Bicycle lock suggestions

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maniac57

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
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memphis Tn
I disagree. U-locks are quite easy to pop with a small bottle or screw jack.
Get a chain. Hardened rigging chain is best.
Much harder to pry or twist apart.
 
maniac57

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
22
0
memphis Tn
Master makes a bike and motorcycle lock that looks like big handcuffs that are probably the best aftermarket setup I've seen. Heavy though.
 
Huffydavidson

Huffydavidson

STREETRACER/MANUFACTURER
Jan 29, 2012
1,076
4
38
st.louis,mo.
Nope, nothing a can of Freon to freeze it and one good smack from a Hammer and someone WILL BE RIDING IT BECAUSE THEY DID JUST STEEL IT.
 
Sidewinder Jerry

Sidewinder Jerry

Well-Known Member
Dec 19, 2011
2,008
949
113
61
Rockwood, TN
Put a basket on your bike, get a short chain and collar. Attach the short chain to the inside of the basket attach the collar to a skunk. LOL

On the more serious side. I use a keyed rubber coated steal cable which has a kevlar sleeve inside it. I also have a keyed kryptonite U lock as well.
 
comfortableshoes

comfortableshoes

New Member
Jul 22, 2008
606
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Beverly, MA USA
At my old job we had lockers and part of my job was to make sure they were empty for the next occupant. A lot of people would leave their locks on the lockers and I'd have to cut them off. We had a pair of medium sized bolt cutters to do the job. I'm not a big woman but I'm strong for my size. I was always surprised at how easily those bolt cutters sliced through the hardened steel locks, like buttah. Even my weakling boss was able to use them in emergency situations. So I'm sure that they slice through most cables like there is nothing there.

That being said, I've got 3 cable locks, 2 medium priced with the lock integrated and one I use a master lock with. One goes through the front tire frame and whatever I'm locking to, the other the rear tire frame and whatever I'm locking to and finally the last one is to attach the frame to my helmet and whatever I'm locking to. If I want to go lighter, I taker just the heavier of the cables and a couple of keyed pad locks. I lock the front tire to whatever is available and put a padlock on each tire hanging out so that it will hit the frame when the wheel is turned. Mostly I know that all I'm doing is making my bike a pain in the butt for someone to try and steal, it's just a deterrent and if someone wants it, it'll be gone. But if it's a choice between my 1991 trek with motor or someone's swank new beach cruiser, which one is the thief going to go for? I always assume it'll be the easier sell. And around here, the easier sell isn't going to be the motorized bike.

I've never had a bike stolen even when I lived on campus and people stole bikes all the time and I was riding something worthy of being stolen.

The big thing I worry about is someone stealing the seat, not that it's ever happened to me, but I see a lot of abandoned bikes sans seat. A thing I read and plan on trying is to take a length of bike chain, slide it into an inner tube, thread the chain and tube through the frame and then the seat rails, then connect the bike chain to itself, cover the whole thing with the innertube and then ziptie the tube in place, put seat up to where you normally ride, keeping the rubber coated chain tight. Supposedly the rubber and the bike chain don't play well with bolt cutters.
 
K

KenX

New Member
Apr 20, 2013
252
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0
Lake Fork, Texas
maniac57 said:
No lock is completely foolprrof. They all have disadvantages. My best advice is choose something that will make life tough for potential thieves, like hardened chain with a good, big round padlock. Master makes one for storage containers that is seriously hard to break or cut.
Cable locks are too easy to cut with a cordless grinder, get a high quality hardened steel chain as big as you feel like carrying and lock BOTH wheels and the frame EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU STOP! (even for "just a second")
But know that no matter what you lock it with, it could disappear anytime you leave it. Best you can do is make it more difficult so they leave yours alone.
Click to expand...
I was looking at the Mother of All Locks the other day. The thing was huge and cost about $200.00. The thing would probably weigh 5 pounds. Oh, sure they probably make them bigger but I have never seen anything like it.
 
B

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
3
38
Lebanon, PA
Awhile ago, my brother let me borrow his bike while he was out of state. He left a cable lock on it and didn't give me the key. I did not want anyone to think the bike was stolen, since I planned to use my own chain and lock to secure the bike. I had a very small tool left over from redoing the brake line in my wife's old car. This tool is called a tube cutter. It is like a small clamp with a wheel inside, and a screw to tighten the clamp. What you do is put the tube cutter around whatever you want to cut, tighten it, slide it around the tube, then tighten it a little more every few turns until it eventually cuts through. If my explanation of how this tool works is unclear, google tube cutter and you will probably find something better. Anyway, I cut through my brother's cable lock in less than 2 minutes with this tube cutter. Completely through, not just the plastic coating, the cable itself. If I were a thief, having this tool, I would go around looking for bicycles with cable locks. I'm not a thief, but I'm sure there are thieves out there who know this trick. Not everyone steals bikes to sell them outright. Some people steal them for parts, whether to use or to sell.
 
5

5-7HEAVEN

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2008
2,661
240
63
comfortableshoes said:
At my old job we had lockers and part of my job was to make sure they were empty for the next occupant. A lot of people would leave their locks on the lockers and I'd have to cut them off. We had a pair of medium sized bolt cutters to do the job. I'm not a big woman but I'm strong for my size. I was always surprised at how easily those bolt cutters sliced through the hardened steel locks, like buttah. Even my weakling boss was able to use them in emergency situations. So I'm sure that they slice through most cables like there is nothing there.

That being said, I've got 3 cable locks, 2 medium priced with the lock integrated and one I use a master lock with. One goes through the front tire frame and whatever I'm locking to, the other the rear tire frame and whatever I'm locking to and finally the last one is to attach the frame to my helmet and whatever I'm locking to. If I want to go lighter, I taker just the heavier of the cables and a couple of keyed pad locks. I lock the front tire to whatever is available and put a padlock on each tire hanging out so that it will hit the frame when the wheel is turned. Mostly I know that all I'm doing is making my bike a pain in the butt for someone to try and steal, it's just a deterrent and if someone wants it, it'll be gone. But if it's a choice between my 1991 trek with motor or someone's swank new beach cruiser, which one is the thief going to go for? I always assume it'll be the easier sell. And around here, the easier sell isn't going to be the motorized bike.

I've never had a bike stolen even when I lived on campus and people stole bikes all the time and I was riding something worthy of being stolen.

The big thing I worry about is someone stealing the seat, not that it's ever happened to me, but I see a lot of abandoned bikes sans seat. A thing I read and plan on trying is to take a length of bike chain, slide it into an inner tube, thread the chain and tube through the frame and then the seat rails, then connect the bike chain to itself, cover the whole thing with the innertube and then ziptie the tube in place, put seat up to where you normally ride, keeping the rubber coated chain tight. Supposedly the rubber and the bike chain don't play well with bolt cutters.
Click to expand...
I always worried about my seat being stolen by someone passing by, so I bought something like this @ my LBS:

http://compare.ebay.com/like/271232626592?_lwgsi=y&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

It loops around your top tube. Then you unbolt the seat from its post and bolt back on with allen wrench. Most opportunists don't carry allen wrenches.

After carrying my 14lb. FUGGETABOUTIT chain to work, I simply leave it there chained to the bike rack. The keyed cable I always carry chains the front wheel. The big chain loops thru the frame and rear wheel.
 
magwa

magwa

New Member
Jul 14, 2015
61
0
0
Coarsegold, CA
I feel your pain. I'm pretty close to Fresno. But no matter where I am, I see lock ups like this one.

I'm sure your set up was way different, though.

Sorry.
 

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motorbike57

New Member
Sep 30, 2015
17
0
0
louisiana
The best bike lock to me seems to be MULTIPLE bike locks. ALSO, I really like the idea of an alarm. go to amazon and look up QQ-tech lock. dont let the $12 price fool you. i ordered one and it's awesome. I'm going to use my master lock handcuffs, a standard kryptonite U lock, and this alarm padlock. I keep my bike indoors when at home, but I will use this trifecta whenever I lock it up out on a ride.

cheers
 
mogollonmonster

mogollonmonster

Member
Aug 26, 2015
472
6
18
Overgaard AZ
Years ago my step dad was a truck driver, obviously a semi can haul some wealth. There was a company called ABLOY that made a lock set, a specialized kingpin hitch, and a pad lock for the trailer doors. We still use the pad lock.
ABLOY used a special alloy, not only extremely hard, but it also dissipates heat. After years foiling thieves, the lock shows it. Numerous bolt cutter marks adorn the shank. Once we caught some junkies trying to cut it off with a torch, they blew holes into the doors, and in fact caught the trailer on fire!
After everything was said and done... We still use the lock!
 
G

Greenbiker

New Member
Feb 12, 2016
83
0
0
Oklahoma
Another tack on this is to think like the thief. They want a quick seamless score they can be dome with pretty quick. One way to to this is to make the lock hard to get to, locking by the bottom bracket with the shotest possible chain or cable is one way i have seen amd done this, it makes it hard to get tools to the lock or chain if the bike is between them and the target. Another tack is to use more than one good method to lock the bike up. Its not about making it proof but making more trouble than its worth. Of course this isnt without some expense both in money, weight, and hassle though. You have to have someplace to put your security when you ride and the more you have, the harder it is to store it without more expense and weight. But to some extent, its pretty much worth it.
 
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