zeppinger

I am touring across Asia next year and am looking for a touring lock. I use an Abus Steel-O-Chain for my daily riding needs. Its not all that heavy. I think right around 1.5 pounds. Not bad considering the security it brings with it. On the other hand, thats about half of what some of my ticket items like sleeping bag or pad weigh!

What lock do you use on tour, if any, and where do you tour? What kind of touring do you do? Its far more useful to know where you camp and the type of touring you do along with the kind of lock you use. I will be stealth camping the majority of the time so I would think that, if I have any stealth skill, I might not need such a big chain. On the other hand it could come in handy while in the larger cities or public campgrounds with lots of people.

A thing cable lock at my LBS weighed in at about 1.2 pounds. Cables can be but quickly and quietly while I sleep so for the extra 0.3 or so pounds its worth it? What do you think?

staehpj1

Which length and model Abus Steel-O-Chain do you have? I thought they all weighed a lot more than 1.5 pounds. Looking at their web page it looks like the lightest one weighs over 3.5 pounds and the biggest/heaviest over 8 pounds. Is there another model that is lighter that I am missing?

I use a cable lock that weighs a bit under a pound. When there are two of us we share one lock. I tend to tour in the US, mostly in small towns or rural areas where theft is not a huge concern.. In tiny towns that are many miles from the next town I usually don't even bother to lock. In larger more "bike friendly" cities I am super careful where I leave my bike, locked or not.

Carrying a heavier lock is something I have not even considered and probably will not unless my preference for small town touring changes. Sometimes I even consider leaving the little cable lock home, but I have not actually done so.

zeppinger

This is the lock that I have: https://www.cheapism.com/bike-lock/39...5_bicycle_lock

The review here says it weight "just under tow pounds." I weighed it at the bike shop and it came in at 750 grams, which equals 1.65 pounds. I agree that its probably overkill for most kind of touring. Especially wild camping touring and small towns. I feel like I am likely to encounter a wide range of terrain and populations when going across a continent so I am just not sure yet.

Can you attach a picture of your lock? Is it a no name brand or does it have a website?

ScruffyChimp

I carry a heavy D lock and a thick cable lock. I know that's probably an irrational amount of space and weight, but I've put so much time and effort into building this bike that I ~really~ don't want to lose it. I tour solo, so I don't have someone to watch the bike when I go into a shop/museum/etc.

jabantik00

i carry a big, heavy onguard bulldog u-lock and cable. yes, it's heavy, but it's what i have. do i notice or care if my bike weighs 52 lbs instead of 50? probably not

Pedaleur

I had a kinda' thin cable lock, but when I looked around and saw all the massive locks on crappy bikes on my last tour (Switzerland), I bought a big U-lock, as well. I didn't always use it, but in some big cities I used both.

staehpj1

OH, I missed that one because on the Abus page they didn't call it a Steel-O-Chain. The only 685 was listed as the "Catena 685 Shadow." FWIW they list it at 850 grams.

I don't see a link to the exact one I have. I bought it at Performance for about $15 and I think it was 10mm cable with a 4 digit code. This is not the same exact one, but it looks a lot like this:

https://www.rei.com/product/810087

fietsbob

I used an Segmented steel Sleeve Armored cable lock made for Specialized, It coils up small ..
and I made a top tube fitting mount for the down tube bracket, as I have Water bottles on the other 2 tubes.
Plus I carry a second long thin cable to lock the bike to stuff in camp, trees, picnic benches etc.

Newer Bike I have an AXA Defender ring lock fixed to the frame, its on the front side of the seatstays.
they make a chain that plugs into the ring lock, and with the 1.4M length version of that I can lock up my front wheel,
and run the chain around some stuff, still bring another cable a bit thicker, also, to lock up to stuff I cannot get that,
lock-up chain thru or around, that's in town, as a commuter, on tour I'd still bring the 10' long thin cable too..

Advantage to the Frame mounted Ring lock it is always there, so, just by closing that and removing the key,
you can keep the bike from being rolled/ridden off.

no temptation to say "it'll be OK I'm just going in for a second", because you packed the lock too far in the bags
to be instantly convenient.
Abus makes a ring lock and lockup chain thing too, now, if Dutch AXA is not distributed to Korea, can alway be posted from EU dealer..


another Abus product, one of their link locks ,
is what I got for my Bike Friday, it folds up to go in a holster,
that straps onto the frame, in mycase hangs below the down tube.


I with it, lock my frame to the fixed object,
and loop a cable thru both wheels.

ploeg

Master Lock currently sells a card of three 6' cable locks that are keyed alike. I didn't bother to weigh each lock but they don't weigh much. These locks are plenty long and sturdy to prevent your bike and gear from wandering away if you don't have your bike within eyesight at all times. I had two of them with me on my last trip; one to take care of rear wheel and panniers, the other to take care of front wheel and panniers. Two thin cables are better than one thick cable, because they make it a lot easier to lock up everything on your bike. I store the cables locked around the nylon webbing handles of my panniers so that the cables are easy to access.

You do need to realize that you still need to be within eyesight of your stuff if at all possible and to keep all your must-have stuff on your person. Locks just make it slightly harder for thieves to take all of your stuff by wheeling away your bike.

zeppinger

I guess that I am mainly concerned with the bike getting up and walking away while I am asleep. On my first tour I actually had nightmares at night that people were taking my bike and I was in my tent snoozing. I just read some interesting stuff about tying on or more of your tent tie downs to the bike at night and possibly adding a few bells. If I stop at tourist destinations where I might want to go walk around for an hour or so and then get back on and ride for the rest of the day then a strong lock doesn't mean jack with the panniers still there for the taking. In those situations I usually leave the bike with a employee in the security office or where someone can watch it.

I also have one of these laying around that I used to use in combination with a U Lock. https://www.rei.com/product/800078
It looks to be pretty strong but it costs $9. Is that really going to be safe? And it weighs 311 grams WITHOUT a pad lock. If I add in a crappy or decent pad lock then it might be a total of about 500 grams? Does this sound like a good option? I am not really sure what a good padlocks weighs.

mr geeker

i use a 3 foot length of chain from a hardware store, with a section of innertube over it for scratch protection. ive never needed more than that to lock my bike to anything. i guess i could have said home-made chain.

sstorkel

On my last tour, I took an OnGuard Bulldog Mini TC U-lock as well as OnGuard Akita 5043 (7' x 10mm) and 5045 (1.72' x 5mm) cables. Mostly, I just used the U-lock, when I used a lock at all. Did need to lock the bike up for an entire day at a popular tourist destination, though. Used the U-lock around the rear wheel (inside the rear triangle), large cable around the front wheel, and the small cable around the rails of my expensive saddle. Gear was left at the hotel where I was staying.

If I weren't going to leave the bike unattended for a significant period of time or in a high-crime area, I'd probably just take a 10mm combination cable lock, like the one staehpj1 linked.

4000Miles

FWIW, I had a nearly identical lock cut straight through and the bike it was locked with stolen. I don't trust cable locks anymore - if I can't lock it with a U lock or chain lock, it doesn't leave my sight.

staehpj1

Most of the places where I find myself on tour I am not especially worried about theft and many places I don't lock at all. My choice is between a light cable lock and no lock. A heavy chain or u lock aren't even an option I'd consider unless I changed my touring locale or habits. In the relatively rare times my tour takes me to places where I don't think the cable lock is sufficient, I just don't leave my bike unattended. I figure the risk of losing my bike to theft is real, but not all that great.

The times that I stay in larger towns with higher risks are likely to be the times I stay with a host or get a room.

It probably helps that I ride inexpensive bikes. I would be sad to lose the bike that carried me on all of my tours but the financial loss wouldn't be a huge hardship. $599 and I would have another one. Most of my gear is similarly inexpensive.

fietsbob

My desire to visit high theft areas is less than zero.

in some cities that you may want to cycle around but are worried about theft,
in lock the bike up at the B&B or wherever you are staying, and take the bus, instead.

spike57

I combine https://www.rei.com/product/751709 and https://www.rei.com/product/809719. Just shy of two pounds, but they let me lock everything to just about anything. I carry it for day rides in the city and when I tour in the mountains. But I tend to be very careful about where I leave my bike.

ploeg

The assumption behind using cable locks is that you are always going to be in close proximity to the bike while on tour and you simply need some way to keep a thief from carting off your bike while your back is turned. Cable locks are lightweight and convenient, you can thread them through pannier handles, and at the very least they force the thief to cut something before they can make off with a wheel or a whole bag. With a u-lock or a chain, your bike frame might be lock safe, but your panniers and your front wheel will still be vulnerable unless you bring cables to secure those items.

staehpj1

True, but does anyone actually lock panniers? People talk about it here, but I have met quite a few tourists on the road and never noticed anyone doing that.

mev

I've used just a light cable lock. While I did lose (an unlocked) bike in home town of Fort Collins, on tour I lost more small things, e.g. a bike bell in India, a bike light in Canada and riding partner lost a bike pump in Russia. So, I'm at least as concerned about smaller things being pilfered.

https://www.2wheels.org.uk/return/robbery.asp

zeppinger

Hey Mev can you post a picture of what you consider a "light cable lock?" Thanks!

ploeg

On the one hand, that was my clumsy way of making the point that, even if you lock up your bike frame with a nuke-proof lock, you still have a lot of stuff on the bike that can be pilfered. Even though losing these other things won't end your trip like losing your bike would, you don't necessarily want to spend time buying replacements when you're on vacation, so you need to keep an eye on your stuff. But then again, if you keep an eye on your stuff, you don't really need a nuke-proof lock with you.

On the other hand, if you have suitable cable locks, it's actually pretty easy to cable your panniers so that people can't just walk away with them. Prior to my latest trip, I didn't carry locks at all; I just kept a close eye on my stuff. This past trip, I decided to give these locks a try.

https://www.masterlock.com/product_de...eLocks/8127TRI

You get three 6' cable locks, keyed alike (the same key works for all three), and they weigh slightly more than 9 ounces each. I carried two with me on the trip. I locked the cables around a pannier handle for storage. When I wanted to lock up, I unlocked the lock, poked the lock through the rear triangle, around the fixed object, through the handle on the other pannier, and locked the lock. Do more or less the same for the front, and you're done. It won't hold up to bolt cutters, but it doesn't need to. The main thing is to deter the casual stuff.

BigBlueToe

I have a 6' keyed cable lock from Home Depot. I tour in the U. S. I lock my bike up whenever I go into a restaurant or store where I'll be out of sight for awhile. At night I lock it to a tree or the picnic table, as close to my tent as possible, in hopes that I'd hear if someone was tampering with it. (Then what would I do?) I think a serious thief could still get my bike, but I want to discourage them as much as possible. I also want to discourage someone from walking by, seeing a nice, unlocked bike with interesting bags on it, and riding away - unplanned but just as despicable.

Carbonfiberboy 

All cable locks cut the same, so if you aren't getting a NYC U-lock, get the lightest one with the reach to do what you want. If you don't have fenders, you can take the front wheel off and lock it with the rear or take it with you, even into your tent. A cable cutter is a pretty good-sized gadget that the average person is unlikely to carry. I'm not fond of keyed locks, being afraid of losing or having the key(s) stolen, so I use a combination lock.

mev

I'm thinking of something like this: https://www.rei.com/product/543085
with a padlock.

meyers66

Hi, I like the rei light weight cable idea above. But I prefer a snowboard cable lock because the combination housing retracs the cable: https://www.rei.com/product/793031 All in one simple unit. It is also multifunctional for travel. I would also keep the expense of my bike at the value point so if it gets stolen somewhere it won't break me. Simple, at the value price point. The ticket to most things.