D Lock or Chain?

wilkij1975

I need to buy a decent lock and was wanting some opinions on weather a D lock or a feck off great chain lock would be best?

I would like the portability of the d lock but I have a ground anchor and i'm not sure if I could get a D lock long enough to go through my frame and the anchor.

I was also wondering if anyone has used one of the Magnum locks that Halfords sell? They look good value and are Sold Secure rated but there must be a catch?

Cheers

jmillen

If you have any kind of separate bike insurance, just get one of their listed locks.

If someone wants the bike, they'll take it, so its best in my opinion to just always make sure your insurance will pay out by using the correct lock as per their terms and conditions.

(If you are using ground anchors, I'd go with a chain option as it'll be easier to get a decent fixing around your bike and through the anchor).

ride_whenever

insurance and the cheapest lock on their list, masterlock do a long d-lock that is gold rated solid secure for £40 rrp. I personally use one of these:



for round town on my hack bike, because i like my hack bike and don't want it to go missing.

Northwind

Sounds like the answer is both? Chain for ground anchor, ulock for everything else. No better portable option than a good ulock, they're stronger than cables and any sensibly portable chain. But not much use with a ground anchor, that wants a proper * chain.

(*- proper = not practical to cut with hand tools)

But they're also right, insurance is more important, it's no good having the best chain in the world if the insurance won't pay out if it's broken, better to have a rubbish chain and insurance. But at the same time, it's best to have a lock that's both good, and that will keep the insurance happy- there's an awful lot of insurance approve locked that are total s**t, and sometimes expensive to boot. Almost all cable locks, every chain under 13mm...[/u]

wilkij1975

Cheers all. I think i'll have to get one of each as Northwind says.

I was looking at a Magnum chain from Halfords. Its a Sold Secure gold rated so will be plenty to keep insurers happy. I just don't know much about them. There is a review of an Oxford chain on here that is said to be exactly the same as the Magnum one but is cheaper. Only thing is, it doesn't say on their website that it is insurance approved.

ride_whenever

I think you'd be better off buying an almax immobilise 4 chain for both, big, heavy and expensive. But damned tough.

submityournentries

ive got a krytonite evo 4 and thats rated in the top band of locks. use that to secure my bike to something solid, and then an extender cable to keep my wheels in place sorted

overthebars

I use Almax/Squire for all my bikes/motorbikes. Thieves have made at least one attempt with saw but were unsuccessful. v.funny watching postman/lady carry it to front door-incredibly heavy which is the trade off.

Northwind

Almax/Pragmasis would be my shout too.

frogstomp

Evans have a Abus Granit D-lock and chain combo in their clearance at the moment - £56 (using code EXTRA20)

Rickbus

As mentioned depends if getting insurance.
I just picked up a Kryptonite 2-Series D Lock and 4ft Cable for £20.50 from rutland ycles ebay shop.
Direct from there site its £39.99 and even came with a £39.99 sticker on it. So bargin i think.
Its only silver rated, but allows upto £800 bike cover with most insurers.
So if ya bike fits into the above i would recomend it..

meanredspider

What are thoughts on bike security marking? My brother used to sell this service (for everything from bikes to earth-moving plant) - the idea being that if an item can be identified as stolen it's less likely to be stolen ("handling stolen goods"). I'd have thought that it must help if only to persuade the theif to nick the bike parked next to yours...