cantdrv55

My son's bike just got stolen. It's his first road bike which we bought off Craigslist not too long ago. It was stolen on campus at UC Santa Cruz. It was parked right outside his dorm bldg and was taken in broad daylight. No sign of the cable chain or lock left behind. It was a clean theft.

Can you recommend a really good lock and chain?

johnny99

This one looks pretty secure:
http://commutebybike.com/2008/11/06/...om-kryptonite/

ace25

There's no such thing as an unbreakable lock, but I think the general consensus is U-locks are the best for securing bikes and are the hardest to break. I use this one, but there are lots that are good. Pretty much any cable lock can be cut with bolt cutters extremely quickly, so they arent really generally recommended for use. The exception of course is a super heavy duty chain like the one the last poster linked, but of course they weigh a ton and so aren't very convenient to carry around.

BlastRadius

The Bulldog Mini LS (long shackle) U-Locks are good too and are a bit cheaper.
http://www.amazon.com/OnGuard-Bulldo...7758668&sr=8-1
Check Sheldon Brown's website for proper U-Lock usage.

spingineer

Maybe have a chain and lock system, where it gives you a 5 second opportunity to unlock. If you take longer than that, it gives you a 100 Watt shock. Now that's a deterrent system!

x136 

The Kryptonite New York locks are highly regarded. I have an OnGuard u-lock (plus a long OnGuard cable to secure some other components), and it seems pretty sturdy.

On top of having a good lock, be sure to teach him proper locking procedure. I saw a bike the other day that was locked to a wheelbender rack with a padlock around a spoke of the front (quickrelease!) wheel. I always lock around the seat tube and rear rim, or the front rim and downtube. The cable secures the other wheel and the saddle, if possible. Sheldon Brown, of course, has an article about locking.

redspoke

Reminds me of this guy at work who locks his sweet ss black cruiser to a 6 foot tall signpost right out in the open every day AND IT'S STILL THERE!?!? And he uses the most flim-flam cable lock on top of that going just through the frame. I walk by it every day and think "I could be riding this bike in 5 seconds IF I WERE A RATBASTER THIEF! If it were me, I'd go into the building for 3 minutes and POOOF! Gone.
He also leaves his planet bike headlight and blinky on the bike for anyone to just walk by and swipe... It's been weeks AND NOTHING!!! Drives me up the wall. I don't want to talk to him about it because the day it does (not might) get stolen he's going to give me this

msincredible

One time in college, my roommate borrowed my bike.

I went down to the bike rack and saw it sitting there, with the U-lock attached to the frame and nothing else.

Needless to say, that was the last time she borrowed my bike too.