RaleighSport

Do you like it, which model do you have and how long? I'm considering buying one, even have a particular highly rated model in mind, but I want input. They seem great, but do you also carry a cable lock to get over the limitations?

SkyDog75

I have a Master Street Cuff, the short 12" version. I'm reasonably happy with it. It's a little heavier and bulkier than I expected, and it's just the tiniest bit annoying that I have to lock/unlock each half of the cuffs separately, but it seems solidly built and I haven't had a problem using it to lock up a bike. I haven't carried a second cable lock, but I do have a length of steel cable I can use with the cuff to secure wheels and saddle, or if I need extra reach. The cable has looped ends, which I can slide onto the jaw of the cuff before closing it.

I was looking for something fairly secure, but more portable than a u-lock or heavy chain. The two options that I looked into were the Master Street Cuff and the Abus Bordo. I went with the Master because of the price difference.

RaleighSport

The 12" Master is what I was actually looking into, you don't find the reach is too limited?

pocky

Was looking at the Master online and couldn't find much info on them other than this thread and the ones from the Great BiC Scandal of '04, primarily at https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/67066-Master-Lock-Run-Around, which claimed to have evidence of them being Bic-able, but I still can't find any anywhere. I'm wondering now whether it was all hearsay.

Looking at the photo at https://www.masterlockbike.com/produc..._details/8200D, the key diameter looks as though it's probably quite a bit smaller than a pen, so are they perhaps using a narrower keyway? People seem to frequently forget that not all tubular locks are Bic-able, and it's primarily a function of the diameter of the keyway...

Watching the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBnBOoOdA54 , the design looks an awful lot different than normal tubular locks, and the dead pins seem like they'd make these things impossible to pick with a pen. This guy seems to confirm it in the Amazon review at https://www.amazon.com/review/RUS4KZ2...#RUS4KZ2248AN8

Anyone know anything about the physical security of that link in between the cuffs? Looks reasonably beefy, but a lot less so than high-grade chain. Anyone tried to saw through it with something less foolproof than an angle grinder?

xenologer

-pocky

Never seen this lock in person
but if it was me... I think rather than try to cut the middle link; I'd see about popping the rivets out of it. wedge something between the two plates, grab one side with vicegrips, twist till a plate deforms and rivet breaks out?

Other avenue of attack.... I notice what then the cuff is closed, the tip of the ?shackle? protrudes out the other side; suppose you used a vice or other clamping device to push that back through the lock?

Doug5150

The Master Lock Street Cuffs lock does use a regular barrel-lock key, but the lock itself is different and not susceptible to the Bic pen trick.

Some people claimed that it was, even insisted that it must be since the key is the same--but of the few people who claimed this, nobody ever posted a video of it. (remember how many different bic-pen Kryptonite videos there were?) Some customers complained about it--some people probably even threw theirs out--but Master never offered refunds because they knew the Bic pen trick wouldn't work as well.


I have the 12-link bicycle version.
One complaint I've heard is that the locks themselves don't last a real long time, if used a lot. I only use mine for a light-security lock (locking up my bike inside the building where I work) or as a front-wheel lock (while using a new york lock+chain). Its worked okay so far.

Doug5150

I'm not sure that a empty bench-test with actual lock-picking tools is really what people were worried about here. That may not have been what the manufacturer meant when they said "virtually pick-proof", considering that you could pick the Kryptonite locks in ten seconds.

He made it pretty easy on himself, by positioning the lock in a vise and still taking a couple minutes. How about the guy lock up a bike to a bike rack, and see how long it takes him that way? Hold the lock still with one hand, apply tension with the second hand, and push the pins with your third hand....

pocky

Yeah, that thread was really frustrating me -- people were being so furious at Master Lock without having any evidence at all that it was actually Bic-able.

The inside of the links is really small -- I can't imagine how you'd get something in there to pry the plates apart without breaking the thing you stuck in there.

You'd have to have a way of getting purchase on the other side of the cuff, and the thing doesn't really look like it has any straight edges for a clamp to push against.

dynodonn 

I have the MasterLock motorcycle cuff version, but if I'm going to carry something that heavy, I've since decided to opt for a more versatile ginormous cable lock of the same weight.