How to use a D-lock...

[Mad at urage]

Unclip front brake, release front QR, place front wheel on left chainstay. Long D-lock with decent locking around/through street furniture/Sheffield rack, front wheel, frame and rear wheel. All locked together, simples.


Of course I don't have one of these modern, delicate bicycles that can't lean the forks on the ground!

 

[Manonabike]

I've tried locking my bike up like that but my Evo Mini lock won't reach around the seat tube and the rim, it's just too small. I'll experiment more and see if I can include the rear wheel any other way, not prepared to buy a new, bigger lock though as cash is tight once more. I do lock my front though with my old cable, probably insecure but my work bike sheds don't seem that dodgy and are only a stone's throw from the security both and several CCTV cameras.

Obviously this will depend on the thickness of all parts concerned but this is how I do it with a Evolution Mini

And this is how I use my other lock

If I'm leaving my bike for a while I use the Evolution to lock the front wheel and yellow to lock the bike as seen in above pic.

 

[MontyVeda]

Was there an unsecured quick release from wheel and seat though? This can be annoying > like so - not mine thankfully


...

yeah i popped into a pub for five minutes and came out to find my bike lacking a front wheel... man i was furious, so much so I don't have quick release any more.

 

[asterix]

Still don't understand why nobody else puts the D-lock through front wheel and frame triangle (without removing front wheel!). Why carry an extra cable lock to attach your front wheel? I use a standard Granit x plus and it is perfectly easy to do this and fill the shackle.

 

[Wobblers]

Well, you hold the lock by the end of the shackle. That gives you decent grip and good weight. Then give the lock a good swing and apply to the skull of your opponent...


... oh, wait, I seem to have misunderstood the question!

As you were, nothing to see here...


On a more serious note, I lock my bike the same way as Manonabike: through the rear triangle with the seat stays enclosed by the lock:

That way you can ensure that the lock is filled so ought to be much harder to break.

 

[MacB]

Still don't understand why nobody else puts the D-lock through front wheel and frame triangle (without removing front wheel!). Why carry an extra cable lock to attach your front wheel? I use a standard Granit x plus and it is perfectly easy to do this and fill the shackle.

I do, I use two d-locks and do front and rear, but it's only the shopping bike and so is permanently shod with panniers etc and only does short runs. My nicer bikes I just don't lock up in public but, if needed, would at least do one d-lock and probably remove front wheel to attach as well.

 

[funnymummy]

My Mummy bike has a frame lock on the back wheel. Once I went to the shop without #2 & his trailer - which of course had the D & cables locks in it, but I was only popping into the Co-op so no biggy, just put the bike in the rack & flicked the frame lock on.
As i walked out the shop a few mins later, some daft chav was about to mount my bike & ride off.. i'm 6'2", Mummy bike has a 22" step through frame, the chav was about 5' nothing & scrawny. I shouted "Oi Muppet" He looked over his shoulder, stood on the pedals & tried to ride off, he moved about 1/2 an inch - all that the frame lock would allow the wheel to turn, the bike tipped over, the chav went splat, much to the amusement of his friends a few feet away.
He got up dazed, started swaering at me, then realised I used to be his teacher, muttered somthing about Poo & ran off!
Cost me a couple of new spokes, but the entertainment value was priceless - I also rembered to keep the D lock in my panniers after that!

 

[HLaB]

Still don't understand why nobody else puts the D-lock through front wheel and frame triangle (without removing front wheel!). Why carry an extra cable lock to attach your front wheel? I use a standard Granit x plus and it is perfectly easy to do this and fill the shackle.

The theory is the back wheel costs more to replace so a lot of folk (myself included) like to use their better lock there. One lock wont reach the front and back wheel.

 

[Arfcollins]

There's nothing wrong with securing the top tube to an immovable object. I haven't lost a bike yet. I carry a small oxy-acetylene kit in the left-hand pannier and weld my bike to a lamp post. The petrol driven disc-cutter in the right-hand pannier that I use to release the bike adds considerable weight on my commute but I still prefer the panniers to carrying the equipment in a ruck sack. My question is this: should I continue to wear the leather welding apron between home and work or, statisically, is it just as safe to let the sparks hit my middle-aged lycra-clad midriff?

 

[gambatte]

Q: If reach of a small D lock is an issue, why not secure solely to the rear wheel, at a point between the seat and chainstays? Surely the geometry secures the frame too?

 

[Wankelschrauben]

Those videos have been quite shocking.

I'm on the lookout for one of the cool looking yellow New York locks to replace or use with my Doberman cable lock.

 

[asterix]

The theory is the back wheel costs more to replace so a lot of folk (myself included) like to use their better lock there. One lock wont reach the front and back wheel.

Ah yes, my back wheels wouldn't be that tempting.

 

[Black Sheep]

I see so many bikes secured with a D lock round the fork, through the front wheel

I see it as my civic duty to unclip the wheel, flip the rest of the bike through 180 and put the wheel back in

 

[MontyVeda]

My Mummy bike has a frame lock on the back wheel. Once I went to the shop without #2 & his trailer - which of course had the D & cables locks in it, but I was only popping into the Co-op so no biggy, just put the bike in the rack & flicked the frame lock on.
As i walked out the shop a few mins later, some daft chav was about to mount my bike & ride off.. i'm 6'2", Mummy bike has a 22" step through frame, the chav was about 5' nothing & scrawny. I shouted "Oi Muppet" He looked over his shoulder, stood on the pedals & tried to ride off, he moved about 1/2 an inch - all that the frame lock would allow the wheel to turn, the bike tipped over, the chav went splat, much to the amusement of his friends a few feet away.
He got up dazed, started swaering at me, then realised I used to be his teacher, muttered somthing about Poo & ran off!
Cost me a couple of new spokes, but the entertainment value was priceless - I also rembered to keep the D lock in my panniers after that!

classic!

 

[MontyVeda]

There's nothing wrong with securing the top tube to an immovable object. I haven't lost a bike yet. I carry a small oxy-acetylene kit in the left-hand pannier and weld my bike to a lamp post. The petrol driven disc-cutter in the right-hand pannier that I use to release the bike adds considerable weight on my commute but I still prefer the panniers to carrying the equipment in a ruck sack. My question is this: should I continue to wear the leather welding apron between home and work or, statisically, is it just as safe to let the sparks hit my middle-aged lycra-clad midriff?

A leather apron in the rain? Might compromise it's life... best keep it in a pannier too