One show - bike locks

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Just had review of bike locks and cables on the One Show. Most were broken by an expert in less than 2 minutes. Only a D lock survived.
 

Oldhippy

Cynical idealist
If they want bad enough they will take it is my motto.
 
Location
London
If they want bad enough they will take it is my motto.
yes I think so.
I was idly wondering while cycling the other day whether London might actually be better than many places for not getting your bike nicked. In that if you ride something not too flashy/modern/retro-trendy and lock reasonably well in clustered streetstands, you benefit from all the other far more attractive prospects for thieves.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
I watched it as it said about locks. The stupid riders that had got away with it... it was a waste of a show as all cable locks are rubbsh, and the locksmith should have had that cheap Kryptonite chopped ASAP.

Real wast of air time... all d'locks aren't the same..... VERY POOR.

As an owner of a Mini FAGH Kryptonite - cut this.... looser....:rolleyes:
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Starts 4 minutes into the programme

The One Show, 20/10/2020: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000nppr via @bbciplayer
Mainly BBC stereotyped helmet+lycra portrayal (2 exceptions). 51% increase in thefts year-on-year. CUK's Keir Gallagher commenting. Locks tested by "Guy" of the Master Locksmith's Association (conflict of interest? Don't they sell the Sold Secure licensing scheme?): "heavy duty" cable lock cut with a junior hacksaw in 50s, 1m17 with snips on a 1990 cable, 14s with hacksaw on some armoured cable, Kryptonite cable bolt-cropped quickly but D lock resisted 5 minutes of manual tools.

Might wake some up to crapness of cables but a shame they didn't try a variety of Ds, an O lock, alarmed locks and so on, plus some jacks and battery tools.
 
Mainly BBC stereotyped helmet+lycra portrayal (2 exceptions). 51% increase in thefts year-on-year. CUK's Keir Gallagher commenting. Locks tested by "Guy" of the Master Locksmith's Association (conflict of interest? Don't they sell the Sold Secure licensing scheme?): "heavy duty" cable lock cut with a junior hacksaw in 50s, 1m17 with snips on a 1990 cable, 14s with hacksaw on some armoured cable, Kryptonite cable bolt-cropped quickly but D lock resisted 5 minutes of manual tools.

Might wake some up to crapness of cables but a shame they didn't try a variety of Ds, an O lock, alarmed locks and so on, plus some jacks and battery tools.

The One Show doesn't do anything in depth!
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
I was idly wondering while cycling the other day whether London might actually be better than many places for not getting your bike nicked. In that if you ride something not too flashy/modern/retro-trendy and lock reasonably well in clustered streetstands, you benefit from all the other far more attractive prospects for thieves.

It depends where on the scale of desirability your bike sits. If you park a bike that is considerably more crappy and considerably less valuable than the average bike in that locale, then taking your bike would not make financial sense to a thief if a better one worth more cash was available a few yards away.

It's no different to the airheads you see wandering around on the street with their noses stuck in their latest model smartphones, viewing that really important text message, completely oblivious to who is around them. No-one with half a brain would brandish a £500 or £1k wad of banknotes in full sight of everyone else around, but that is exactly what both phone owners and cyclists who have their valuable stuff on display are doing. It's an open invitation to get robbed.
 
Last edited:

hoopdriver

Guru
Location
East Sussex
I have Pragmasis chain locks on my bikes in the shed. They're expensive locks but not easily broken. Indeed testers once actually broke a pair of 48" bolt cutters trying to snip a 19mm Pragmasis chain - the same as what I have securing my bikes to a Pragmasis floor anchor. To be sure, power tools would do it, but on the whole there are much easier pickings around. As they say about bear attacks, you don't have to outrun the bear, just outrun the fellow next to you...
 
The One Show is the breakfast shownfor many light fingered scumbags, so its nice of the Beeb to demonstrate to them which are the easiest locks to target.

I think they know that already.

A thin cable or a heavy D-Lock? Mmmm, let me think.

I volunteer in a community bike workshop and many of the bikes donated to us come with the chain or D-lock still on them. It rarely takes long to cut them off, but we also have heavy bolt-cutters and angle-grinders for the stubborn ones.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mjr

Marli

Regular
Out of interest, does bike insurance (I've never looked into it) come with a discount/caveat for 'approved' locks like home insurance?
 
Top Bottom