tcs

Yep, they make it look easy. That said, on those lock cutting videos they typically
1) use a quality high power angle grinder
2) use a quality new blade
3) start with a high capacity, fully charged battery
4) put the lock in a vice at a convenient height and angle

I was intrigued by this 'net sourced image. The caption said the bike was still locked in place when the owner returned. Apparently, the thief's battery pooped out before he completed the second cut!

Rage

I’ve always wanted to give that a try with the angle grinder but don’t have a spare kryptonite U lock to sacrifice.
I do have an old kryptonite chain with disc lock that an old roommate left behind. Lost the keys years ago and could sorta use the chain.
Maybe I’ll take a shot at cutting it off when the snow is gone and I can do it in the yard.
FWIW I think that a good chain and lock is harder to defeat than the U lock.

HarborBandS

I only ever lock up my bike for a few minutes, like a stop at a convenience store or Walgreens to get water and food. For that type of stop, I either leave the bike where I can see it, bring it in to the store, or use a lightweight cable lock.

I don't leave bikes unattended for long periods of time in any public areas. We have prolific bike thieves throughout our metro area.

tcs

tcs' hot tip: use good locking protocol.

Machiavelli's hot tip: lock up next to a nicer bike secured less well.

indyfabz

Several years ago a woman and I locked our bikes next to each other’s at the same time. I used a Kryptonite u lock and thick cable to secure my LHT. She used a cheap chain and padlock to secure her Trek road bike. She went into the market. I went to get a paper. As I was returning to the market I saw a tweeker looking guy speeding the wrong way down the street on her bike, small duffel bag over his shoulder. Hadn’t even been 10 min. More like 5. My bike was untouched.

Reynolds 

That's the kind of lock I use, but with a heavier hardened chain. I'd rather have my rear wheel smashed than my whole bike taken off!

rekmeyata

If you want an angle grinder almost proof lock then see this video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2730139000581573 As you can tell it's a huge lock, not very portable, but for a storage shed it would work great if you have something to lock it to. In the video, it would have been a lot more effective to cut the bike rack, take the bike and lock home and work at it at home.

veganbikes

I don't much go for the gimmicks and while this one actually can do it's job of being tough to cut with angle grinders, it is so big and goofy it is hard to use except at the house and then what am I locking to that wouldn't be easier to hack off. Granted LPL did make it clear it is tough to get into which is a good thing for a lock.

UncleG

Battery powered tools have changed the criminal tactics.
Why breach a door, and a possible alarm, when you can easily saw through the side of a house to gain entry...

The same saws and grinders can cut any practical bike lock.

tcs

Hence the idea behind the design of the Skunk Lock™ I referenced in post number 10.

grizzly59

Milwaukee M18 lithium battery grinder + Milwaukee cutoff wheel vs. 5/8" rebar (non-hardened). Less than 15 seconds, grinder 1, rebar 0. Cutoff wheels burn and abrade, they will go right through steel too hard for a saw or file. My guess less than a minute if the steel was hardened, prob 30 seconds.

GlennR

People are stealing catalytic converters so a bicycle lock is a piece of cake.

rekmeyata

That lock has been around for at least a year, and it's not a gimmick, just extremely impractical to carry around on your bike, actually impractical even at home, where is there a place at home you could lock that thing too? I don't have anything in my house I could shackle that too. I'm kind of surprised the company is still in business because I can't figure out who would buy such a monster of a lock. Like I said, it would be easier to cut whatever the lock is attached to then take the lock and the bike home and cut away at the lock unnoticed.

Speaking of locked bikes being carried away with locks intact, a university I once attended had bike racks for us students to park our bikes and lock them up. Great, right? Well, not so great, a group of 4 guys drove onto the school property in a flatbed pickup truck, they went to one of the racks that were loaded with bikes, I can't remember if they cut the bolts or unbolted the bike rack from the concrete, then they lifted the rack with all the bikes attached and put it on the back of the flatbed and took off. People were wondering about never thought anything of it?! They got away with 18 bikes in one fell swoop. Thank God my bike wasn't on that rack!

tcs

Actually, it would be far, far easier to steal another, less-well secured bike. That's the point.

I've heard variations of that story for 40+ years, with locations indicated all over the world. 18 bikes @ ~25# ea + the weight of a 20+ bike bikerack in mild steel is going to be on the order of 700 pounds - each of the four guys is going to be lifting ~175 pounds up into the back of a flatbed truck with the bikes flopping and snagging all the way. Hmm. Don't suppose your student newspaper covered this story with pictures?

veganbikes

It is gimmicky. It works for its intended purpose but still gimmicky. It isn't practical, it isn't really useable in most situations, it looks goofy but again it does what it is designed to do. However generally the thing you are locking too is going to be the weakest link in the equation which is not good.

I had a co-worker who was out to lunch with his wife and saw thieves doing the exact same. Thieves will do whatever they can to steal in some cases.

tcs

Okay, so you're worried that you're being stalked by a bike thief who is planning to break into your locked garage and steal your double-locked Hetchings Curly Magnum Opus with gold-plated lugwork fitted with first-year Nuovo Record components? Add this to your arsenal: https://www.kryptonitelock.com/en/pr...ey/330202.html

downhillmaster

If you bring a bike into the bathroom with you because you don’t want to ride with the extra weight of a cable/lock, please punch yourself in the face right after you read this. Everyone else in your life will be better off for it

GlennR

I generally don't carry a lock, but on long rides, 50+ miles, I will.

So i will bring my bike in the bathroom or the supermarket if I do stop. And no one has ever made a comment.

AlanO

Tigr blue carbon steel. Almost unpickable and incutable.

greeniearts

I used to live in the Woolworth Bldg on Broadway in NYC. They had a very large bike corral in the rear of the building with an exit door to a side street. At the time, I had a Colnago that I loved more than life--no way was I leaving it in the corral (besides, the rear door didn't always close completely, rendering the bikes vulnerable). I became friends with the doorman, and he allowed me two privileges: 1. I was able to walk my bike thru the side door, avoiding the carousel doors, and 2. I was able to take my bike up the elevator and to my apartment. Not sure what the rules are today. [I heard that they are converting apartments to condos, with 7-figure prices for measly footage.]

No locks for me.

Rage

I grew up just a couple streets over!

greeniearts

Cool! I was there for school. I miss NYC terribly. There is an Indian restaurant around the corner from the Woolworth bldg.--the name escapes me at the moment--but the food is unforgettable.

Rage

There are actually a couple decent Indian restaurants right behind there. That was the spot for all the cab and livery drivers to eat, or was, anyway, before lockdown. Who knows what the area is gonna be like after this.

Were you there before or after J and R went under? Where ‘re you now? And did you ever have a bike swiped from you when you lived here? Because it was pretty bad as far as bike theft is concerned in lower Manhattan. I once had someone lift a back wheel off one of my bikes as I enjoyed a meal in gee whiz diner on Greenwich lol.

Miss the old NYC terribly, as well. Hiding out all along the Jersey shore, Staten Island and North Jersey atm. Nothing like NYC, but starting to get used to it...

rekmeyata

It was covered in the Student paper, and the college went and put some sort of bolts in that could not be undone with commonly found tools. I know this happened, I was attending the college when it happened, I read about it in the paper, and because the guy got busted about a 3 months later, and they found over 100 stolen bikes in his barn, he had been selling stolen bikes for years before he got caught. The really weird thing is he only served 5 years in jail, and when he got out he opened a bike shop?!

BikeLite

u lock and cable lock