[Closed] Bike security locks, chains, stretchies, padlocks and locking techniques?

Avoid cable locks, reinforced or otherwise, would be my advice.

I think a mixed approach. For a the thief you need different tool for cables, chains and dlocks, so to make life hard for the scum use a combination. At home I use multiple locks of different types so that the chav scum would need half of screwfix to get through.

D lock. Abus Granite or (despite TJ's banging on about them) Kryptonite. Other brands are available but a D lock through the rear wheel / frame to a bike rack will be a lot better than you have.

At home or out with the bike Kaesae.. ?

Hey.

The locks will be for when I'm out and about, although I might consider chaining them up in my flat!

What brands are the strongest in terms of weight / cost?

A big D lock - the shackle needs to be 14 mm or so in diameter and the shackle needs to lock at both ends.

Mine weighs over 2 kilos and cost over £100

i have a pair of kryptonite new yorkers (D lock and chain with MINI D) - post biro versions.

so secure that alot of the time even with the key i cant get into them 😀 - keeps my single cross safe in less than choice areas of aberdeen.

After i had my gary fisher rig nicked i take no chances ..... got it back - good thing about being early adopters when the turds go looking for a tube that fits they go to your bike shop ......

What do you think about padlocks with alarms?

for the garage but no when your out - your bikes locked up and i come along and throw my bike next to it on the rack - alarm goes off ....

Hey,due to two claims in 2.5 years we have to lock our bikes to a ground anchor INSIDE the house.
Would look for a different insurance company but I have had two claims in 2.5 years!
We use several Abus Granit locks and an Abus chain,
Top tip is take a photo of your locked bike ,because my insurance company treat us like the criminals for claiming.

Insurance companies are scum bags, want to know who the biggest scum bags in the world are, just look at what ever industries the richest people in the world make their money from.

The problem these days is that crime and lots of other forms of dodgy income are now so ingrained in peoples way of life, that's it's an actual accomplishment to rip other people off!

Started out with people doing it to survive due to poverty and is still fuelled by poverty as an underlying cause, but now you have a culture and of course a shit load of other causes like drug addiction.

I really can't stand anyone trying to rip me off! and am very careful with what I have, being poor I need to be, that said I hate the rich and powerful far more than the cheeky we don't want to work monkeys!

Almax Series IV the toughest chain alive [url= http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/fj34jp256040/Almax-Immobiliser-Series-IV/c-1-70/ ]clickadoodledoo[/url]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motion-Sensor-Alarm-Garage-Remote/dp/B0038MJG9I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336377342&sr=8-2

for the shed? Cheap as chips so if it doesn't work in the bin it goes.

Had a look at some abus granite locks however they are heavy at about 3kg.

Any reasonably strong bike lock at about 1.5kg chain and lock style?

No

You want a strong lock it will be heavy

onguard make some decent d locks. but make sure you get the new models.
mini d locks are lighter but also much harder to secure to an object,, good for front rear wheels though

The compromise between weight versus security left us with
Abus GRANIT X PLUS 54 D lock.
We have a Abus chain and it is very heavy

seems a bit of a waste to put nice bits on then carry 3kg of lock. As a keen biker it's so tempting to build up a nice bike for town use but the best security is rubbish looking bike.

I don't actually own a lock, I'm either on my bike, sitting next to it or it's in the shed.

toys19 - Member
Almax Series IV the toughest chain alive clickadoodledoo

Posted 44 minutes ago #

Another vote for Almax with a Squire lock plus ground anchor for home security

If i was concidering a new lock for a shopper bike i'd have a look at this http://www.hiplok.com/

Don't know how the lock compares to others in regards to strength or resistance to attack but the way you carry it seems wuite good.

All locks really do is stop children and drunk people from taking off with your bike. If you're talking about just going to the shops then what you are using now is fine. You're hardly going to carry a big heavy, expensive lock down to the sweet shop just to lock your bike for 10 mins.

Only worth investing in a serious shackle if it's for the home (shed / garage etc) or if you have to leave your bike in a visible place every day for work, say. It's that regular pattern of having to leave your bike in a similar place each and every day that makes them extremely vulnerable to theft.

What about disc rotor locks? saying that if a thief does steel my bike and gets injured I might get sued! 😉

I also have the Almax series IV. There's no way anyone is taking either my MTB's or my motorbikes.

I don't go 'out' on mine unless i'm with it... so don't have any other locks for it. it's a 55 mins cycle to town so i don't do that.

Bought a abus city chain plus

What about gps trackers, surely there must be something on the market that isn't too expensive?

You're hardly going to carry a big heavy, expensive lock down to the sweet shop just to lock your bike for 10 mins.

I do - I carry mine all the time when I am running errands or whatever around town and lock the bike up with it.

the bike also looks shite - covered in tape badly and so on. I leave the bike locked up on the street often so want it locked properly.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html

As said, very much dependent on use. Big heavy chains are fine at home in garage/shed but you're not going to want to carry it about with you. If a "shop" bike is just to be locked up outside for 10 mins when you pop in, I'd just go for a small D-lock and either make sure bits can't be removed (no QRs, security bolts, etc) or supplement with a cable lock.

Another vote for Almax, got a series III and IV for my bikes + ground anchors + assorted cable and stretchy locks for the ones in the shed. A noisey dog is also a good deterrent as well as living in waiting-for-god-cresent neighbourhood watch.

There's a website, soldsecure.com, that independently rates locks and stuff. I seem to remembers good kit has their logo on the packaging.

A point to remember is - they will very often only be after the bikes pimp parts.
Easier to shift on Ebay etc.
So using a £100 sturdy 3kg D-lock secured to frame & floor anchor is kinda useless when they cut through your frame to get it free.

Almax or [url= http://www.torc-anchors.com/security-chains.php ]Pragmasis[/url] plus a D lock. Sure they're heavy I (I use a lighter Pragmasis for carrying) but I reckon it's character building.

Used to use an Albus Steel-o-flex and Kryptonite New York D lock - surprising how flimsy the braided steel core was once the outer rollers were cropped through 👿 - thank God I used the New York too. I know who you are you ****** 😈

slowoldgit, soldsecure is a pay to be on the list type website, whilst what is on there would be good, it isn't an exlusive list. There are plenty that are not on there that may also be good..

"So using a £100 sturdy 3kg D-lock secured to frame & floor anchor is kinda useless when they cut through your frame to get it free."

which is why you chain through your wheels and forks as well when its at home- doesnt leave much to nick although ive heard of brakes being stripped off and bars stems seat posts and shocks using peoples own tools - but i keep my workshop separate to the bikes. - local lad here had his own angle grinder used to cut his locks !

my town bike has panniers fitted almost always and the lock lives in there

i have a secondary lock in the form of a cheap combination lock attached to the bike for those rare moments where i dont have the pannier on and ive forgotten to take the d-lock or has happened in the past the KEY ! . bike gets left for no more than 10 minutes when im in the shops or something with that on.

my town bike is SS fixed with no pimpy bits other than a brooks saddle under a tesco bag.

But toys, where else can you see an independent test of the kit you might buy?

Almax or similiar if you want to lock up at home- if you're going to do it, do it right. Most locks are faster to cut than they are to unlock!

For portability, no rival for a good d-lock IMO. Cables are universally poor, though the better ones do at least take the right tools to cut, better than nothing (when my brother lost the key to his old cable lock, he cut it with a pair of office scissors)

"So using a £100 sturdy 3kg D-lock secured to frame & floor anchor is kinda useless when they cut through your frame to get it free."

Qr front wheel and my shackle will go thru frame and both wheels and round a streetsign. Nothing else is QR

Used to use an Albus Steel-o-flex and Kryptonite New York D lock - surprising how flimsy the braided steel core was once the outer rollers were cropped through - thank God I used the New York too

Ah, slightly concerning given that a Steel-O-Flex is my main lock. Did someone cut yours?

Steel o flex was what I use to use until when I returned to bike and discovered the remains and no bike.
Check Utube and Google and be horrified at cable locks

slowoldgit - Member

But toys, where else can you see an independent test of the kit you might buy?

I went for wall anchors in the garage combined with Kryptonite New York chain, a mere 7 kgs in weight!

Nothing beats physical security, also got a PIR light in the garage and a cheapo alarm from Ebay.

Parking your car right in front of the garage door helps too.

nicko74 - Member

Used to use an Albus Steel-o-flex and Kryptonite New York D lock - surprising how flimsy the braided steel core was once the outer rollers were cropped through - thank God I used the New York too

Ah, slightly concerning given that a Steel-O-Flex is my main lock. Did someone cut yours?

Yes, also got halfway through one of the railings that the D lock was through too 👿 . I'd used the Steel-o-flex for years with confidence but wouldn't trust a cable lock again. The inner braided core is no thicker than about 8mm.

slowoldgit, thats true, just pointing out that the only ones on the sold secure website are those that have a) passed the relavent test, b) paid the subscription.

Thanks, abductee.

You know why the Dutch are the world's greatest linguists? Because no-one else can understand their language, they have to learn all kinds of foreign.

None of the testing organisations are of any use except for insurance purposes- none of them tests with large boltcutters, which is the main tool used to break big locks. They say that they test with hacksaws, small croppers, pliars, hammers, lockpicks, and crowbars, and that these tools are used in most thefts. Which is absolutely true, but they're all ineffective against quality locks- they're only useful tools for thieves because so few bikes are locked up well. They chuck in a noisy attack usually with a small angle grinder, just because it gives a nice result but again, it's not meaningful.

So, it's a bit like saying "Most houses are broken into by chucking a brick through the window, therefore, we test all house security devices by throwing a brick at them. This front door lock proved brickproof, therefore we declare it Sold Secure Gold. What's that? You opened it in 2 seconds with a screwdriver? Ah but most thieves use bricks so it doesn't matter!"

It's all bobbins. Thatcham were still approving locks with round keys even after companies were taking them off the shelves after the BIC-pen crack became well known.