Homer Cooper 

So I've made a huge upgrade from a Walmart Fitness road bike to a Trek Émonda ALR 5.
on longer trips I may stop to eat. I do have a basic Bell branded cable lock that I got a few years ago for like $8

what bike lock would you recommend?

Maelochs

Nothing wrong with cable ... In fact I really like cable locks, because I can cut through any cable in a couple minutes with a pocket-sized set of wire cutters.
---signed: successful bike thief

DaleW

Good quality u lock or chain and locking skewers or cable for the wheel you can't secure with the block. Cable locks are a blinking neon sign: STEAL ME

Homer Cooper 

Kryptonite chain locks seems to be highly recommend by trek. So I may look into those along with locking skewers. It would just be used on longer trips anyway where i'd stop and be away from the bike.

ZombieTaco

#1. Park such that your bike is visible.
#2. Understand that any lock is only there to buy you time if a determined thief wants it.
#3. The best way to slow them down is to spend $100+ on a stout chain (https://www.amazon.com/ABUS-14KS-Sec.../dp/B005UMCCZO) and lock(https://www.amazon.com/ABUS-92-80-KA...N67JHQM7QJD75Q). Even then, if the thief has a portable angle grinder, you better drop your chicken fried steak and start running out the door when you see him messing with your bike.

Retro Grouch 

Even your $8.00 Bell lock is about 90% effective because it forces the thief to have a tool with him.

To go from 90% to 99% you engage with a progressively higher tech and higher cost game of oneupmanship with the thief which you will always ultimately lose. Anything that one man can make another man can find a way to cut.

There is no 100% effective locking system. People have broken into bank vaults.

Evaluate the risk level of the places that you ride and determine how much security you feel that you need.

Homer Cooper 

At this point the only place id consider stopping is a small town cafe along a statewide trail system. Would be apox 75mile roundtrip. Still something in the future.

Kedosto

Truth is, your $8 lock is probably sufficient. Considering of course that you'll be parking it somewhere visible and for no more than a few moments. Using an $8 cable lock for out of sight, all day duty is highly inappropriate.

We lock my wife's bike with a flimsy cable lock while we're enjoying breakfast, but it's also in plain sight right out of the window.

Personally, I use a folding lock (Trelock Trigo FS300) because it offers protection similar to a U-Lock with much better compact portability. I bought it online from a German retailer.

-Kedosto

idiotekniQues

Jesus looking at this thread one can never lock their bike anywhere without it being stolen in a jiffy. While being precautious is good it's another to be totally paranoid. I've been riding recreationally during the daytime in manhattan for some years and lock my bike up for a couple of hours no problem. Basically a good u-lock will suffice for a short period of time. Fifty bucks should suffice. Anything after that add a set of locking skewers to protect your wheels and seatpost as added insurance vs carrying around a massive chain locking system.

American Euchre

I've left several of my bikes completely unlocked on more occasions than I care to admit. These are nice bikes too, as far as others can tell.

The WORST situations in which to leave a bike out are in college towns. Especially if you leave them out at night. Bikes are cash money anywhere within a 5 mile radius of a larger college or university.

If I were you, I would call ahead and see if the restaurant would allow me to leave the bike indoors, maybe in a storage room? Or, leave it right by the window in direct line of sight, lock or no lock.

ZombieTaco

Congrats on not having your city bike stolen while using a ulock. Obviously there was little to be gained by easily popping that ulock.

Once you've had a few bikes stolen, had to deal with the insurance hassle that ensues when you're replacing $20k+ of bikes, a $130 chain and $50 lock is a no brainer if it delays a scumbag for a few minutes.

American Euchre

No, on multiple occasions I forgot to use the lock altogether. I just left it leaning against the wall, or against the bike rack, no lock.

This was in a college town, too, where bunches and bunches of people used to stare lustily at my bike, thinking I was rich. I'd even get warned to lock my bike more carefully, such as taking the seat post and seat with me, or to lock it or else it'd get stolen since it was so nice.

Maelochs

There will always be outliers, data points which are so far from the norm that they seem impossible but are actual results. In this case, the few folks who have left bikes unlocked in high-risk situations are the outliers.

I have had three bikes stolen (one recovered) and I can tell you it sucks. Despite that, i do not go overboard with a lock and don't suggest anyone else should.

I often use a cable if I am going into ta grocery or hardware store for ten minutes---despite knowing that someone with a pair of wire cutters can work through the cable in a minute or two. I risk it because I am in a low-crime area and my bikes are not especially desirable (the ones I'd leave locked up outside.)

For most situations I would recommend a sturdy chain---but not a specialty chain---and a basic master-style padlock--the gym-locker type--simply because there are basically three teirs of bike thieves: there is the casual thief, who sees a bike s/he could steal easily and is tempted, there is the slightly more nefarious thief who might actually have a couple tools handy but isn't a dedicated bike thief, and there is the pro thief, who will take or leave your bike based solely on resale value.

An unlocked bike or a bike one could steal in a minute ... a decent chain and padlock will beat this thief. A slightly more advanced thief---say a college-town opportunistic thief, who wants to steal bikes but depends on low-risk situations--- is not going to try to defeat a chain and padlock. There will be easier pickings nearby. A pro will have four-foot bolt-cutters, a small auto mobile jack, and an angle-grinder and will only steal a bike which will sell for a lot---why take a risk on a bike which will only sell to a fence for $100?

So ... if you have a chain that You could not break with a hammer and screwdriver with only about three hits or cut with wire cutters in under a minute, then likely your bike will be safe in almost any situation---barring really high-crime areas where it would be stupid to leave any bike and probably not too smart to visit in any case.

I do Not recommend U-locks because, while they are harder to defeat, they can be beat, and they are really limited in their applications. If I cannot find a place to lock my bike near the door to the building I am in, I lose a lot of the ambient loss-prevention effect. If I have to go half a block down the street to find a pole narrow enough and with enough clear space to lock up my frame and both wheels, I am making it easier for a thief because said thief is not trying to steal a bike while people walk in and out of a business past him, any one of which could be the bike owner or any of which might report him/her---instead s/he is working on breaking a lock on a bike in possibly a low-traffic area, where when the approaching owner sees him/her at work the owner will likely shout "Hey, get away from my bike," giving the thief a chance to escape.

Cliff Notes version: A decent chain and a basic padlock will keep your bike safe in most situations and in most others nothing will.

ltxi

Living in a low crime area I mostly care only, if at all, about just get on it and ride off opportunity theft. My locks of choice are a pair of handcuffs and/or leg chains.

JanMM

Don't normally carry a lock but do keep and use both a medium quality cable/padlock and a U-lock where I park at work. (Daytime only in a hospital garage not far from the cashier and in a fairly high traffic area) Fully understand that someone with the right tools would have no trouble doing the deed.

rekmeyata

you bought a $1400 bike, congrats by the way, but while you can lock up a $50 bike with an $8 lock you shouldn't use that kind of security for a $1400 bike. But you don't need to spend a small fortune on a lock either since you won't be that far away from the bike, you just need a decent lock that cost under $50.
This is probably the best lock on the market, see: https://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-Lo.../dp/B0010XTIB8

Then see this on how to lock the bike: Bicycle Lock-up

Please note, this lock is great if you're not going to be away from the bike for long periods of time like being at work or school. Schools are notoriously bad, in that event or parking it while you go to work outside I would instead buy a used bike for around $250 and leave your good one at home and use that $45 lock I showed to lock up the $250 or so bike.

jefnvk

Rarely use anything but cheap cable locks myself. Dunno how much the one I have cost, it came on a bike I bought from a guy who hadn't used either in years and forgot the combo. Maybe some day it will bite me in the butt, but I am really not that concerned. My bike rarely sits out beyond exactly what you are mentioning, a lunch or beer stop on a ride. I worry more about a spontaneous joyride than a targeted theft. Only time I bothered with anything more secure was when I was parking it out on the street on a European tour, and even then just when it was sitting out overnight.

While I certainly would not recommend it, I'm like American Euchre, a lot of times I don't even bother with a lock (generally when I forget it)

fietsbob

Use something , at least ... 3 guys arrested they stole Bikes, Unlocked, from the campgrounds , owned by tourists.


I like My Abus Bordo folding lock ... a Given: the lighter the Bike the heavier the lock needed, to keep It.


https://www.abus.com/eng/Mobile-Secu...cks/Bordo-6000


For Touring I made a 10- foot long light cable to go around things like trees and Picnic benches in campgrounds .
so they could not be rolled away while I slept.




./.

prtyich

This thing looks pretty good, but as said above; nothing is 100% unbeatable:

https://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-99...etaboutit+lock

Maelochs

If people are curious there is a thread here (at least one) with links to videos of people cutting through every lock on the market. Some took five seconds with pliers. Some took five minutes and two grinder batteries. None survived ... but as i say, no pro is going to steal your bike unless it is worth well over $5000, and if you leave a bike like that Anywhere out of your sight, you don't deserve it.

Any other kind of thief can be defeated by a Wal-Mart Master lock and chain. If a casual thief cannot break the chain in 30 seconds, the bike will not get stolen.

I don't care how much people spend. If getting a $100 lock and $100 chain makes you feel safer, get three of each. Get twelve and give them to your friends. It's all good.

I just don't see the point--for my bikes---to get a security system much better than the lowest defeatable threat level. If the guy has four-foot bolt cutters, you are filing an insurance claim no matter which lock. If he has a pair of dikes in his pick-up tool box, he is driving home without your bike. All sounds alright to me.

rekmeyata

The $5,000 comment is not true, a lot of thieves take bikes less than that because they're harder to track. And they also strip the parts off and dump the frame which you can sell parts anywhere with no way of tracking that, and a $2,000 bike can have 105 and Ultegra, not to mention $3,000 bikes with Dura Ace on it which are all easy to pawn off, and not to mention wheels, pedals, seats, handlebars...well you get the idea.

General Geoff

A good $100 chain and $100 lock will not be defeated by 48" bolt cutters or even a reciprocating saw. At this level, you need an angle grinder or an oxy-acetylene torch to get through them, and it will still take a few minutes of sparks and/or flames and lots of noise to do so.

This is what $200 of security looks like.



Locking skewers are a good idea to make it easier to securely lock your bike, though they're not strictly necessary if you're willing to take the front wheel off, move it in line with the rear, then run the chain through both wheels and the frame. If you have an expensive saddle, get a locking clamp for it.

idiotekniQues

I have a Krypto series 2 lock and it's nice but certainly not the best. It only locks from one side. Get a double shackle U-Lock - the thief has to cut both sides to get in vs 1. I switched to an Abus Mini but if you want something bigger an Abus Granit is also a double shackle U-lock.

rekmeyata

If you are that concerned about a bike, why in the world would you park it someplace where it could get stolen? Any and all locks are defeatable if a determined thief wants your bike. I've said this many times on this and other forums, the best defense against a bike thief is not to give him what he wants...he wants your nice bike, so leave it at home and ride a $250 or so used bike that they don't want and lock that one up instead.

Total protection parts locks cost about $160, add on top of that another $250 for a really nice lock, damn you could buy a really decent used bike for that and have money left over for a cheaper lock.

beechnutC23

My solution: when riding alone I carry a bag or two of nuts and a granola bar in my jersey pockets; on a longer ride, I bring a small backpack with food. When riding with my wife, one stays with the bikes while the other gets food. When not traveling away from our home area we have a number of "standard rides" that we regularly do where we know good places to get food which we can then eat in very pleasant nearby parks.