Locking a bike and forget about it, possible?

mrblue

I was bragging about my u lock with a friend. I was claiming that was unbreakable, being thick 19mm and costing 100 usd i supposed was invincible. My londoner friend looked at me with complacency as you were talking to a baby, and said i am very naive. "EVERY u lock or chain can be opened!!...How? just freezing the lock and then hammering it once it became fragile to smash in many pieces!"
They had already told me that the weak point of chains is not the chain itself, but often the lock by the way.

I wonder if it exist a lock that make you safe in leaving your bike safe for 24h in a london street.
Thank you

cooldad

Easy. One locking a really cr4p bike.

mouth

mrblue wrote:

I wonder if it exist a lock that make you safe in leaving your bike safe for 24h in a london street.

Bottom line is that if they want the bike, they'll have it. Could chain a Rottweiler to it I suppose.

I'm at the point that I don't even know where my bike locks are. Can't remember the last time I locked it up in public, only ever leaving it at work (secure enough parking to not bother even locking it there either) or in my shed at home, where I don't bother locking it. I'm not particularly precious of my bike but I reckon I'd miss it,

Long_Time_Lurker

cooldad wrote:

Easy. One locking a really cr4p bike.

This. There is a reason I've kept my old Felt. Unfashionable, ugly and no-one in their right mind will want to steal it.
(And if they do, my wife will be happy that there is more room in the garage.)

veronese68

We have a scabby old 3 speed shopping bike the Mrs leaves at the station when she goes to work. It sometimes gets left for a couple of days. The locks are worth more than the bike, it being stolen is not the problem. Drunken tw@ts are the issue, the back wheel and mudguard were kicked in the other day to the point that the wheel wouldn't turn as it was fouling on the frame. I managed to straighten it to the point that it is now functional, but it isn't right.

alan_sherman

My wife's Apollo hybrid was nicked! i think it only cost £130 new and it was about 5 years old. Some people will steal anything.

The Rookie

When they can get 50% of the value of the hole bike from the other components, cutting the frame to steal the components is cost effective.

You aim to make it less worth the hassle than another nearby bike.

veronese68

The Rookie wrote:

When they can get 50% of the value of the hole bike from the other components...

I just passed a Specialized frame locked to lamppost with an Abus D lock. No wheels, forks, bars, seat or brakes. But hey, at least the lock did its job.

mouth

alan sherman wrote:

My wife's Apollo hybrid was nicked! i think it only cost £130 new and it was about 5 years old. Some people will steal anything.

Couple of local scally's didn't fancy the walk home from the pub/crack den/whore house would be my guess. Check your local canal for any remnants (of the bike).

mouth

Veronese68 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

When they can get 50% of the value of the hole bike from the other components...

I just passed a Specialized frame locked to lamppost with an Abus D lock. No wheels, forks, bars, seat or brakes. But hey, at least the lock did its job.

Yep. Couple of frames around this way too. And in one instance, a rear wheel. I guess he/she forgot to actually lock the frame.

The Rookie

A mate at Uni had a real sheddy bike (seriously if it was worth £10 I'd be surprised) and a semi decent combination lock, came back to find the lock stolen......

cooldad

Which is a lot less traumatic than having your multi grand bike stolen.

Man Of Lard

Surely you chaps have seen this -> https://youtu.be/NZcXF10Ir9Q

timothyw

It does strike me that this is a large obstacle to the widespread adoption of bicycles for day to day transport.

I mean, people largely take it for granted that they can park up their car, come back and have it still be there and usable.

I'm a keen cyclist, I ride to work 5 days a week, but I do so in the knowledge that there is on site parking for my bike that is behind two security gates and I have a sold-secure gold d lock ready to attach to it on arrival.

For anything but the briefest of errands (trip to a cash machine, collection of parcel from depot...) I wouldn't dream of taking my bike - too worried about the bike going missing or being vandalised when I come back!

I think I might need to get myself a proper beater for this type of usage.

veronese68

Man Of Lard wrote:

Surely you chaps have seen this -> https://youtu.be/NZcXF10Ir9Q

That's a little misleading. The wheels stay in place until they take the lock off the front wheel, then the front wheel goes over a month after it is removed. The lock through the back wheel is moved at the same time so it is only through the frame and not through the wheel. That back wheel stays in place for over two months. When the frame and back wheel disappear was it the council that removed it or had they removed the lock. There is no cut lock left on the ground so it makes me wonder.

kingstongraham

Veronese68 wrote:

Man Of Lard wrote:

Surely you chaps have seen this -> https://youtu.be/NZcXF10Ir9Q

That's a little misleading. The wheels stay in place until they take the lock off the front wheel, then the front wheel goes over a month after it is removed. The lock through the back wheel is moved at the same time so it is only through the frame and not through the wheel. That back wheel stays in place for over two months. When the frame and back wheel disappear was it the council that removed it or had they removed the lock. There is no cut lock left on the ground so it makes me wonder.

That's not bad, is it? Still pretty much complete after 6 months, and even the bottle in the cage stays there for over 4 months.

veronese68

KingstonGraham wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Man Of Lard wrote:

Surely you chaps have seen this -> https://youtu.be/NZcXF10Ir9Q

That's a little misleading. The wheels stay in place until they take the lock off the front wheel, then the front wheel goes over a month after it is removed. The lock through the back wheel is moved at the same time so it is only through the frame and not through the wheel. That back wheel stays in place for over two months. When the frame and back wheel disappear was it the council that removed it or had they removed the lock. There is no cut lock left on the ground so it makes me wonder.

That's not bad, is it? Still pretty much complete after 6 months, and even the bottle in the cage stays there for over 4 months.

No, I thought it was very good. It only really got messed with when they made it more of a honey trap.

fenix

I like that they continued after it had gone.

Now lets see it repeated with that 4 grand e bike that someone wanted to leave on the street.

mr_eddy

Short answer = No

Any lock can be broken it just depends how much effort is required. The trick as others have mentioned is to make your bike not worth stealing !

Man Of Lard

Or at least, it needs to be less desirable than the one next to it.