skelly

I've done a search and seen a few threads about the OnGuard Bulldog Mini u-locks, but nothing about security issues. I was wondering if anyone knows of any history of this lock being exploited. my friend was able to open his lock, his roommates lock, and my lock (all the same model I believe). He showed me when we were about to lock up and I had forgot to bring the key to my u-lock.

I emailed OnGuard about it last week, asking if they could possibly replace it or if the issue was at all known or fixed. I haven't yet gotten a response. I'm not sure I put any details on the forum here, but I definitely woulnd't recommend this U-lock to anyone.

I'm posting here because after a search, most of the discussion of this brand of lock occured in the ss/fg forum.

baxtefer

what kind of key? flat or round?

skelly

flat key.

Jamtastic

i use two of these. what is the compromise. pm please if you dont want to post. I am worried now....

kennethalan

Me too. P.M. Please.

pyroonfia

ha, and i was just about to buy one

skelly

I bought it last year, not sure about new locks. I'd like to test some to see if it's a widespread problem or just a few.

Jamtastic

skelly i just checked since i have two of the same locks and i couldnt get it. Maybe i am just enept. I could never get the bic pen thing to work either. haha. My locks are 3 months old. I am going to ask the LBS tomorrow if they have any issues...

Mchaz

Could sombody PM me the info also? I will give it a try with my Bulldog Mini TC (version without the big piece of plastic).

Also, how old is your lock, and how often do you use it? If the opening method involves picking it, the problem may be that the disks inside are worn down from repeated use. The wear could make the tolerences in the lock mechanism loose enough that a tool could be used to get it open.

The LT

ya I have one of those I'd love to find out more PM please

gorn

I also have this lock and am wondering what this is. Could you PM me the exploit? Thanks

ThaRiddla

Can someone either PM me or post it since there are so many folks with these locks? Looks like I might be switching back to my Kryptonite if it's a widespread problem.

zip22

post the exploit, its the only way to get things to move quickly

skelly

It's not really a pick. Basically my friend's key was able to open 2 locks that weren't his.

He said he discovered it when he grabbed his roommate's u-lock by accident. When he got to school he tried his key because he didn't have time to go home, and it worked. Last week I noticed I didn't have my key when we were locking up and he said "let me try something" and opened it right up with his key. I'm not sure exactly how he did it.

It's either his key or the locks. Either he has some weird lucky key that happened to open our locks or it's some sloppy manufacturing. Either way I'm not happy with it.

skelly

If you can get ahold of 2 of the same model (or even different models) try out the keys in the wrong lock. He didn't insert it all the way, I heard about them jamming because of this but not opening. Like I said maybe he has a weird key, or maybe we have bad locks, but it seems weird that it worked twice in a row.

worker4youth

Woah, your roommate may have a master key

shawnrock@gmail

I have friends who have done this.

slopvehicle

this is not good news. and if it's a widespread issue, will OnGuard do the right thing and replace locks like Krypto did? Time will tell...

humancongereel

yeah, this is crazy. i have one, too, and i'll be pretty unhappy if this is true--that's waaaay too easy to get into.

paule

Super triple sh**. I just bought one as well. Please update with info folks.

LóFarkas

There's an age-old post somewhere on BF about this. The guy was about to buy an OnGuard, had a strange impulse and tried the key of one lock in the other lock that was hanging beside it. The key opened both locks, so he passed up... Seemed a weird story at the time, but it looks like it's not that unique with these things.

visitordesign

with the onguards, if you insert a key slowly into the wrong lock and you just gently twitch it as you insert it, sometimes you can get the plates in the tumbler to get past the shear point and open. i've done it with almost all of the plates in my kryptos as well, though i've never been able to get them all to release. the tips of all of my krypto keys seem pretty different from one another which i guess makes it difficult to get the bottom plates to spin.

my guess is that it's a matter of some keys being cut such that they just have a greater probability of being able to connect with the plates *during* insertion.

you could always buy jiggler keys for 1970s-1980's american cars that would more or less work the same way and get you in the door and into the ignition. usually though, jigglers came on a ring with other keys and you had to try a few before you found one that would work. i think locksmithing suppliers still sell them, but they're pretty useless nowadays. so maybe if you had like 5 onguard keys you could pretty much get any of their locks open or something like that.

but really, i have no idea...

Jamtastic

is there no perfect U-Lock.

rafi

paging Alanbikehouston. He always has the lowdown on lock related issues

srcurran

Is anyone who posted in here still going to use the lock? School (where it is most of the time) won't be an issue, but what if I were to go for a romp in Boston?

Should I shell out $50 on a Krypto EV mini asap, or wait until OnGuard does (or doesn't do) something about it?

(edit: damn, I thought they were only $30, but a quick google search shows that they're $50!)