Picking cycle locks.

[compo]

I have just wasted half hour watching several YouTube videos of people opening D locks and other locks with a tubular key with a ball point pen case. Seeing how many people use these locks I find this a little alarming and looked to see if Kryptonite and other makers had addressed the problem. I couldn't find any info at all. Most of the videos were several years old so I am wondering if the locks have had any modifications to keep them as safe as possible. None of my bike locks have this type of key, but my car steering wheel lock, the type that is a bar which threads through the steering wheel, does so perhaps I will try it out later!

 

[Spoked Wheels]

I think you'll find those Kryptonite locks that you could pick with a pen case are pretty old and even the technology behind the design is not longer used. The worry now is with the use of bolt cropper, power tools, small jacks, etc.

If a thief wants your bike badly enough he will have.

 

[ianrauk]

Bought 2 Kryptonite D-Locks recently. Both with flat key locks rather then the tubular keys.

 

[SomethingLikeThat]

One of those ballpoint pen videos got super popular and prompted Kryptonite to change the design.

 

[benb]

Yeah, all of the locks I have got recently have been flat keys.

 

[Chris Norton]

And kryptonite famously recalled their locks and replaced them due to being able to open them with a bic.
100,000 were sent back.
Scary stuff though but as it's said, if they want it bad enough the lock is simply there to slow them down so someone will stop em. A petrol disc cutter and your off with anything in 30 secs.

 

[PeteXXX]

Sadly, most bike locks can be disposed of in seconds with bolt croppers.
Total waste of time locking your bike up to avoid the scrotes riding it away.

 

[Night Train]

I remember something about the 11pin locks being easier to pick with a pen tube then the 13pin ones (or was it 9pin and 11pin).

 

[ufkacbln]

Sadly the cycle locks were the public side of the story

Vending machines and power stations also used the locks

Allegedly the keys for the nuclear deterrent were slow of the same type

So theoretically you could have launched Trident with a pen!

 

[sheffgirl]

I've got a combination lock chain, not sure if it's any safer, but it saves having to remember to carry a key. I know a thief could just cut through the chain and take the bike
I saw a bike chained up today where someone had unclipped their front wheel, moved it back, and put the chain through both wheels and the frame.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I've got a combination lock chain, not sure if it's any safer.

Unfortunately not. Combination locks are scarily easy to "crack". Even I can do it.

 

[classic33]

Unfortunately not. Combination locks are scarily easy to "crack". Even I can do it.

If there that easy, I'll double up on the lock front.

 

[PaulSecteur]

I remember seeing those vids. I think the affected locks were from a company called "Master" and the design was soon changed.