mlts22 

The photo should be interesting. I sort of wish his employer, if he is a long time permanent employee there, would find some way of making a lockable cage, locker, a closet with a locking doorknob, or some more secure area for the guy, so he can put his bike there without having to resort to that extreme of locking gymnastics. It would be good for everyone involved -- the employer gets positive PR for helping a handicapped person commute safely to and from work, and the guy wouldn't have to spend so much time hoping that thieves don't take his valued steed. It may not be possible, though... lots of merchants or jobs, space is at an extreme premium.

alanbikehouston

The Sheldon Brown method, combined with a "gold" rated u-lock, works in the "real world" because it directly addresses the tools and methods used by actual crooks who are out stealing bikes on the street. ANYBODY can defeat ANY locking method, if they have the lock on a workbench covered with a nice selection of power tools, and they are not worried about making a lot of noise, and investing a lot of time.

In the "real world", crooks worry about stuff like getting caught by the cops, and arrested, or caught by the bike's owner. In Texas, it is legal to shoot and kill someone you catch in the act of stealing your property. I'm sure most Texas bike owners would be satisfied doing something a bit less drastic, but a guy stealing bikes in Texas needs to be looking over his shoulder.

So, in the "real world", a crook wants to use methods that are very fast, not too visible, and not too noisy. That rules out ten minutes of noisy work using power tools. Crooks in Houston target bikes using cablelocks, or U-locks from the Master Lock company, (and other makers of cr#&*@p u-locks) because those sorts of locks can be opened in ten seconds or less using portable tools that are easily carried beneath a jacket or raincoat.

If your bike is correctly locked with a "gold" rated lock, using the Sheldon Brown method, the crook has a choice between taking the bike next to it, which has a cable lock) in about ten seconds, using portable tools versus coming back with noisy power tools, and spending about ten or fifteen noisy minutes trying to take YOUR bike. Crooks are dumb, but not so dumb they can't figure out which bike to steal.

mechBgon

As I pointed out, an aluminum rim can be broken in seconds with no tools at all. As you ought to know from your background, Alan, the material's not ductile enough to stand more than a couple of sharp sideways flexes before it fractures, and I'll have a nice photo to illustrate that tomorrow. Using the SB method to lock the bike to a parking meter or etc provides an excellent pair of objects to flex the rim against... the lock shackle, and whatever you locked to.

Once the rim is broken, the tire, tube, and rim strip are easily cut with a diagonal cutter in just a few seconds. If it's a Kevlar-beaded tire, even a scissors will do the job.

If you or anyone else want to use the SB method, certainly feel free. But I'd suggest you don't make a sacred cow out of it, or go around "guaranteeing" it, or denying that it does have a technical vulnerability. There are other locking techniques with other strengths and weaknesses, and I think the more responsible thing would be to have some objectivity about it. On my bicycle-locking page, I give Sheldon's method a fair and objective explaination, along with a link to it, and then explain why I prefer to do something different. I doubt Sheldon is offended if I prefer to think for myself and decide to choose a different method.

Before you give me the same old saw again about how thieves don't really use this method, let me remind you that you were the person saying they don't really use the Bic Pen Method on Kryptonite locks either. And yet you replaced five of them, IIRC.

Also, given the speed at which a cordless recip saw goes through stuff, they probably won't need more than a 10-second burst to get through a rim, tire & tube if they decide to use that approach. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's thought about cordless power tools in relation to bike theft.

2manybikes

I don't know if it would happen either, but it certainly is a good idea.

edzo

14vx2 battery powered angle grinder will remove any lock pretty
quickly. any lock. you can buy carborundum discs by the truckload,
and they will cut/grind away anything metal. diamond is used only
on concrete and masonry...they shatter when grinding metal

if the lock is in a position where is can't be cut, it can be ground away, and vice versa.

turning hardened metal to dust is childs play with an angle grinder



no locked bike is safe....ever. it only prevents opportunistic theft

it is false security if a real bike thief is in your 'hood