Houston has a cycling community? I thought you guys all just rode horses :)

Kidding of course.. I'm from N. Houston, I'm living in boston now though...

I just picked up a Kryptonite NY Noose - it's pretty awesome. Noose goes around rear wheel/frame, chain fits around a standard pole or Toronto bike lock-up and the disc lock goes around the front wheel. The whole bike is totally secure. Weight is 4.8 pounds. This is my "leaving it unattended" setup - for in-and-out lock-ups I just use a Kryptonite Mini Evolution through the frame and front wheel.

Wait, what? You noose at the rear, go around a pole, and then lock to the front wheel? What's keeping someone from detaching your front wheel and walking off with the whole rig? I can see it working for one of those keyhole lockup things where the front wheel couldn't go through the hole in the thing (cue above debate), or if you locked to the frame up front or went through the wheel and then locked to the frame, but I don't get how what you described is supposed to work for a pole or a bigger rack.

Beh, this difference between just locking in the triangle is just purely academic. If you can lock the frame as well, problem ****ing solved. Seriously.

There is no disadvantage to doing this if you can do the other, whereas the other chance there is a risk.

But if you have a mini u, chances are you *can't* go around both.
If it was that simple, no one would be debating it.

So what locks your front wheel

A cable.

Either one with loop ends that the u lock secures, or one with its own lock to double-lock the whole bike.

This always seemed really simple to me. I have a very strong chain (about 5500 lbs working load limit), that generally speaking is not easily cut with a hacksaw, and can't be cut with bolt cutters (tried it at the hardware store with the biggest one they had). I use one of those round locks. When both links of the chain are in there, the shackle is obscured (basically all padlock attacks focus on the shackle).

I put the chain through the rear triangle and through the spokes (securing both). I then take off my QR front and put it through the chain. Seems fairly secure to me.

PS: Does Sheldon have dedicated machines that scour the internet for his name? It seems like almost every time someone questions one of his methods, he replies within a day.

Hahaha, ya. NOT THAT WAY. In my mind I had just planned on using it w/ the noose around the wheel/frame/pole. You could do it safely the way you mentioned if you cross the chain over the downtube, but then you're taking up as much chain as the other way and you could probably fit the front wheel through the main triangle on larger frames.

You'd think so. Maybe I've been lucky so far, because I've crashed in all sorts of ways for all sorts of reasons...including a pretty nasty car smack (and several smaller ones, and trolley tracks, and booziness, and trying new stuff, and and and and....) and have yet to have any problems because of the chain. In fact, while splitting lanes during CM one month it actually kind of saved me. A cab and bus tried to squeeze me and in the process of standing up to hammer it took the mirror off of the cab. I hate to think of that mirror catching me instead of the chain and throwing me under one or both of the vehicles. Seems to me that slung over the shoulder is riskier. Hip bones are much stronger than collarbones.

A u-lock that is wide enough to go around both the rear wheel and the seat tube is also wide enough to permit the crook to use a $10 tool that will quickly break any u-lock below the "Gold" rated level. Crooks have learned that if a Wal-Mart quality u-lock is around the seat tube, they can use the bike as a lever to "pop" the lock. That technique works well with a Wal-Mart quality bike, with its ultra-thick seat tube.

When a crook uses the "lift and twist" method with a bike with a high quality frame with thin walls on the seat tube, the seat tube gets twisted and bent. End of frame.

So, if you want to help a crook steal or destroy your bike, use an extra-wide u-lock and put it around your seat tube. If you want to keep your bike, and prevent a crook from damaging your frame, buy a compact u-lock, such as the OnGuard TC Mini or the Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit u-lock and put it around the rear wheel ONLY and never around any portion of the frame.

The number of documented, proven cases of a bike stolen where the owner combined a "gold" rated u-lock with the "Sheldon Brown" locking method remains at zero. Not ONE of the people who have questioned the Sheldon Brown method on these Forums has produced any credible proof that the SB method, correctly used, has ever failed in the "real world", as opposed to their vivid imaginations.

That is simply incorrect without fenders I can fit an ongaurd mini around the rim and seatube and a thick bike rack. Seatstay and wheel requires even less lock.

As I pointed out the sheldon brown method is used so rarely that there is not a big enough sample set amongst forum users for your assertions to be meaningful.

How does everyone feel about the Masterlock cuffs?

Duret, you and I must have different definitions of what a "mini" u-lock is. I have several mini u-locks, and none of mine is large enough to go around my rear tire and wheel, plus my seat tube, plus a beefy concrete post set in concrete.

Perhaps your bike has very thin tires, very thin rims, and your tire is rubbing up against a very thin seat tube. But, more likely, you are not locking up to large, beefy steel poles...poles that as thick as the end of a baseball bat, not skinny poles the diameter of a broom handle.

After you have seen the remains of a bike where the crook used the "lift and twist" method and attempted to use the frame of the bike to break the u-lock, you will never put a u-lock around any part of your frame again. But, live and learn.

Stay away (edit: from the cuffs). I hear they are relatively easy to break at the joint. (If they use a tubular bicable key, even more so.)

BTW, I so want to get a pair of actual police handcuffs for my front wheel. Anyone know if there's a realistic chance of that ever happening?

I would just like to add that my Mini U Fahgettaboudit is
big enough to fit around my seat tube, rear wheel and
a parking meter. There is practically no give at all once
the lock is in place, so a thief wouldn't be able to "twist"
it, nor is there room for any prying tools.

Master locks are junk. It is consumer fraud for Master lock to call their products "locks". Their cuffs last just slightly longer than a shoelace, against a thief who understands its flaws.

If you live in a major USA city or park on a college campus, and leave your bike out of your sight for more than ten minutes at a time, you need a SERIOUS lock. A serious lock is one that has earned a "gold" rating from Soldsecure, based on testing by their locksmiths.

www.soldsecure.com/Leisure.htm

No baseball bat size racks. the round end goes against the rack and the seatube is put next to the rck and the lock fits. There is no way a jack could fit in.

Why, do you think a thief wouldn't try the lift and twist method against the rim? My guess is serious frame damage would result.

You still haven't answered any of the questions I asked before. Start with explaining why a lock that costs three time as much is better then a cheaper one if neither lock is the weak link in your locking scheme?

I know I suggested this earlier, but it was on a friends reco.

How about the length of a ulock mini but in the best chain you can get with a Krypto disc rotor lock?

I swore I was never able to fit the seattube and wheel in my mini bulldog, but I just tried it at the library and it worked fine. On a beefy rack, no less.

Maybe I just haven't tried since I broke all the useless plastic off of it.

I don't see any OnGuard brand products on that list (at any rating)... and I know they make some decent locks

The OnGuard products are called "Magnum" or "Magnum Onguard"

Ooooooh..... alright thanks

A coming of age tale. Cast:
Jamtastic
Onguard Bulldog Mini
Beefy Bike reack

ACT 1. The Hero
http://photos-779.ak.facebook.com/ip...54779_1577.jpg

ACT 2. Getting ready
http://photos-780.ak.facebook.com/ip...54780_1957.jpg

ACT 3. On The Move.
http://photos-781.ak.facebook.com/ip...54781_2348.jpg

ACT 4. The Villian.
http://photos-782.ak.facebook.com/ip...54782_2712.jpg

ACT 5. The Battle.
http://photos-783.ak.facebook.com/ip...54783_3081.jpg

FINALE... The Victor.
http://photos-785.ak.facebook.com/ip...54785_3846.jpg
http://photos-784.ak.facebook.com/ip...54784_3469.jpg

All done with a Onguard Pitbull MINI

*For those wondering about why my bike is reflectory... That is me trying to self-prepare my bike for powder-coating. Im gonna let them sandblast it*

^^^Well played for the win!^^^

By the way, I ended up getting a Kryptochain with disk lock. Not as secure as the NY chain, but total of about 3lbs. And lockable to a bunch more stuff than racks and meters.

You win simply for having "jamtastic" on your belt. Your gloves rule too.:beer:

2nded

This was my proof to show its me. !!!

Thanks to this thread, I now know I can fit my Krypto mini U-lock in my back pocket, and now I can cruise to the coffee shop without having to shoulder a bag. Rock!

i'm glad i read this.
i assumed big bolt cutters were a common tool.
i didn't really know they would employ use of a bottle jack...i guess between the arms to spread them enough to pop the lid on your U...now i'm glad i got a mini U as i can't picture them getting a jack in there very easily...them damned blue collar tweekers.