't built into most locks, such as XXXX, X,X+1,X+2,X+3 , and so on) that may help.

also: https://www.instructables.com/id/Unlo...it-cable-lock/

Darth Lefty 

Wish I'd know about this before gumming up my bench grinder on the last one

McBTC

... the last wheel may be 'free' and it looks like only 1-6 numbers (or maybe 0-6 numbers) on wheels 1-3 so--e.g., 216 to 343 combinations... or, about 17 minutes at the most?

Darth Lefty 

Yes! It has some interesting curlicue stalactites inside but I haven't been able to snap a decent photo of them with my cell phone. I admit if it hadn't worked or it was boring, I'd be more upset about the chisel.