The biggest threat to parked cycles

stickman · March 2010

How about Cycling Plus or one of the other mags doing a feature on locks where every one is bolt cropper proof minimum? Lock reviews always seem to go on about angle grinders and hammer and chisel or whatever but I don't think that affects most of us most of the time, whereas someone with bolt croppers under their coat can be in a public place and have a bike away in a few seconds without massive prolonged noise.

And different types, cable, chain, D-lock (I hope those big tough D-locks that can be opened with biros no longer exist)

andy83 · March 2010

they actuall did last year some time. Very good comprehensive list and wide range of locks tested

I think the abus granit came out on top, which persuaded me to purchase

stickman · March 2010

Sounds good - if it was crop proof minimum defence for each lock

andy83 · March 2010

if I remember right the test were in three stages

test 1 simple tools anyone would have give up after a minute

test 2 tools pro thieves had - give up after 5 mins

test 3 angel grinder

I think i may still have the copy, ill try find it out if your interested

stickman · March 2010

Thanks, any crop proof would be interesting to know.

nation · March 2010

There pretty much isn't anything that's going to be completely resistant to bolt cutters, unless it's made of tubular steel and weighs at least a couple of kilos.

36" and 48" bolt croppers with hardened steel jaws are designed to cut through metal. The only real protection is the fact that the tool itself is unwieldy, costs £150-200, and is going to need new jaws (£40-80) after cutting through anything that offers serious resistance.

djrock · March 2010

You would think that 36” and 48” cropper are not easy to hide but they can be when modified. The cost of them means nothing since they will most likely steal a pair and by the time they need new jaws they will have enough money to buy a new pair of jaws or even steal a pair.

merkin · March 2010

I have just ordered one of these.
http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/product.asp?s=3epm7e151524&strPageHistory=category&numSearchStartRecord=0&strParents=73&CAT_ID=73&P_ID=123&btnProduct=More+Details :twisted:
Probably a bit OTT for commuting but perfect for the garage where I want to lock up a few bikes at once. They actually make a bigger one with 19mm thick links.
My reasoning is if someone gets into my garage they wont want to use a grinder due to the noise, hopefully wont use oxy acetylene (which will get through anything) and bolt croppers can't get through this chain due to the size of the links.

stickman · March 2010

Now THAT'S a lock!

rhann · March 2010

they'll probably end up cutting through the thing the lock is attached to.

MadammeMarie · March 2010

andy83 wrote:

they actuall did last year some time. Very good comprehensive list and wide range of locks tested

I think the abus granit came out on top, which persuaded me to purchase

Me too!

But they did a review in 2004, in which a £25 lock came up on top, with 10 points! I think it was a Magnus something. Couldn't find it anywhere in London, only in a cycle shop in Derbyshire and they didn't do postal orders. Anybody remember that?

N0bodyOfTheGoat · March 2010

We bought a pair of Granit X Pluses, still not convinced that the eastKF attchment is worth an extra 15 squids.

davis · March 2010

merkin wrote:

I have just ordered one of these.
http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/product.asp?s=3epm7e151524&strPageHistory=category&numSearchStartRecord=0&strParents=73&CAT_ID=73&P_ID=123&btnProduct=More+Details :twisted:
Probably a bit OTT for commuting but perfect for the garage where I want to lock up a few bikes at once. They actually make a bigger one with 19mm thick links.
My reasoning is if someone gets into my garage they wont want to use a grinder due to the noise, hopefully wont use oxy acetylene (which will get through anything) and bolt croppers can't get through this chain due to the size of the links.

Good thinking! Now, if anyone wants to steal your lock, they'll have to cut through multiple bicycles -- that'll foil the bounders!
Seriously though, I thought big bolt cutters could get through stuff that was up to 19mm, which was why chains became that size.

merkin · March 2010

Well they claim to be uncroppable with hand croppers or a small hydraulic bolt cropper. Other than a grinder I can't imagine many crooks having much else. I also have a substantial anchor fitted to the wall of my garage about 700mm above the ground where it is both shielded by the bikes and awkward to work on. I would rather the bikes were written off in the process than some thieving toerag making a profit on it.

BR 1979 · March 2010

This was what I based my lock choice on:

http://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/Magazine/200803042.pdf

I decided on a Mini-Kryptonite with 7ft cable for the wheels. These are left at work, but when I'm going to go round the shops on the way home, the "mini" size of the lock means it's not too heavy to stick in the rucksack. Also, being a mini lock it's easier to lock it in such a way as to fill the shackle.

I carry a crappy little cable lock on the bike the whole time for those "pint of milk" moments.

pomtarr · March 2010

This is handy:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938.html

mroli · March 2010

This looks great for those pint of milk moments http://www.ultrasecuredirect.com/acatal ... -2770.html

The biggest threat to parked cycles

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