Bikepacking: what lock?

[ColinJ]

Even the OnGuard Brute X4 you mentioned is shown as 1.864kgs, if you can trust the weights there.

I've got one. I'll weigh it for you... ok, it is 1.62 kg for the lock itself, which feels pretty heavy when you have to lug it about. If you included the mounting bracket it would be nearer the 1.864 kg quoted. I only used the bracket once and then chucked it - the heavy lock just didn't feel secure enough in it.

I think the Brute is about as big and tough as most people would be prepared to carry any distance, but even that lock would probably only protect for 1-2 minutes against someone with the right tools who was determined to get the bike.

I only leave a bike locked up outside the local supermarket, and that is my homemade singlespeed bike worth only £100 or so. I wouldn't leave my more expensive bikes anywhere out of sight even with the Brute On-guard!

 

[Tigerbiten]

I've gone the lightweight route with an small aluminium D lock.
That plus a padlock and a couple of 5' cables are lighter than my steel D lock.
I know it's about as good as hard cheese if some scrote attacks it.
But it looks the part, so a good deterrent against a causal thief.
So I think it fine in what I think are low/medium risk areas where it probably won't get attacked.
But I probably wouldn't want risk it in what I thought was a high risk area.

YMMV .........

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I only leave a bike locked up outside the local supermarket, and that is my homemade singlespeed bike worth only £100 or so. I wouldn't leave my more expensive bikes anywhere out of sight even with the Brute On-guard!

Exactly the same as me, except my "good" bikes that I don't ever leave unattended anywhere are the £100 ones and the beaters that I will leave parked are only worth £20 on a good day.
What @ColinJ and I both are doing is risk management. We know that even the baddest heaviest D-locks are only going to resist an angle grinder for a couple of minutes, so instead of buying into the bike security arms race, instead we simply remove the criminal profit available by not leaving items of substantial value unattended.
My locks are not intended to stop professional bike pilferers, as there is no money in hack bikes. They are there partly for a visual deterrent and partly to stop casual ride-away theft where some drunk wants a free ride home or a junkie enough for a hit of drugs.
The other thing I do is only use nutted axle wheels on any bike I leave parked. QR's are the criminal's best friend. I've lost count of the number of locked bikes I've seen where the front wheel got stolen, and the number of solitary QR front wheels I've seen locked to railings where the rest of the bike went missing.

 

[Blue Hills]

The other thing I do is only use nutted axle wheels on any bike I leave parked. QR's are the criminal's best friend. I've lost count of the number of locked bikes I've seen where the front wheel got stolen, and the number of solitary QR front wheels I've seen locked to railings where the rest of the bike went missing.

Bugs me that the sellers of various security skewers insist on you buying a pair front and back. No great point on the rear as my D lock will be through it. I'd rather have two fronts.
In London I lock my front wheel with a small semi-bluffy decathlon D lock.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Bugs me that the sellers of various security skewers insist on you buying a pair front and back. No great point on the rear as my D lock will be through it. I'd rather have two fronts.
In London I lock my front wheel with a small semi-bluffy decathlon D lock.

The issue I have with D-locks is the added weight, and some riders with valuable machines locked in dodgy areas are having to resort to using two of the things.
If you think about it, the main difference between cheap bikes and very expensive ones is the latter typically weigh a few pounds less - but because they are so sought after by thieves the rider ends up having to lug a couple of hefty locks around that pretty much negates all the weight they saved by buying an expensive bike. They might as well have bought a much cheaper bike that weighs a bit more, carry a lighter lock, and end up with roughly the same overall weight but only risking losing a fraction of the money if it does get stolen. I appreciate the inconvenience of a bike going AWOL is a factor but there really is a bike value ceiling when it comes to leaving them unattended.

 

[Blue Hills]

The issue I have with D-locks is the added weight, and some riders with valuable machines locked in dodgy areas are having to resort to using two of the things.
If you think about it, the main difference between cheap bikes and very expensive ones is the latter typically weigh a few pounds less - but because they are so sought after by thieves the rider ends up having to lug a couple of hefty locks around that pretty much negates all the weight they saved by buying an expensive bike. They might as well have bought a much cheaper bike that weighs a bit more, carry a lighter lock, and end up with roughly the same overall weight but only risking losing a fraction of the money if it does get stolen. I appreciate the inconvenience of a bike going AWOL is a factor but there really is a bike value ceiling when it comes to leaving them unattended.

agree.
I wouldn't leave an expensive bike but if I did I'd use two heavy locks, which as you say negates the weight gains of the bike. Possibly more than negates as the weight of the locks will be "deader"?


To clarify, that decathlon thing I referred to is quite light - it's a bit of a bluff - only cost me £3.50 in a sale

 

[mikeIow]

The weight is clearly the pain.
I'm curious why frame locks like this are not more widely used over here. Wondered that years ago when I was at Centre Parcs....& clearly they are "de rigour" as first line of defence in the Netherlands.
Yes, it won't stop someone picking the bike up, but I suspect for a loaded tourer, not a bad option?

 

[Blue Hills]

The weight is clearly the pain.
I'm curious why frame locks like this are not more widely used over here. Wondered that years ago when I was at Centre Parcs....& clearly they are "de rigour" as first line of defence in the Netherlands.
Yes, it won't stop someone picking the bike up, but I suspect for a loaded tourer, not a bad option?

I have thought of one of those for a tourer but never got round to figuring which variant I might need - and also potential rack and luggage interference.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The frame locks are really just a casual ride-off theft deterrent, and the sort of bikes they are most commonly fitted to are heavy steel roadsters, which are not easy to carry any distance with a wheel off the ground.
The big problem is professional bike thieves generally have transit van transport nearby, so if you want to prevent a parked bike being nicked you really have to lock it to an immovable object. Wheel locks and the old fashioned fork locks used on some Raleigh 3-speeds are really just short duration convenience locks for popping in a small shop for a couple of minutes where the bike is right outside the window. I wouldn't rely on them if the bike is out of my line of vision.

 

[mjr]

The weight is clearly the pain.
I'm curious why frame locks like this are not more widely used over here. Wondered that years ago when I was at Centre Parcs....& clearly they are "de rigour" as first line of defence in the Netherlands.
Yes, it won't stop someone picking the bike up, but I suspect for a loaded tourer, not a bad option?

The drawbacks are UK shops are crap at including the measurements needed to tell whether it will fit, even if it does fit at first then a later change of rim might mean it doesn't any longer, you don't really have the option of leaving it at home if you're not locking anywhere, plus you pretty much need one for each bike.

The ones with alarmed plugin lassos to secure to a parking stand seem good.

 

[mikeIow]

The frame locks are really just a casual ride-off theft deterrent, and the sort of bikes they are most commonly fitted to are heavy steel roadsters, which are not easy to carry any distance with a wheel off the ground.
The big problem is professional bike thieves generally have transit van transport nearby, so if you want to prevent a parked bike being nicked you really have to lock it to an immovable object. Wheel locks and the old fashioned fork locks used on some Raleigh 3-speeds are really just short duration convenience locks for popping in a small shop for a couple of minutes where the bike is right outside the window. I wouldn't rely on them if the bike is out of my line of vision.

Or heavy, loaded tourers perhaps
I do appreciate a professional thief will get the bike. Just looking to minimise the chances of chancers

The drawbacks are UK shops are crap at including the measurements needed to tell whether it will fit, even if it does fit at first then a later change of rim might mean it doesn't any longer, you don't really have the option of leaving it at home if you're not locking anywhere, plus you pretty much need one for each bike.

The ones with alarmed plugin lassos to secure to a parking stand seem good.

I’m mostly concerned with one bike, & I think the details aren’t to bad to figure out a fit.
Not so sure about the lasso being integrated....unless it is also well rated (which, of course, equals more weight!)
Maybe a separate folding lock or similar might do the job. Even some movement alarm to draw attention to any nefarious scrote
Found an interesting review here. Despite being broken, looks like it mostly did the job

Maybe I’m overthinking this (he says, typing this at 7am!)

 

[acuna_read]

I guess the Abus Granit X-Plus 540 at 1.4kg looks the lightest, though that's 13mm too.

I have the mini version of this which comes in at 1.224kg according to the kitchen scales. Its a bit trickier to get rear wheel and frame locked together but feels much more secure when you do, I never bother with mounts as always found them useless so just gets put in the pannier or rucksack. You cant even tilt the bike away from the rail/rack at all when locked up. Been consideering my bike packing options and will take this and maybe a cable in future although I know from experiencing and poor locking technique the cables are easily cut! I use two locks normally (another longer older abus which I leave at work) as well as pitlock axles though. The joys of living in south london!

 

[snorri]

My longer distance touring days are over so I'm not worried about antagonising the lock equivalent of the puncture fairy.
My first Lidl cable lock protected my bike on a LeJog in 1997 and although there have been lock replacements since, due mainly to losing keys, I've continued to rely on Lidls cable locks for security on cycle camping tours through fourteen European countries and the four nations of the UK since '97 and Mr Lidl has not let me down.
Make of that what you will.
PS Serious question, what's the difference between bikepacking and cycle touring?

 

[chriswoody]

PS Serious question, what's the difference between bikepacking and cycle touring?

Blimey you're going to be opening a can of worms with that one!

My personal take is that essentially Bikepacking is a form of cycle touring. Cycle touring can be used to describe any multi day adventure trip where the bike is the primary means of transport. Within that description, you can then break it down further to more accurately describe the kind of touring you're doing. So kitchen sink touring, (with front and rear panniers, Tent and other kit on the racks etc), credit card touring, (A spare pair of undies and a credit card, staying in B&B's/hotels)

Bikepacking is a relatively new arrival on the scene and instead of panniers & racks, soft bags are used and in total you have about 45 litres of carrying capacity, so everything is ultra light weight. The primary purpose is so you can ride predominately off-road and adventurous trails and not be weighed down by the kit you are carrying. Though it can also be a useful way of carrying kit on a road bike that would otherwise have no provision for attaching pannier racks.

Essentially though, it's just a more detailed way of describing the kind of cycle touring you're doing.

On the subject of the original post, I've been using a kryptonite evolution mini 7 d-lock. It's a little heavy but easy to carry and effective.

 

[snorri]

From a kitchen sink tourist, thank you @chriswoody .