karmical

damn...

i have 3 minis and none of the other keys opened other locks...

all minis have been bought over the last year and a half...

plus there is a 4th one that i found after a party and none of the keys opened that one as well...

skelly

I still use mine, the problem doesn't seem to be universal, OnGuard never replied to my email, and I'm way beyond broke. There's enough foolish bike owners in this city that I can count on there always being a bike near mine who's owner has only locked the front wheel to the rack - enough easier bate that my double-locked bike should be ok.

humancongereel

+1 on skelly...anyway, i may try contacting them to see.

skelly

they still never got back to me.

dosoner

yay! my pista concept just got stolen last week when i was using one of these.

humancongereel

damn. i really want to register now for the warranty, but it says it's good if the lock is "opened by force". turning a key isn't really "by force". i gotta write them, call them. jesus, i figured a lock with all these assurances and warranties and sold in reputable bike shops and blah blah blah...i would figure they'd at least have thought of a security measure like that.

but i'll have to contact them later, not when i'm freshly pissed off.

spunkyruss

The freakin' warranty requires you to produce the breached lock, too.

I know that Topeak's customer service has a good track record. I hope to hell that they make good on this. I specifically chose OnGuard to avoid dicking around with this type of ****. I have two of thier locks, so I'm already a hundred bucks into this.

visitordesign

turning it with the wrong key is a valid defeat of the lock. send them the lock and the wrong key.

srcurran

I'll be sure to ask for my lock and the key they used after my bike gets stolen. That's the least the damn crook could do for me.

Rikardi151

To cash in a lock's insurance I assume you need to produce a receipt for the bike to prove its value? Would the ebay listing of my bike work in such a case?

humancongereel

maybe. i traded another bike for my main ride now, and a cop stopped the guy i traded bikes with for riding unlit. he also asked him to produce a receipt for the bike at the courthouse sometime. so i had to go make up a receipt for him...point being, it seems admissible for you to just get something in writing between you and the other party.

not sure what onguard would say.

treechunk

Well, yet another reason I'm glad we don't carry on-guard. Seems like 40% of the on-guards we sold during the krypto-fiasco (hey, that rhymes) have come back broken or needed to be cut.


Ugh.

sers

considering the mini bulldog's dual deadbolt design gives the same leverage attack protection as a krypto ny3k, and significantly more protection than the 7 odd minutes it takes to manually break open an evolution i'd say onguard has an edge over krypto in the mini - u-lock department.

even if there's a certain skill in picking an on guard u-lock with another lock's key, i doubt onguard would do anything but quietly make a revision (if they haven't already) and have that be that. i have the newest revision, and it's been great.

dosoner: did you find the lock afterwards? a pista concept is a nice ride. there are few locks that can defeat an experienced and determined bike theif.

treechunk

any lock is a good lock that will open and close reliably AND keep your bike safe. In my experience, the OnGuard locks don't reliably open and close.


The shop I work at goes out and cuts locks for people if their lock freezes or their key breaks off, or whatever, and I've cut MANY more OnGuard locks than kryptonite.

Powertools win. I don't care what kind of lock you have, someone with a proper power tool is going to get your bike. I'd rather use my evo and have it open and close and be aware of the danger of powertools than have my lock freeze shut with my bike stuck inside it.

RedDeMartini

Monday a story will run in slate on this and related issues.

RedDeMartini

The new orange kryptonites are ****tier than the old ones.
The lock is now longer so convenient but the tang of the key is only a few millimeters of metal inside a wildly fragile plastic tab. So peoples keys keep breaking off when they are locking or unlocking.

@#%#@%#$%$Krypotonite!!!

The are a subsidiary of Ingersol-Rand the massive multinational, so they will never die, never evolve, never feel the pressure of the market, or the shame of customer resentment.

Why isn't there a good lock company?

The first MF who figures out how to make locks out of cheap russian Titanium will be a rich SOB.

eddiebrannan

just tried the key from my old pitbull. doesn't open my new one

RedDeMartini

Rikardi 151.

Contact a good bike shop, most will certify as to the value of your bike.

12XU

My Evo Mini has never failed me. I don't know what gorillas are breaking keys off in locks, but it's never difficult to insert and turn a key in its matching lock, thus avoiding breakage.

humancongereel

hmmm...if it's a new vs. old thing, i'm all right. they may have quietly made the change. skelly, how old was the lock you messed with?

also, a DIY lock company would rule. for the kids, by the kids.

LóFarkas

In all probability, that's user error. Alanbikehouston descirbed somewhere how you need to pay some attention with the OnGuards, 'cos it's easy to jam the mechanism and break the key if you are a jackass, which most people are.

skelly

all locks were bought sometime last year. 2005-ish.

slopvehicle

Agreed. After using a cheap Krypto that was outside 24/7 (in the Wisconsin slush and salt) for almost six years, both OnGuard *and* the new Krypto mechanisms felt cheap and fragile. I was used to jamming my seemingly indestructible round key into the old-style Krypto mechanism and wrestling with the ice or corrosion. The first few times I tried new flat-key locks, I was worried I'd get the key between tumblers and break it.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.

treechunk

the flat key, by very nature of it's shape, is tons weaker than the old round key. A square key, or triangular key would be far better.

treechunk

the user error is just as present with the kryptonite locks, and we still end up cutting way more OnGuards.



I'm really not happy with the Kryptonite locks either, but in my experience, they're still head and shoulders above the onguard.