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Hey All,
Can anyone recommend a bike lock for a £300 bike? (I know no bike lock really works but every little helps right?)
Will be used to secure the bike outside shops for no more than 30mins at a time, needs to go around the frame, front wheel and whatever i'm securing it to (thinking a D-Lock would not be ideal).
TIA
This article is three years old now but still relevant.
http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/art...e-locks-20408/
Thanks Weta, I'll have a look over that.
It is good advice, but I think it is aimed at people with £1000 bikes not £300 ones.Quote:
Originally Posted by weta
I would say that unless you regularly leave your bike in a bad area, then your basic £25 D lock from your local bike shop will be sufficient if you learn to use it properly.
Do NOT use a basic cable lock. I've had a bike stolen in a busy part of manchester despite being locked by a cable lock - they really don't stop anyone. Armoured cable locks are better, and a good armoured cable lock probably provides similar security to a basic cheap D lock (nip down to your local bike store and look at the Abus locks: they all have a security rating on so you can compare levels of protection between different lock types). I've recently been riding my beaten up old steel-framed racer and I use an armoured cable on that (popping the QR front off so I can lock everything together round the rear forks), but personally I wouldn't trust a £300 bike to any kind of cable lock.
What would I do? Get a high security Abus D lock. I've yet to have anything else recommended in a proper bike shop, and I've had a number of friends/colleagues (including some who regularly leave £500+ bikes locked up around London) confirm that advice.
The new bike I've just ordered is £300, and I'll be spending £67 on the lock to go with it. Why? Because that's cheaper than replacing the bike when it gets nicked, which it will if you don't have a good lock on it! Apparently "professional" bike theives (and there are a lot of them about) won't even look twice at a bike with an Abus D lock - they just walk straight past. Abus D locks start at around £40 iirc, and personally I wouldn't look at anything else for a new bike.
Thanks guys, think I'll get this one unless anyone gives a good reason not to.
Cheers
Didn't notice this thread!
Cable Locks, pointless things, they really are. plenty of them you can rip the lock open with nothing more than a peice of scaffolding pole or even a screwdriver, you simply twist and use the lock as a fulcrum.
Next up, Chains. Utterly pointless, I split a £65 one a friend had bought for his £2000 carbon jobbie to win a bet, all you need is a solid peice of metal to split the join.
D-Locks. Often the best protection, but ultimately when you can buy a bottle jack at B&Q that is 2 ton rated, you want to make sure you are using the smallest one that will let you lock to a rack. if you can fit a bottlejack between the top of the dlock (or imovable object) and the lockbar, you can split these in seconds. Even the most expensive ones on the market can normally be jacked quite quickly.
So in a nutshell, D-Lock, preferably two, one for the front, one for the rear. For the front, try something like a "BullDog Mini" by OnGaurd. You can got that for a tennor online. They have done well in tests, and for your not as valuable front wheel its probably fine. Then blow the budget on a brandname for the rear. The Kyrptonite New York lock with its distinctive bright yellow does act as a warning, they will steal the easier lock and not even try. That said they rust after a year or so, but with some WD40 mine has lasted 3 years of locked outside in the rain.
I would think twice about buying a combination lock.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaged
If you are in a habit of loosing keys, then perhaps, but otherwise I don't think it is a good idea, as with practice there is usually a way to open the lock by feel, as the rotors tend to be looser at the correct combination than at others.
I swear by my Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Mini Lock. My bike is sub £300, but I have built it myself so I would be gutted if it got stolen.
Cons are:
weight - over 2kg (my bike is only about 10kg!)
size - it is tough to lock both the wheel and frame to railings (I take a secondary lock to get the wheels if I\'m parking in London somewhere
In general Kryptonite\'s New York range is very good.
This is actually the same article I used like 2 years ago!Quote:
Originally Posted by weta