I'm looking at buying a heavy-duty Abus Cable for my Lemond. Most of the time it will be used to lock my bike up at home, but occasionally I will have to carry it, i.e. when I plan to go for a ride directly after work. I may also want to take it on a planned cycle trip to Europe where I will carry the cable on day trips,so I can lock the bike up while eating lunch, waiting for a ride, going to the can, etc.

So the trade off is length vs weight. Abus makes a variety of heavy-duty cable locks, i.e. their steel-o-flex line that vary from 80 cm (2'7") to 1.7 m (5'7") and weigh from 0.67 kg (1.5 lbs) to 2.85 kg (6.3lbs). Obviously you need to lock the bike to something, so it has to be long enough to do that and I'm happy to take the front wheel off to save some weight.

I'm favouring the 100 cm (40") Steel-o-Flex 1000 which weights 1.85 kg (4lbs) and was given a top rating in a recent review in Cycling Plus magazine.

See: https://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?Scree...=4003318100222

Any suggestions?

Don't use a cable lock. As one who has locked many bikes in the city and now daily at a college campus the only locks I hear about getting cut are cables. If you don't want to have to worry about your bike get a bombproof U-Lock with a flat key.

The Abus Steel-o-flex cable locks are usually used for locking up motercycles, and are rated much higher and take many times longer to cut than all but the very top of the line Kryptonite, Abus, On-Guard, etc. U-locks. It has more options for locking to a bigger variety of things, like telephone poles, lamp posts, etc. and is lighter than the big chains.

Zero inches is the best length for a cable lock.

Every electrician cuts cables far thicker than the Abus Steel-o-flex every day of the week.

I agree with alanb & TSL here, the cable locks are easy to cut. We thought we had bombproof ones at work for high end equipment we lock up. We lost the key and couldn't wait for our premises dept. to come up with the spare. We ended up cutting it with tin snips in one attempt.

chain locks, with welded hardened links with captive pins. about 1.2 m is good, giving you options to wrap rthe frame and two wheels around a decent immovable object. I like to lock up to large gas pipes or electric high voltage cables for extra security against having the chain support cut...

a 1.2 m chain weighs about 7 kg, same as the bike.

cable locks cut too fast, U locks just take a dip in a jar of liquid nitrogen and a hammer blow.

If I ever see a shady little guy in the city walking around with a jar of liquid nitrogen, I'm gonna kick his ass just based on principle alone.

Urban Legend.

Plus, if someone had enough resources to get a Jar of Liquid Nitrogen they probably wouldn't have a need to steal a bicycle.

it,s not too hard to find, cycle through the back lanes of many university chemistry depts and you'll find some in a large tank near the loading dock. fill up the thermos and off you go.

I have not seen it done with nitrogen but i have watched it done with a spray can of freon.

urban legend?

Plus a portable angle grinder is a bit more practical and easy to obtain.

obviously you're not too familiar with liquid nitrogen

WRONG, you need to do you home work before posting.

The Abus Steel-o-Flex 1000 Bicycle cable is the only cable lock that SoldSecure gives a GOLD rating to, right up there with the Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit. Although the Cycling Plus testing found that the Fahgettaboudit took a minute something longer to cut with a grinder. The cheap $30 Kryptonite or OnGuard u-locks took about 10 -20 seconds to cut, the Abus Steel-o-Flex about 3 1/2 minutes, the Kryptonite New York U-Lock and Fahgettaboudit chain just under 5 minutes.

The Abus Steel-o-Flex is not an ordinary cable, it has interlocking hardened steel tubes with a 5/8" cable inside. The tubes are very hard and start to turn/spin when it is attempted to cut them with a hack saw or grinder. The testing was unable to open the lock with leverage (hydraulic car jack) or cut them with a 4' bolt cutters.

The issue for me is I often carry a Kryptonite NY mini, but often it is hard to find a good place to lock the bike to, A cable like this one gives you a lot more options for locking the bike to a lamp pole, etc where it is out in the open. The big chains are just not an option at 6 to 8 lbs to carry around with you.

So back to my original question, what length should I buy? 80 cm, 100cm, 120 cm, 170 cm? I'm favoring the 100cm because it weights less than the longer ones and is still big enough to fit around lots of solid anchors.

I was surprised to find out that the Abus Steel O Flex cable has now earned top ratings from both Sold Secure and "Cycling Plus". That certainly sets it aside from other cable locks of equal weight and cost.

The "Cycling Plus" review was very positive, saying that opening the Abus SOF cable lock took them five minutes. A summary of the "Cycling Plus" review is posted on the website of an Abus dealer in the UK at: www.wiggle.co.uk ...then search for Abus Granit lock.

I've seen tests that indicate that opening BOTH shackles on the Fahgettaboudit or NY u-locks would take about ten or twelve minutes...and a crook must cut BOTH shackles when the lock is placed around the rear wheel and a beefy locking post. You can't cut just one shackle and "slip" the wheel through the narrow gap in the shackle. So, your choice is five minutes of protection with the SOF, versus ten or twelve minutes of protection with the Fahgettaboudit.

While "Googling" for more information on the Abus SOF, I found a post in a bike forum claiming that there is a "fast and easy" method to defeat the SOF, but the method was not stated (which was wise, if such a method actually does exist). Another post was from a guy who could not get the key mechanism on his SOF to work, and found Abus was unwilling to honor his warranty.

So, I'll happily stay with my Kryptonite and OnGuard u-locks.

Alanbikehouston, before I bought my lock I read a lot of the information you had posted on BF.net, and I thought it was all very helpful.

Could you post a link to the Cycling Plus review? I googled for it, but couldn't find it. I'm quite interested in reading it, because my first response is to be quite skeptical about the efficacy of the Steeloflex.

Finally, do you really believe that it would be wise to keep "a 'fast and easy'" method to defeat the lock under wraps? When do you think Kryptonite learned of bic-***-keys? And when did bicycle thieves? How would the owners of the lock feel if their bike's security depended on obscurity?

EDIT: I just saw that the forum software did some censoring: the three stars are the latin conjunction meaning "being also."

I don't have the Cycling plus article in from of me (I bought the magazine issue with the lock reviews in it last spring) and I haven't been able to find it on line. But I do remember that the Kryptonite NY U-Lock took the longest to cut, BUT you only have to cut one side and can swivel the hasp around to open it. One of the other European locks (Abus Granit U-Lock or maybe On-Guard) was cut a little bit quicker, but you have to cut both sides to get it open (or maybe you could jack it apart with one side cut).

The reality is that all of the top of the line locks can be beaten, certainly all of the bike locks anyway. But it will take a bit of time, noise and determination to do it. You are just as likely to lose your pedals, saddle or some other easily removed part. I have an Abus chain, but it's too heavy and awkward to carry.

If there is a cable that is just about as theft-proof as the best U-Locks, light enough that you will carry it, and you have more options for locking it to something bigger than a parking meter or fence pole, then I'm interested in it.

If you use a compact u-lock (and the Fahgettaboudit is compact, compared to some of the ultra-long u-locks) with the "Sheldon Brown" method, a crook must cut BOTH legs of the "u" to get the bike.

The "Sheldon Brown" method calls for filling the "U" with the rear wheel and tire, and a beefy locking post. Because the "U" is filled, the crook can't cut one leg of the "U", and then slip the wheel or locking post through the cut.

This is something you can test for yourself. Just buy a $30 mini u-lock, fill the "U" with the rear wheel and a two inch wide steel post, cut one leg, and try to get the bike.

However, if someone has their heart set on a cable lock, the Abus-Steel-O-Flex 1050 seems to be one worth considering...its design makes it very different than the wimpy cable locks that have long been the norm in the bike industry.


https://www.abus.de/us/main.asp?Scree...=4003318286285