Horrifyingly easy lock defeats

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

[Decided to put this in its own category 'stead of under documentaries 'cos it is bound to generate some responses of its own.]

A kinda horrifying look at how vulnerable some locking systems are to breakage: http://www.bicycling.com/video/unlocked-video#/video/all/created/d/1

Of course, many of these locks are stabilized with the aid of a vise, which makes cutting or grinding or prying easier than it would be in the field. Still...!  The titanium TiGr lock cut easily with a hacksaw and a pair of vise-grips.

Best,

Dan.

[John Saxby]

Thanks, Dan.  Don't often hear Noo Yawk accents 'round these parts, 'cept when my wife does her A-grade mimicry, acquired from long years of immersion in the Upper West Side...

Observation:  His opening comment (just have a better lock than the next bike) reminded me of my anti-car-theft strategy from my years in Africa:  park next to a Benz.  (Similar to: you don't have to outrun the bear, you only have to outrun someone else in your hiking group.)

The serious question, though:  Are there any locks that work reasonably well as a deterrent?  Any answers out there?

My strategy is never to entrust to a lock, any bike that I really don't want to lose -- say, my Eclipse or my Raven in-the-making.  On my city bike (a 20-year-old MTB), I use a cheapo (symbolic) lock & use the bike mainly for errands in the neighbourhood  -- even at that, I rarely leave it outside & under lock for more than 30 minutes or so, and hardly ever leave it "locked" when I go downtown. (This, in a city where the majority of its inhabitants live a fairly comfortable middle-class life.)  I don't worry about my city bike--I could live without it, but replacing it would be a hassle. I treat bikes like the Eclipse or the Raven differently -- they live in my basement, not the garden shed. When I'm using them, I don't let them out of my sight, and rarely stray far from them unless they're tucked in a safe room.

[Andre Jute]

The serious question, though:  Are there any locks that work reasonably well as a deterrent?  Any answers out there?

The n'lock, which mades the bike unrideable on removal of the key, works well. It can't be defeated.
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3930.0

But the thief who comes with a truck can still carry the bike away and strip it for parts.

[John Saxby]

Thanks for this, Andre.  I've seen your posts on the 'n-lock system, and others' too.  My Raven is now a-building, and I have some thoughts on security to be incorporated later on, such as an Abus ring-lock and maybe a couple of Atomic22 skewers too.  I'll look into the 'n-lock too.  Freed from any great urgency to decide by the wretched weather we're having in these parts, savage cold morphing into rain/freezing rain/slush etc. -- hard to imagine cycling before March.

[Relayer]

The n'lock, which mades the bike unrideable on removal of the key, works well. It can't be defeated.
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3930.0

But the thief who comes with a truck can still carry the bike away and strip it for parts.

Or, the thief without a truck could simply trash the bike where it stands ...

[Andre Jute]

Or, the thief without a truck could simply trash the bike where it stands ...

That applies to every single locking system you can think of. Every solution — n'lock, ring lock, U-lock — can result in a trashed bike "where it stands". I once saw two absolutely bare frames attached to sequential lamp posts on a main thoroughfare in Cork, a street that is never empty or silent. They were held on by a very substantial chain and an expensive, clearly capable U-lock.

Every lock requires to be part of a system. I think of the cyclist's eyes as the most essential and efficient part of the system. But even one's presence in the system won't stop a bike-jacking unless the cyclist has relevant experience in instant violence and is besides prepared to maim or kill the bike-jacker before the cyclist himself is hurt, which requires a certain kind of sociopathic personality that not too many cyclists possess. We cycle because we're civilized. Sometimes I think that's a pity.

[leftpoole]

I think the easy way to steal valuable parts is, to saw through the frame adjacent to any lock.
John

[Andre Jute]

My Raven is now a-building, and I have some thoughts on security to be incorporated later on, such as an Abus ring-lock and maybe a couple of Atomic22 skewers too.  I'll look into the 'n-lock too. 

In your situation the n'lock has three advantages over the ringlock:

1. It saves weight. It is not an extra component like the ring lock, but a replacement stem.
2. For the same reason, on a new build it may save cost, depending on the combinations of costs involved.
3. It is uncommon. To a thief, who already have read a method of defeating a ring lock on the net, an n'lock makes the bike look broken and unusable.

On the other hand, the ring lock's future is secure, since there are probably more of them around than any other kind of lock, while the n'lock future is uncertain, since the inventor and chief booster and marketer is retiring.

[John Saxby]

Thanks, Andre.  Have scanned the n'lock site--liked the fact that a customer could buy not just a lock but the whole enterprise! Setting aside for the moment my liking for shiny silver items (a trait I share with ravens, interestingly...) I'll need to check how the length of the different n'lock stems will suit my bike. Will know more about that in a few weeks as we get into the final sizing adjustments with the Raven. I'm planning to reduce the seat-to-handlebar clamp measurement by 5 mm +/-, and to elevate the bars by a similar amount, so we'll take account of these different considerations. I especially like the weight-reduction argument, as well as the unobtrusiveness of the 'n-lock.  (Have a soft spot for organizations which build jeux de mots into their names, too.)

[Donnydid]

I have just purchased an N'Lock for my Nomad but alas the N'Lock arrived with
no fitting instructions. I have to admit that I am no bike mechanic but I dont mind
having a go at something as long as I have the instructions to help me along.
I would very much appreciate it if someone could guide me along to fit the N'Lock.
Are there any special tools required to do the job, if so I think I should let my local
bike shop have a look at it.

Cheers
Dave

[Andre Jute]

I have just purchased an N'Lock for my Nomad but alas the N'Lock arrived with
no fitting instructions. I have to admit that I am no bike mechanic but I dont mind
having a go at something as long as I have the instructions to help me along.
I would very much appreciate it if someone could guide me along to fit the N'Lock.
Are there any special tools required to do the job, if so I think I should let my local
bike shop have a look at it.

Cheers
Dave

Yo, Dave, I've answered your query by putting up "n'lock BASE KIT INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MECHANICALLY INNOCENT" at Reply #29 on the n'lock main page, here: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3930.msg54089#msg54089

[Donnydid]

Thanks a lot Andre, as usual there is always someone out there with an answer
to the many questions that are asked.

Many Thanks
Dave

[il padrone]

Worry less about the lock, but rather more about the human response to lock-breaking.


I just acccept that nearly every lock might be broken. I lock my bike with discretion about the risks of a place chosen and the time involved, don't ride too glam a bike, and use a lock to deter the opportunist thief/joy-rider.

[Slammin Sammy]

Worry less about the lock, but rather more about the human response to lock-breaking.

I just acccept that nearly every lock might be broken. I lock my bike with discretion about the risks of a place chosen and the time involved, don't ride too glam a bike, and use a lock to deter the opportunist thief/joy-rider.

Pete, when I try to view that video (and others you have posted) I get a message saying it's been "blocked in your country". I have installed a getflix proxy server and reconfigured my router, so that shouldn't be happening, even on my iPad (which is wifi from the router). (I've done this to be able to access the US sites for Netflix, Hulu, etc. Not yet tried it out, mind...)

Just checking if you have a proxy server set up, or have I got some other issue. Or has Sony licnsed the video for Melbourne, but not Newcastle? 

Thanks,
Sam

[il padrone]

Hmm..... strange, it's just a Youtube video  

Do a search on Youtube yourself then for 'Neistat Brothers, Bike Thief'. They have a go at 'stealing' their own bikes from on NYC streets, locked with various methods. The lack of response from passing people is enlightening. Do not rely too much on any lock.