What bike lock for the boy’s bike at school?

As per the title… Something he can carry on bike/in bag, might prefer a code lock rather than a key but that’s a minor thing. Bikes are not secure within the school (front gate always open), so the lock would need to be more than a piece of string.

100% go for a combo lock

Hiplock spin has been good for us and I recommend it to one of my kids friends dad as the caretaker had to boltcropper his lock coz his son lost both keys

I just used to ride to school on a beater that no one is likely to want to steal.

Only needed a token lock then.

Not quite the same thing, but a guy i knew at uni bought the same beater more than once from the local second hand shop…

We used a relatively cheap Kryptonite combination lock and a very cheap bike.

The issue we had was other kids messing with our kids bikes – gear adjustment twiddled, v-brakes unhitched, tyres let down.

Something he can carry on bike/in bag,

Only once Shirley, then leave it at school? That’ll broaden your options.
Or you carry it the first day….

Can’t he leave the lock at school? If so I’d go for as big a lock as you can find.

Can’t he leave the lock at school? If so I’d go for as big a lock as you can find.

Problem is that there’ll be nobody there overnight so someone would nick it….

We live in a reasonably high bike theft area and AFAIK no-one has ever stolen a bike from the primary school. They’re all too small for the local scrotes even though some of them are bloody expensive and left for days at a time unlocked!

At secondary school where they’ll be riding full size bikes…”station rules” apply…

Problem is that there’ll be nobody there overnight so someone would nick it….

Lock it to the bike rack. This is what people do at train stations and at places I’ve worked.

Decent D Lock fixed to the frame. Son 1 had an old Specialised that didn’t last the first week at school with a cable lock. In fact it was stolen from the playing fields during an after school session. It was locked. Schools are hot bike theft areas.

And replace the QR’s and teach him to lock through the back triangle to a bike rack.

Whatever you get, make sure it’s something that comes with a mount to fit to the frame when not in use. Better than having it in his bag in a crash, and he’ll be less likely to forget it too.

If he leaves the lock at school, make sure he locks it. One of my son’s class mates decided to throw half of his d-lock into the woods by the school. Lovely little sheits.

Go for a combination lock, and a bike you’re happy to leave out in the rain/will get rusty.

The issue we had was other kids messing with our kids bikes – gear adjustment twiddled, v-brakes unhitched, tyres let down.

IME, this a more likely to be a problem.

The standard Kryptonite D-lock for about £40, and comes with a cable for the front wheel.  Leave the lock on the rack and keep the spare key at home.  It’s tough enough that you’d need a grinder to remove it (which TBH has rendered my expensive new york version a bit pointless) .

Get some graphite spray to keep whatever lock you get oiled up once a term, don’t use oil/WD40 as they just turn to a stiff gummy mess in winter.

Can’t he leave the lock at school? If so I’d go for as big a lock as you can find.

Problem is that there’ll be nobody there overnight so someone would nick it….

If the lock is decent enough to keep the bike secure in day time, its good enough that nobody will nick it from the playground, locked to the rack the rest of the time.  When I used to perioidically commute into edinburgh thats what I did with the biggest d-lock I could find – nobody nicked the lock and I did that for years sometimes leaving the lock a month or more between use.

D Lock left locked to the rack. I’ve was doing that for years at work* and my son did that at school.

*Addmitedly I once got to work on a Tuesday morning after a bank holiday and the whole bike rack had been nicked, inc my lock! I also forgot to take my locks home with me when the office shut down that Covid March 2020. We then moved offices before we started going back in and I couldnt get back into the secure compound so lost another good D lock and chain!