Originally Posted by
veganbikes
At my last shop where the people who bought for the bike shop weren't cyclists and didn't know enough to do it right they chose to sell them. I told a lady 'Don't buy that cable it won't protect your bike, it will get stolen" and she said "well I am buying it anyway" she of course bought it and then her bike was stolen and she was back a week after saying "I want a free bike because they stole my bike with YOUR lock" and we had to tell her again clearly "we told you not to buy that lock we told you that would happen and you didn't listen".
In that case there was probably nothing you could have sold her save a Fahgettaboudit U lock or one of those square-link Abus lock-and-chain devices weighing 18 pounds which would have worked
Where and when you lock up is most of whether you get robbed, IMO. And what you lock is a lot of the rest.
A bike doesn't have to be a beater to look like just a bike---whereas anything obviously brand-new and a little flashy (giant manufacturer's logo on the down tube is a great attractant) is going to be a little bit more at risk.
it's not like most people carry a set of dikes in their pockets just ambling around .... and anyone looking for a bike can carry a set of 18" bolt cutters wrapped in a jacket and never attract attention, even as he is riding off on his (used to be someone else's) new bike.
But ... whatever. When I lived in a major city, i had three bikes stolen (one recovered.) When I moved to the sticks, I used a Really cheesy 1/4-inch cable with an in-line lock--I think it was one of the "Defeat-Me EZ" brand's products---with no trouble.
Well ... some trouble. I felt a little nervous every time I went out of the store, library, whatever .... wondering if the bike would be there.
I got a fat key-locked cable and a length of chain with a combo lock, and I now use one or the other or both, and feel much more secure. yes, someone could spend 30 minutes with nothing but a steak knife and saw through the cable and pick the combo lock (instructions are on-line ... sometimes on the sites of people who test bike locks (!!!
)) but I feel like the combo (or even one or the other) is enough of an immediate deterrent to stop a joy-rider, and the time involved would be enough to stop a certain number of thieves. I don't ever lock up near crack-town (we are so far removed from life, I wouldn't even know where it wasn't safe to lock in this town .... but I don't go there,) and anyone crack- or meth-head could easily have a set of bolt-cutters, which would defeat anything except the $200/20-pound protection.
After all, I cut the hardened steel chain for my lock---with a set of 14-inch bolt-cutters in the self-serve area of the hardware store.
Buy enough lock to buy peace of mind, and don't lock up in stupid places or at stupid times.