It is correct that oil can goo up a lock in cold climates (including 3-in-1 which I personally goo-ed up a padlock with once). It is also true that if a good clean highly refined oil is used in a warmer climate it will not usually goo up the lock and work just fine.

If you don't like the mess of graphite then use a silicon based clear lube, like the stuff that comes in a spray can like WD-40. Silicon based lubes continue to lubricate even when dried up like graphite based lubes and unlike oil based lubes. Since I mentioned it WD-40 is a cleaner and de-binder not a lube. It can be used to get a lock working right again including one that has been goo-ed up by oil but it shouldn't be used as a lubricant.

Long story short - graphite based lubes work and continue to work even when dried out but are messy. Silicon based lubes work and continue to work even when dried out and are not near as messy and leave stains and stuff like graphite lubes do. You will find it in the same general area as WD-40 in a hardware store and it will usually be clearly marked as silicon based and will usually be more expensive then WD-40.

I just got a Abus ring lock!! Thanks for all the advice on lube... I will look into both the graphite stuff and the silicon stuff --will most likely print out this info (otherwise I will forget the details). Good information here! Thank you.

Rdlange~ I wish I could help you out regarding locking your bicycle to a rack... try asking the question again, maybe in the "General Cycling" discussion sub-board, so it doesn't get lost within another thread. I hope others will be able to help! Lots of great people & advice on these boards. <-- I hope this comes out sincerely and not snarky (meant as sincere)

I love ring locks Curiously though, all of them I have encountered in Copenhagen do not hold onto the key when unlocked. (Maybe I could leave the key in there, but it could fall out.)

the pins and all that mech in the lock can rust, so dont be so denying that No, Even thin oil, be introduced.

[ my AXA ring lock, stays in the key in the lock to ride , mode,

though I have a piece of shock cord, and a spring toggle.

that keeps the key on my wrist when I lock up the bike,
and looping the cord over the rack strut , when the key is in the lock.

locks keep honest people honest.....or something like that
a thief will go for the easiest target or if they know they have time, the one with the best resale/pawn price

there has been advice on make your bike ugly and I have thought of that several times, but I like my stuff looking nice even if it is old. All of my bikes are old, but they look good and that can be a bad thing, as I often have people come up and say, wow nice bike, or nice expensive bike
when I prob have less invested then they do in their big box store stuff

all that said, a few weeks ago, my son had to get a new mid line parking brake cable made for a modified Toyota he has and at the store ( a farm store) he ha dthem cut a piece of braided ss cable and attach two crimp ends to his demenisions. I always kept that in the back of my mind.

Friday I went in to the same farm store and had them make me two cables. I don't remember size right now. One is probabally 1/8 inch and about 5 feet with a loop at each end. Another I had made up in a small 14 gauge ss cable about 4 feet long with loops. I wont carry these things all the time, but when I know I am going to have to leave the bike un attended for a long period, im gonna carry them. the longer thicker cable is going to route through my front wheel and back to the lock. the shorter thinner one is going to go through my pannier handles, up through my seat frame and back to the main lock.

my theory is , if it looks complicated for a thief, they will look for an easier target

That's why I like my old Schwinn Le Tour I have about $130 in including new tires I put on it and a rear rack. (more once I put fenders on it eventually)

I can't hardly justify an expensive bicycle that might get stolen or torn up unless I can somehow have insurance on it like I can a far I feel is worth having full coverage on. $300 is probably the most I'd ever want to have tied up in a bicycle myself.

Plus there is such a thing as "grand theft auto" as a crime. Even motorcycle theft is taken more seriously by police than bike theft. Bike theft usually doesn't carry much of a penalty since it ends up being petty theft, I think. I might be wrong.. and it might vary by location.

Oh and on the subject of bike locks... I got the heaviest braided steel with rubber coating one I could with a pad lock (that I could find at Wal-Mart, I needed one right then). I also have a "Club" branded one (like the steer wheel locks) but it can lead to problems with the key. Thankfully when mine did, I had it off the bike and I was at home. It uses a security type key (like soda machines, etc) and it has notches to prevent it from being removed if the lock isn't in the lock or unlock position. Well, mine did and I couldn't put the key back in. A couple minutes with a dremel tool to grind off that stupid extra notch on the key made it so I could put it into the lock regardless of the position of the lock. The lock itself is still as secure, I just had to fix the key so it can't have that happen again. It's heavier duty than any U-shackle type I have ever seen. I got it for $5 at big lots a couple years ago:

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...RLavnR3HTg.jpg

I got some of those same locks. except for mixing up keys

:o

it was a great deal.

There is a variation on that: Locks are for honest people