Bike lock recommendations

Shop deals on ebay
BOXKARS
Bike Wall
Advertise with us
Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
That's why I like my old lock, it's an old Jordan lock from Germany, nobody here even makes key blanks for it. Which a set of bolt cutters would take it out but so far so good, after all it's only holding a huffy.
 
ride with buddies and get one of em to sit outside with the bikes :D, but i'm a training locksmith and tbh... most locks aint so difficult to bust... with the right tooling... im a fan of 'the more, the merrier', but then my bike looks mostly like junk so it aint going nowheres fast... plus a lot of people fall of fixies rather quickly :D
 
I'm thinking of buying a chain with a heavy padlock; should I go with 8 mm thick links, or will 6 mm be enough - will a cutter be able to chomp any of these?
 
id5000 said:
I'm thinking of buying a chain with a heavy padlock; should I go with 8 mm thick links, or will 6 mm be enough - will a cutter be able to chomp any of these?
Click to expand...

Well normally when you buy chain at the hardware store they use bolt cutters to cut it or a grinder. Ask them what chain they have that can't be cut by bolt cutters. Which with these battery operated grinders and sawzalls nothing is too safe anymore.
 
Right, but this is some kind of packaged kit that's sold at my hardware store as a bicycle / scooter lock. But yeah - I'm not locking for something that's grinder safe, just cutter safe :)
But yeah, good idea; I can just ask them about it :)

(My reasoning is that were I to try to steal a bike, I wouldn't bother if I'd have to use a grinder - way too much noise, even if it's only for (from what I've read anyway) like a minute.)
 
The key thing about a lock is they just keep honest people honest. If someone wants to clip your bike they will...

That being said, get a good solid U-Lock. I don't recommend anything that has a cable... anything. If a pair of bolt cutters can fit around a cable it is very easy to cut. Also, make sure with the U-lock that the straight part is very secure. Usually the horseshoe is good but the bottom cylinder can still be cut through with a hack saw. And I like combo better than keys.

Personally I live on a college campus and just use an old master wheel lock.
 
id5000 said:
Right, but this is some kind of packaged kit that's sold at my hardware store as a bicycle / scooter lock. But yeah - I'm not locking for something that's grinder safe, just cutter safe :)
But yeah, good idea; I can just ask them about it :)

(My reasoning is that were I to try to steal a bike, I wouldn't bother if I'd have to use a grinder - way too much noise, even if it's only for (from what I've read anyway) like a minute.)
Click to expand...

Best combo I have found is not sold as a combo. Most pre-packaged bike locks are easily cut through with the weakest of bolt cutters, (AKA 15 seconds and they ride away on your bike), as xHOBOPHOBIAx said "To keep HONEST people HONEST".....

Best combo I have found is about 1 1/2 - 2 feet of good old trucker chain, you know the 18,000 lb log chain that will survive through about anything......and a good quality pad lock with a 3/4 inch solid hardened steel locking part. Like the Kryptonite or large master locks. I saw at Lowe's they have the log chain with a nice bright orange coating so it's REALLY visible. Also might help it from scratching. If not just get a few old tube socks and cut the toes off and slide over the chain.
 
A good U-lock and/or 1/2" braided cable with a shielded shackle lock will stop ride-offs and casual amateurs, but a pro will cut down a street sign or even the bike itself for high end components. :x :roll:
 
i have cut one of the $10 skinny cables with the side cutters I use for electronics projects.

I like the coated chains if you can find them, they really help if you are worried about scratching.
 
I actually saw one guy get caught stealing a bike, he had a pickup with a chain looped around the hitch and other end up in the bed with the other hook on the bed rail, he'd pull up to a bike, his buddy would casually get out and hook the chain on the truck to the bike lock, the guy in the truck would pull away breaking the lock and drive a few blocks before picking up the chain while the guy who got out would ride the bike away in the other direction.

I saw it right in front of the supermarket, luckily the bike's owner was waiting in line getting ready to check out so I flagged him down and he got out before the guy could get the bike out of the cart coral and ride off. Of coarse once police had one they told on each other.
 
bike2.jpg

take THAT you hoodlums! :lol:
 
stretch said:
bike2.jpg

take THAT you hoodlums! :lol:
Click to expand...

Give me an hour and a ball point pen....lol Well if the bike were worth stealing that is...lol looks like a cheap bike anyway.
 
i just picked up a dinky little combination lock made by Master to keep my beater bike from being mistaken for scrap at work (we get targeted by the scrappers at work, leave a dryer/washer/oven outside overnight and itll be gone in the morning). you can change the numbers to whatever you want it to be. nothing heavy duty by any means, but they'll have to "try" to take it now and it was about $10.
 
The problem with using hardware-store "utility" chain at all is that it isn't hardened. The metal is left soft so that it will stretch and absorb shock loads without cracking and breaking--but that also means that even fairly-small 18" boltcutters can get through it pretty easily. Other than locks, I know of only one other fairly-common use for hardened chains, and have never seen any hardware store retailing it.

I have the five foot Kryptonite Fageddaboudit lock & chain, and while it is thick and hardened and long enough to lock around bigger things,,,, it is so heavy that it is difficult to carry on the bike. You also cannot double-loop it or take up slack in it, because the lock shackle will only fit through the end links. There isn't enough room in the middle of a link for two other links and the lock shackle.
----------
I have a Master Street Cuffs lock too, as a lower-security lock. This never got GREAT reviews for absolute durability, but the concept is handy if you don't need the highest security. It uses barrel keys but the locks it has aren't susceptible to the Bic-pen trick and never were.
----------
Cables aren't a great choice because the strands can be pulled apart and cut individually, sometimes even with just pliers or vise-grips.
----------
There's UK videos showing a guy with some HUGE 5-foot long boltcutters, cutting through a few different high-quality locks and chains,,,,, and portable grinders with cutoff wheels will do it too, but most people don't have them, they have the boltcutters small enough to hide inside a jacket, or even smaller stuff like vise-grips.

In the end though how much is the bike worth? It may seem odd to spend $70 for a lock to put on a rat bike you didn't spend $25 on. But most bike thieves are after modern higher-end parts, and they know how tough the good locks are. IF you live in a big city, it's not worth it to try to lock a high-priced bike in any public location--but a rat bike with a good lock in the same place will probably never get touched.
~
 
outskirtscustoms said:
bigj said:
These guys seemed to have some good products. Never used them, though.
http://www.lockitt.com/chain3.htm
Click to expand...
Nice but $200+ for a bike lock??? :shock:
Click to expand...
It is a bit up there, but these look like European brands.
Floor anchors aren't popular in the US, but they're common in the UK..... so this place has probably rolled-in the cost of shipping them from Euro-land to the USA. Which wouldn't be cheap, due to the weight. Abus is basically the Kryptonite of the UK.

FWIW, the "Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Chain with Disc Lock - 5 Ft." I got is about $125 on Amazon.
~
 
DougC said:
outskirtscustoms said:
bigj said:
These guys seemed to have some good products. Never used them, though.
http://www.lockitt.com/chain3.htm
Click to expand...
Nice but $200+ for a bike lock??? :shock:
Click to expand...
It is a bit up there, but these look like European brands.
Floor anchors aren't popular in the US, but they're common in the UK..... so this place has probably rolled-in the cost of shipping them from Euro-land to the USA. Which wouldn't be cheap, due to the weight. Abus is basically the Kryptonite of the UK.

FWIW, the "Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Chain with Disc Lock - 5 Ft." I got is about $125 on Amazon.
~
Click to expand...

That's a little better but I'll still go with $5 worth of log chain and a $15 Master Magnum pad lock. That's what I got on my mountain bike. My Rat Rod Bike isn't worth that much though, Monetarily speaking anyway. Right now I have an old black laminated steel braid cable and an OLD german "Jordan" lock to fit the old-school look. "Just to keep honest people honest"
 

Latest posts

Back
Top