ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I am not a fan of bike thieves but the idiots that set that up are lucky that they didn't end up killing someone!

14mm D lock and 12mm braid-of-braids alarmed cable lock to stop silly front wheel thefts. Basically, stuff that's just below those listed on https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/144109/ - a
Does it really matter though as long as you are using two locks and your bike isn't super expensive looking/the best in the rack? I mean they are going to have to take a power tool to it anyway. And though the more expensive/heavy duty D locks will resist the power tool for longer, it's not a lot longer. In short, if they are going to make themselves conspicuous, however briefly, by using a power tool, aren't they going to go for the best catch? Sorry if I'm being naive, but I have been thinking this way lately and tend to use a scrappy looking (but good) bike around London.It doesn't look it - the D-lock is only 13mm thick and the cable is only 10mm, plus if they beat the D then the cable comes free. You can do better for the money at the moment.
mm- but is it wise to lock/leave a $3,000 dollar bike in the street anyway? Granted that if thieves see a bike as a real catch they will lift it anyway. And are you serously suggesting spending $300 on a lock? Surely you'd be better spending $300 on a bike for leaving round town?I'm a little late to this post, but I think the cost of the lock should be relative to the value of the bike it will be locking. That OnGuard lock is fine for a bike that is around $300 in value, but I wouldn't use it on a bike worth $3,000, I would base the price of a lock on roughly 10% of the value of the bike you'll be using it on. Now of course if you live in an extremely low crime area then a low costing lock would be adequate for any priced bike, but in an average crime area and above you need to rethink about how much you should spend on a lock.
I've taken a pair or four foot bolt cutters to a lock, "securing" a bike in full view of a CCTV system and shops. Cut the lock, then walked off with all three.Whenever I have needed a bike lock I just go to a hardware store farmers use and ask for a chain and padlock that will lock an agricultural gate. Reasoning being if it can keep caravan folk out it can probably keep my bike in place. Always sub £20 for a heavy old chain that you would need some industrial duty bolt cutters or an angle grinder to get through.
Though in reality if you have a better lock and/or a less desirable bike than others in the stand you have a pretty good chance of keeping your bike. The videos online showing people cutting through the chain with two metre bolt cutters are a bit silly as petty thieves aren't likely to walk around with something so obvious.
Yes but you are not a smackhead who plod will take an interest to if they look like they might be going equipped.I've taken a pair or four foot bolt cutters to a lock, "securing" a bike in full view of a CCTV system and shops. Cut the lock, then walked off with all three.
So it's not as daft as it sounds/seems. The bike racks have since been removed though.
Never questioned as to why I was carrying them. No attempt made to hide them or what I was doing.Yes but you are not a smackhead who plod will take an interest to if they look like they might be going equipped.
I feel it does matter because if you use a D lock with add-on cable like that, you are effectively only using one lock - the D. When they break the D, the cable comes off too.Does it really matter though as long as you are using two locks and your bike isn't super expensive looking/the best in the rack?
My alarmed cable (I think it's a clone of the Yale JE90) is not currently in stock. Yale occasionally make some (but I can't find any in stock in the UK in a few searches), or combining one of the Krabus or clone padlocks from the LFGSS list with a decent cable will do a similar job, although I prefer an integrated lock.Do you have a link for one of these alarmed cable locks? But, thinking, can't the alarm be very swiftly disabled with a quick smash?
Did you have a magic cloak of hi-vis invisibility on? Ain't social compliance wonderful: act as if you are meant to be there and people assume you're meant to be there.Never questioned as to why I was carrying them. No attempt made to hide them or what I was doing.
I meant using two D locks mjr (not a lock and a cavle) - but both not top-notch not top-heavy. On the principle that they are going to have to take a power tool to them anyway. Yes, like you I've quite often (in fact just the other day) seen someone use the D lock as a link between the two ends of the cable! What are they thinking?I feel it does matter because if you use a D lock with add-on cable like that, you are effectively only using one lock - the D. When they break the D, the cable comes off too.
It's only slightly better than just using a D-lock in that they can't steal a wheel as easily - and if you only loop the cable around the parking stand (as I've seen so often) and don't put the D around it, they can cut the cable and wheel the bike (lifting only the D-locked wheel slightly) somewhere to work on the D as noisily and slowly as they like - plus you won't be able to claim the lock's insurance because you won't have the defeated lock. Locking like that is pretty much like using a cable lock that thin, which wouldn't qualify for any security standard.
Not looking the best in the rack is always helpful, but you can't rely on someone parking their Dogma where you're going. Also, I feel using one of those add-on cables identifies you as a bit confused about security, so the more habitual thieves'll look more closely to see if you made a more basic mistake.
Apologies for my confusion - you did quote me commenting on one of those lock+add-on bundles, though. I bow to your experience of what's needed to break D locks - I tend to assume no-one will bat an eyelid at someone taking a power tool to a bike lock these days. There's quite a few videos on youtube of it in the USA and I doubt it would be much different in London or Cambridge.I meant using two D locks mjr (not a lock and a cavle) - but both not top-notch not top-heavy. On the principle that they are going to have to take a power tool to them anyway.
No Hi-Vis on at the time. Simply wandered up to where the bike was "securely" locked against the bike rack, bolt cutters in hand. Cut the lock and wandered off carrying all three.Did you have a magic cloak of hi-vis invisibility on? Ain't social compliance wonderful: act as if you are meant to be there and people assume you're meant to be there.