i just recieved my new lock i ordered from chainreactions today ,sheldon brown (rip) recommended this lock ,new york lock kryptonite mini,it looks to be a super lock but boy does it weigh a ton .my question is would you guys bring a lock like this on tour, because it weight so heavy im thinking it's going to be more of a hinderence than any help.

If you are touring on your own, it may be a comfort knowing that you can lock the bike up securely whilst you go off and do something like the shopping.

If you are touring in company it may well be overkill as your mates can look out for your bike on a short stop.

What lock does your insurance specify you use to get cover?

It probably depends on how expensive your bike is and where you tour, but I have always been happy with a $10-15 cable lock. I don't bother to use it all that often other than in cities, which I mostly avoid on tour.

I use a combination cable lock on tour. No key to lose. Locks through the frame and both wheels. A cable lock also gives you more versatility. You can lock up to picnic tables or large trees (trees that can't be cut in 5minutes) etc.

If you decide you want take the mini u-lock, I would recommend also bringing along a cable wich can loop into the mini.

We started out with a heavy cable lock on a 12 day tour we did last month. We ended up sending it home with a bunch of other stuff that we didn't need or was too heavy. We picked up a lightweight combination cable lock instead just to deter the grab-and-go type of theft.

theres a knock off off the evolution mini, dont remember the name but its got a pitbull on the box. about 30 bucks , same size as the krypto. Its half the weight of the krypto and definately overkill for a tour ( I use it in Urban LA with no problems) cables are useless, period....

I was thinking about this the other day. There are two ways to steal a bike, "ride away" and "haul away". When you have your bike loaded up it's pretty darn heavy and if you have a trailer it's impossible for one person to lift without disconnecting so you eliminate a lot of "lone outlaws". If you take a cheap cable lock and tie the bike to something you will eliminate 99% of the opportunistic thieves taking the bike away in a pickup truck or something. Cutting a cable takes time. If you take a strong "Master lock" (the type used on gates and lockers) and just put it through the chain ring you'll eliminate all the "ride away" threats short of those with monster bolt cutters in which case NO lock will save ya.

So, on a long tour, I'd take a lightweight combination cable lock (so you don't lose the key) and a strong ordinary lock instead of a big heavy cable. You'll eliminate so many of the possible scenarios for theft that the remaining chances of theft are minuscule. Stopping theft from your packs is the biggest risk you'll have remaining.

thanks folk's i really dont know what i was thinking of when i bought this ,it really does defeat the purpose of packing light, my god it nearly weigh's as much of one of my loaded panniers emmm.but i diden't check the weight of it ,if i sent it back it would cost me a fortune on postage so im stuck with it ah well not to worry.oh i did buy a cable lock as well so im just going to use that .

Small U-locks are not very practical for locking a loaded touring bike to a solid object because often the panniers get in the way. You just can't get the bike close enough to use the U-lock. A good quality cable lock is the way to go.

Save it for use at home. Back in the Boston area I used to just leave my heavy lock set (new york chain, hardened lock)at work, as that was where I was most concerned with theft-having my bike left for 10+hours overnite.

When I new I'd be leaving my bike locked in high theft areas, I'd haul my lock set around. For everyday stuff with shorter lockups I used a U lock.

yes i keep my bikes at home in the house all the time maby ill just lock them up when im not useing them,but woulden't you think that bike lock's could be made so much lighter and stronger these days ,there has to be a market out there for such a lock.

Very good point.

On my upcoming tour, my buddy and I will both be carrying cable locks. The plan is to lock both bikes together with both cables then lock to something solid.

I was also considering taking a ulock along, just to lock both bikes together. The only city I am really worried is San Fransisco and I will only be there for 1.5 days. On the whole tour, I don't foresee leaving the bikes out of sight except when I might explore Hearst Castle. Is the ulock overkill?

Normally when I am around town, all a thief will get is my bike, which could be a pretty cheap one. On tour there is thousands of dollars at stake, the future of the trip, and possibly a long way to the next bail out point. I take a reasonable quality U lock, but mainly I try not to leave my bike, ever. I don't sight see on tour, I am riding. Though obviously that is determined by the trip.

Cable locks do not deter much of anything. Cable is a pretty easy material to cut, I have rigging cutters for my yacht, and they virtually fit in the hand, and will shear 3/16" cable like a twist tie. BIgger cutters are required for bigger cables, but it is the same easy cutting action. There are areas where the idea of organized bike thieves is pretty far fetched, but unless you are that lucky the cable locks are mostly to stop the bike from falling over.

I think the idea that panniers mean you can't shackle a bike is silly. You probably can't get into into a bike stand, but you can lock the main tubes to anything solid you can lean a bike against and slip the shackle over.

I think the other deterant is that a lot of our coolest touring bikes are uncool versions of something our grandparents might have riden, and it takes an educated eye to see the value.

i bring a mini u lock on tours and use it even for a ten minute shopping excursion in any store I can't see the bike in any sized town. I mount them to the seat tube angled towards the rear brake and they are out of the way. adding a little weight to a loaded touring bike is little penalty and peace of mind well worth the burden in my opinion.

the scourge of methcathinone has hit every county in this country. sad but true.

here's where i mount them, taken to carrying a slightly longer one because it is sometimes difficult to find a suitable locking place with the minis on a loaded touring bike. i carry a cable too.

I've got a thick and heavy cable lock which I carry on tour. It's tough and difficult to cut. I'm usually in rural areas and small towns, but the lock gives me peace of mind when I lock up the bike for the night. If I'm just doing a one- or two-night trip to a quiet rural lake, I might forego the lock, but even so, I'd have the bike positioned carefully to make it more difficult to take.

Couldn't you just take a pedal wrench and take off one of your pedals so it can't be ridden away? Just a thought.

The pedal wrench trick may work as a supplementary security system, but I'd still go with locking as primary security. Removing a pedal will keep someone from riding away with my bike, but it won't keep someone from loading it in a truck and driving away.

Mini locks are pretty useless outside of areas with dedicated bike racks. As you said you bought it at Chain Reaction I'm going to assume that you are in the UK or Europe, where a mini is even more useless than in the States as it won't fit around commonly found traffic light posts. If you take a look at the specs of locks made by European companies you'll find that they generally are a bit wider than those made by American companies.

Agreed with light cable to deter grab & go. I brought a heavier "ABUS Centuro 860 85cm Cable Lock" on my last tour (seen in this picture on rack if zoomed in to max: https://flickr.com/photos/alrocket/2804145738/ )

Looks like some airline folks made you deflate your tires. Ooh I hate that, but also allways comply.

-On topic, I had heard (or read) that the ABUS cables are more along the lines of chains as far as theft deterent goes.

Hey, that's pretty clever! I'll probably forget it but still neat.

Yeah they made me do it. I half-deflated them on the outward journey, but when I got the bike back they had completely deflated them. I'd rather do it myself than have someone else messing with it.

seeing as how my nov. safari was jacked last friday .... id say hell yes.

ah that's tough collings it's hard to know how to protect your property these days thieves on every corner,did you have any insurance on it most likely not anyway sorry to hear about your bike been stolen lets hope next time these thievs strike , there caught in the act by some headbanger and he beats the crap out of them .

Much depends on where you are going. I carried a heavy U-lock while traveling around Switzerland, and it was overkill. In the towns I visited, bike shops left expensive bicycles outside, unlocked, when the shop closed for lunch! Last week I toured Prince Edward County (in Ontario), a bucolic area about halfway between Toronto and Montréal, and never bothered locking my bike. But if I were traveling to a large city, I would consider carrying a hefty U-lock and a cable to deter thieves.