binners – Member

Someone nearly …. Very nearly… Got through my big beefy cable lock, when I’d nipped into the bank. The bike was out of my sight for 2 minutes, tops! The only thing that could have done it was a wopping set of bolt croppers!

Nah, moderate sized cable cutters will go through bike cable locks like butter. Armoured ones like the steel-o-flex can do a little better but it’s still a delaying tactic, it just takes a few moments to open up the outer.

(quite often mag reviews test cable locks with bolt cutters, wrong tool for the job… Think about trying to cut gear cables with the wrong tool, it’s much harder than just using a tiny pair of cable cutters. Same applies, just a matter of scale.

As far as I know, Sold Secure Gold still includes no large boltcutter or medium cable cutter attack.

It was one of the armoured jobs northwind. Hence by suspicion that bolt croppers were involved. I’ve learnt my lesson though. The bike rarely leaves my sight. And if it does then its a gert big **** off D lock FTW!

As far as I know, Sold Secure Gold still includes no large boltcutter or medium cable cutter attack.

Isn’t a boltcutter the first thing a thief will try? Doesn’t make ‘Sold Secure Gold’ sound very reassuring!

Isn’t a boltcutter the first thing a thief will try? Doesn’t make ‘Sold Secure Gold’ sound very reassuring!

If true, that is a bloody joke. I had two SS Gold locks snipped last week and lost my bike. D-locks from now on I suppose.

Is there a rating that’s worth looking for?

Apparently there’s a German rating called ART that supposed to be better…

The only purpose of Sold Secure is to satisfy insurance requirements, it’s a bad lock test. (they were still passing locks as Sold Secure Gold with the round locks, even after responsible lock companies were withdrawing them all from sale as they don’t work)

I’m out of date now so don’t take this as gospel but certainly as of a couple of years ago they were testing with small pocketable croppers, which you can see here isn’t what’s being used. ART used 24s which are a bit more realistic.

This is the older steel-o-flex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFaLmVqQibo&feature=c4-overview&playnext=1&list=TLOTRkeKmOZRg

The newer one, with the coiled/wrapped armour, it’s basically a 2-step process, saw it done at the bike show… Won’t describe here but it’s best done with a medium-ish boltcutter and a cable cutter, but can be done with just a cable cutter- it’s more a technique thing than a tool thing to get around the armouring rather than brute forcing it. Took the boy from Almax about 30 seconds to do the current steel-o-flex, totally silent too 🙁

The largest manufacturers also submit to the German and Dutch ART1 to 5+ standards. These are a very tough standard and worth looking out for.

Edit: link fixed

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC3hFr8p2ck[/video]

gofasterstripes – Member

?

Which one mamadirt?

An older Steel-o-Flex similar to the one in Northwind’s clip.

Looked like this originally (although it lost its plastic locking mechanism cover) . . .

Now looks like this . . .

The inner braided cable was scary thin 👿

Are those “hip-lock” chains any good?

Camped there? I bet when they leave there will be the customary piles of rubbish etc left. With all those transits etc you’d think they’d drive it 2miles up the road to the council tip..

I use one of those motorbike chains, with a nylon sleeve & a big padlock. It’s quite heavy but its all I’ve got.
If they’re going to nick them then they will nick them. I’m just slowing them down a bit.

As regards a U-lock, is there a particular model/type that I should go for ?

Get the right sticker…

And this shows why you can’t rely on anyone for help..

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zb8YXrmIA&sns=em [/video]

Thats Zanx, (Big bloke with the shaved head in the clip up there) a good mate of mine from a few years back on Visordown (before Ben sold it)
He was nothing to do with Almax, just lived in Ilford, with no garage and was fed up with scrotes nicking motorbikes, so came up with a load of alternative protection.
His most famous was the “Bucket-o-crete” ground anchor
He then found Almax and started championing them against Bigger named “sold secure” locks…… to my knowledge there is still nothing better than an Almax lock and chain combination.
They do a small version for push bike use but its still very heavy.

As for d-locks……. bottle jack, pipe freeze spray and a BFO Hammer will sadly see most of them fail.
Use the smallest one, and lock it tight (so they cant get a jack in)
Or the tool of choice appears to be Li-ion cordless grinder with a 1mm slitting disc…… not much is going to withstand that for long.

In the M-Bike world, sadly unless its locked to something immovable, then its likely to end up lifted by 2 blokes into a refrigerated van, still locked and alarm going off.
Once the doors are shut you can`t hear the alarm and they can disable the security later in a workshop at their leisure 😥

As regards a U-lock, is there a particular model/type that I should go for ?

takisawa2 – I asked that on here a while back, and Kryptonite New York’s were repeatedly recommended

They’re a proper beefy bastard of a thing

In the M-Bike world, sadly unless its locked to something immovable, then its likely to end up lifted by 2 blokes into a refrigerated van, still locked and alarm going off.
Once the doors are shut you can`t hear the alarm and they can disable the security later in a workshop at their leisure

Yip. I don’t doubt thats exactly the way 3 of my bikes went AWOL 🙁

As regards a U-lock, is there a particular model/type that I should go for ?

Just read this… (link on 1st page too)
http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html

I’ve not heard of anyone having a normal-ish commuter bike nicked (i.e. no carbon fibre road bikes or expensive full-sussers) when its locked to something solid with a 16mm d-lock.

Yes, you could use an angle grinder but it takes ages and makes a lot of noise. This is a mains powered one and it took over 6 minutes
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVjlumO9bWw[/video]

On the train the other day and some hoodie-wearing lad got off at Brinnington (the suspected base of operations for a gang of bike thieves who’ve nicked loads from Stockport/Manchester area recently, check out the threads on here).

As he got off there was a loud clang and a massive spanner/wrench fell out of his trouser leg. He bent down, picked it up and ran off.

Definitely going equipped for burglary, he didn’t look like your average handyman…

akisawa2 – I asked that on here a while back, and Kryptonite New York’s were repeatedly recommended

I’d just hacksaw through your frame- one slice, take me 2 mins then bootd your seat/top or downtube – one kick to slide your bike away- bin the frame later and keep the rest to sell on Ebay.

I had my suspicions that’s been bloody you the last 3 times it’s happened!!!

On the upside, I’ve nearly made another frame from the bits of seat-tube and top tube you left. Can you leave me some seat stays next time please?

Still makes me shudder that one night I left my bike out on the drive propped against the wall all night in full view unlocked here in Manchester and no one pinched it!

they probably bounced the forks and decided it would be more trouble than it was worth.

🙂

They probably just couldn’t be arsed doing the warranty claim on the forks 😀

EDIT: beaten too it!

I left my then new SWorks Enduro on the drive one night…!!!

Milkman knocked the door to tell me…

😳

can’t decide if it’s ironic or just typical that right after reading this thread I went to Sainsbury’s and saw MBUK this month comes with a free cable lock that looks less secure than the plastic bag it comes in.

Hora – the travellers have been moved on, left a lot of tipping behind. No bikes amongst the piles of sh1t though. Transits are too high for Stretford tip, they’d have had to pay to use Northenden also I think?