Locks that work

Cheers for the suggestions/offers.

The lock was going to be in one place, under cover so wasn't too worried about quality, just needed the Gold rating for insurance.

However, I looked at the spare lock I had lying around at home and discovered that at some point in the past (2011 according to my emails) I must have already bought an OnGuard Brute so it's all a bit academic.

I was about to recommend that one to someone but then had a look at the loads of negative reviews on the Clas Ohlson website (many in Swedish but auto-translated) and it appears that they are terrible in terms of the keys not working or the lock mechanisms seizing after a while and leaving the bike somewhere locked up unable to get it open. So worth rethinking having this lock on the list, if it's actually unreliably unlockable it's not worth using.

It's a great lock. But it NEEDS to be properly lubricated with lithium grease. If that is done, it's fine. The Scandinavian users were using it ungreased, and complaining that it was failing. I am the person that gave the comment that it needs to be lubed. The same applies to OnGuard locks, a bit more than Kryptonite and Abus locks.

I'd personally use the Clas Ohlson lock and have few concerns.

Doesn't grease in locks capture grit that then gums up the mechanism?

Yes but the grit will displace, oxidisation will cause surfaces to bind.

I thought graphite lube was intended for lock mechanisms. Am I wrong? Interestingly my son got a combination lock which warns not to use graphite.

That's what I thought, but does graphite provide any weather-proofing?

Not really. It's why the nicer Abus locks have a spring loaded shield over the lock keyway.
On the other hand, greasing the other moving parts (where the shackle enters the body and the locking elements there) is useful.

prepares to be corrected

When I worked (briefly) for a lubricant company, I was lucky enough to be shown around the Squire factory in the West Midlands. Squire (re-) sold an expensive (Swiss?) small puffer-bottles of finely ground graphite that was designed to DRY lubricate the friction surfaces of certain locks. I'm not certain, but I thnk these were more the door-lock 'BS 5-Lever' locks.

Micronised graphite is also available as a dispersion in various liquid carriers, (mineral oil, semi-synthetic and fully synthetic), that would confer some 'weather-proofing'.

I'm guessing with 'D'-locks we have the problem that we don't want water/moisture sitting/laying in the lock all day, inducing rust on metal surfaces,
so a persistent thick-ish grease is needed for the interfaces between the key and the rotating metal bars,
which inevitably could provide a long term adhesion agent for grit/mud etc.,
but we don't want that same thick-ish grease transferring from the pointed ends of the 'U'- part onto clothing/gloves/rucksacks/panniers.

Offered up as an imperfect/partial explanation as the owner of an On-Guard Brute that only unlocks when vertical, despite the attempted application of several types of (supposedly) persistent lubricant or grease.

Surely the sliding cover on the locks only really repells grit and dust. I'm sure water ingress would still be an issue.

What's opinions on the abus bordo?

Don't get too hung up on what lube you use, a few drops of chain lube is better than nowt. Anything to deter oxidisation really, after all it's just a bloody lock, hardly precision engineering with high temperature friction to deal with.

Its a fail, from here.

My advice is to use lithium grease, and eventually when it begins to gunk up, a quick blast of WD40 to clean it, then re-lube with lithium again. Repeat to infinity.

Are you talking of the locking mechanism or the part of the lock that engages with the shackle? I thought you used to recommend graphite lube for the mechanisms.

I recommend lithium graphite for any part of the lock that actually turns.

I assume the calcium based Penrite Graphite Grease listed on page 1, in your first post is OK. It's a giant tub though, enough to do all the locks of my town for a few generations.

I have used a graphite lube in an aerosol from Maplins. It's been fine, however it's messy and every time it's used the lock gets a bit more black and my fingers get coated.

Chain oil is probably better for the lock mechanism. The advantage of oil over grease is that it flows into places. Grease tends to stay where you put it, which is fine for parts that slide over each other but for things like lock barrels you want something which will work its way in and onto all the parts.

Graphite grease, for me, is a catch-all term for graphite lubes. There are the greasy kind, and the powder kinds. I have used the grease kind for if my lock is outdoors a lot. But I'd use the powder kind just as happily, but maybe a bit more often. Here are a few examples of the powder versions.

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Anyone have experience using the Kryptonite evo mini-5 and the mini-6? Just wondering if the mini-5 would be too small to rely on for locking to a variety of different poles, fences, bike racks etc throughout the day.

@farewell are you thinking of using either lock as a sole lock, or as secondary lock? If its as a secondary lock, then check out the Secondary Locks thread. If you intend using just one lock, then it might not be strong enough for your peace of mind. Check out the list of locks on the first page of this thread.

It would be my primary lock but I will only be locking my bike for a max of 15mins throughout the day.

I have a new york FAHG mini but its too heavy for daily use. The evo mini-5 appears to be even shorter than the FAHG mini so was wondering how practical it is?

The Mini-5 would just scrape into the Secondary Locks list (13mm), and the Mini-6 (11mm) wouldn't even make it. Is it worth it to lose a bike, based on the (short) time you're locking it up for? I started these threads because I had my beloved Peugeot nicked, followed years later by my pride-and-joy Klein. One was nicked within a space of two minutes, the other was nicked over a few hours. In both cases, my locks were not up to the task. I hope you gain something from this.

Been meaning to share this for a while. I've attached two small magnets to the Fahgettaboudit to make it 'lock' to the frame while I'm cycling with it. It rattles close to nil. Maybe this will help somebody carry a good lock to secure their steed.

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One magnet for each seat stay.

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