New locks required

there's a kryptonite chain on gumtree for £50

why get a kryptonite?

go to a hardware store, they'll cut you any length of hardened steel chain for much cheaper.

..i think locks are one of the biggest cycle cons around. Motorcycle locks go for INCREDIBLE amounts of money. Any they don't even hold up. Remember the Almax guy bolt-cropping those chains on youtube in seconds? And they were all sold secure gold rated.

I use a Kryptonite New York Lock - not the Fahgeddabout it, but the bigger version designed for 'Powersports', the M-18-WL. It weighs a ton, but I tend to leave it where I lock the bike during the week and take it home at the weekend. It has an 18mm thick bar and says "You might want to consider trying to steal some other cycle nearby" to anyone who cares to listen. Add to that the lightweight Abus Granit Futura I have clipped to my frame, and a Kryptoflex cable to keep the wheels safe. I also have a spare Abus shielded cable that I use when I have left the NY Lock outside work. The chains look the business, but I was put off them when someone posted a video of some guys with a bolt cutter making short work of pretty much all of them on this very forum.

The top of the range Abus square section D locks that d0cA recommends also look pretty good, and they're probably lighter than the NY lock, but they don't look quite as scary.

Totally agree with bobby on the lock-oiling issue, particularly if the weather ain't so good.

...the biro/kryptonite lock-pick :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl1gsW3KcBU

• couldn't find any using bolt-cutters, they didn't work at all when I tried, but then I'm not the strongest chap on the planet. Some people break the D-locks by putting a length of scaffolding pole in and levering them apart. But if you choose the right thing to lock to then there's no space left in the D to get anything in-between.
  
  

One of the best bits of advice I heard was (fairly obviously) that if you know someone who's had a bike nicked then don't buy the lock they had.

...I sometimes see just locks attached to railings with the 'private property no bikes'etc signs, I assumed caretakers just cut thru the bike and leave the lock as some kind of threat... just paranoia? anyone heard of this happening?

Someone did that pen trick on my d-lock, about a year ago.

I wonder how many people had had bikes stolen by thieves who were wise to it? Kryptos were bic-pickable for years until the info was released online.

Fuck the lot of them.

I use a big fat abus cable and a kryptonite mini but i would NEVER leave my bike outside, out of my direct line of site ANYWHERE in london. in brick lane i have caught someone tagging my bike twice, and the same goes for brixton (2 bad areas i know). But yeah, the best way to not getting a bike stolen is to always be able to lock it in areas away from the public. Not exactly helpful, but any lock will be fucked in a depressingly small amount of time.

I swear I've said this so many times on here.

Chains
If you really don't want your bike being nicked, don't buy a chain. You can get through them with bolt croppers, if you have the big ones that have levers that are over a metre long. Croppers like that cost serious money, but if you're a serious bike thief, you'll have probably nicked them anyway.

Chain bought from a locksmith
How does the locksmith cut the chain to the length you want in the shop? With bolt croppers. Not even big ones either. If you really want to buy chain from a locksmith, get them to order you a length that has been made to length, rather than cut (my friend's Dad was a locksmith and ran his own business, he did that).

Almax chains
The Krypto chain in that video was "donated". How do you know it was really a krypto chain in there? Kryptonite laughed their heads off at the video, they mentioned it on their blog.

Bic on Krypto locks
Doesn't work on any of the new Krypto locks. That bic thing was on the net years ago. They all have disc locks now, which are very difficult to pic, but not impossible.

Cable locks
Again, no. If you peal back the amour on the cable you can get to the cable core then crop it.

D Locks
1) Car jack in the lock.

• Nope, if you lock your bike up properly. Fill the d-lock as much as possible so that a thief can't get any tools in there. Failing that, buy a small d-lock like the krypto new york fahgettaboudit or evo mini.
  
  

2) Pick it.

• Nope, if you lock up the bike so that the key hole is facing down so that they can't look into it easily. Facing it down also stops, in the unlikely event that a thief got liquid nitrogen, them from spraying it into the lock easily.
  
  

3) Smash it hard.

• Again, don't leave the lock laying on the ground or anything hard.
  
  

Freezing locks
Liquid nitrogen is really expensive to get. BOC gases aren't going to sell it to anyone either, I see the vans rolling into my department at uni quite often, and the machines that use it cost a fortune to buy and run. It's so unlikely to happen.

Street furniture
Lock to something that would be a pain in the arse to cut through, or where there are loads of people in a well lit area.

Lock through wheels.
Even if they cut through the furniture, then they have to break the lock anyway - more effort. If you're a bike thief, are you going to nick one expensive bike or several average ones?

What do I do?

Out, leaving bike for a few min:
Krypto New York 3000 + Krypto evo cable through front wheel and saddle rails.

Leaving bike for an hour:
Above, plus Krypto Evo mini locking front wheel to street furniture.

All day at uni:
Krypto New York 3000, Krypto Evo Mini, and for a little extra deterrent a Abus chain I leave in the bike store. Then Krypto cable for saddle :P

Over the top? Maybe. I just don't want my bike nicked.

Don't forget this....
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html

I lock through the rear stays as well, because my dropouts on my roadrat are spaced 130mm and with the krypto mini you can remove the wheel, because it's so small, and then take the lock out at an angle through the stays. Plus it fills the lock more = harder to get tools in.

OK that post has a lot of misinformation in it.

I can't be bothered dissecting it, just try and make sure you know what you are talking before you make a really long, informative post.

A lot of misinformation in it?

I'm intrigued.

I know a few people who've had their locks frozen & smashed. And i know very few people. I agree it's expensive, but somehow bike-nickers (technical term) get ahold of it! I'm thinking of moving to the continent. bike theft seems almost unheard of there (I remember seeing pics of bikes chained to bollards (the ones about a metre high) all along a main road. As in, if you wanted to nick it, you could lift the bike off and walk away with it!).

Anyways, I thought you had a folder?

Do you leave it locked up outside?? I thought their main selling point was portability!?

Frozen and smashed - if you lock up properly, there wouldn't be anything to smash the lock against. Another reason why chains aren't great - you can easily move them amount and then position the lock on the ground to smash.

you could smash it against the bike, or smash it wiv' a big hammer maybe. Or perhaps the bike thieves smash it against their faces COS THEIR SO 'ARD.

lpg Anyways

Ahem.

, I thought you had a folder?

Do you leave it locked up outside?? I thought their main selling point was portability!?

At the moment I'm riding a folder, yeah, so I can sneak it into my hall. Before I moved into halls I used to leave my fix outside all day.

I'm not in the same place all day either and I'm not going to carry it around with me!

I sees.

Hi fellas, good comments there.
iv resorted to skateboarding to the pub now if its local because, paranoid about my bike getting got.
but would you say the new faghettaboudit mini gets around much 'street funiture' as you do have to find a suitable place to lock up? and are they pretty good?
i have one of those abus cables and dont trust it at all by itself, if i cant see the bike while having a drink or dance, i cant really relax.
im thinking mabey that on front wheel and the F.mini on the back or do i invest in the F.chain and evoloution d? lets face it some of these thieves are pros..

This lock + shit on the saddle always does it for me.

bike alarm:

http://www.ducharmealarmsystems.com/

tynan I am sure it doesn't need pointing out here, all the locks mentioned above will only stand up to - at best - 60 seconds to 2 minutes of attack before a thief can walk off with your bike.

hardhat tynan - even the kryptonites? by crikey, what do you use - the ebola virus?

Yes, even the Kryptonites.

tynan This lock + shit on the saddle always does it for me.

Priceless.

lpg [quote]tynan This lock + shit on the saddle always does it for me.

Priceless.[/quote]

hahaha

tynan [quote]tynan I am sure it doesn't need pointing out here, all the locks mentioned above will only stand up to - at best - 60 seconds to 2 minutes of attack before a thief can walk off with your bike.

hardhat tynan - even the kryptonites? by crikey, what do you use - the ebola virus?

Yes, even the Kryptonites.[/quote]

Yep that is true, but as I've said you can increase the time considerably by doing the things I've mentioned above and having multiple locks, well placed.

mahmud im thinking mabey that on front wheel and the F.mini on the back or do i invest in the F.chain and evoloution d? lets face it some of these thieves are pros..

I'd do fahgetaboudit mini or ny 3000 on rear wheel through the rear triangle and stays, and you could then take off your rear wheel and put it through the d-lock to fill it even more, and then say a krypto evo mini on the top tube. Or keep the front wheel on and just d-lock the front wheel too. If it was in a real dodgy area, I'd do the first.

...and get ya bike insured!
Sometimes if someone wants your bike enough they'll go to great lengths to get it.
To prevent further heart-ache it's a bit better knowing at least you can get a new bike.
Not good when you spend ages on a bike, get decent locks, gets nicked, and didn't get round to insuring it.
If the bike's worth worrying about...it's worth the £ to insure.

saw this the other day and thought it was a pretty good idea. enough to fool a chav though i guess its going to make your nice ride look ratty as hell. would it work? any point to it at all? not sure...

http://mocoloco.com/archives/004562.php