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Why do cable locks still exist?

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Why do cable locks still exist?

Old 05-25-20, 09:02 AM
  #26  
Moe Zhoost
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There is a simple auxiliary device that immensely improves the security of a cable lock: just clip your leashed doberman to the loop in the cable.
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Old 05-25-20, 09:18 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by jack pot
>>> further to your padlock ... i keep a ... lock cable looped to my seat > its light small extra convenient & can wrap to parking meters bike racks & street signs ... i ride fix/ss in urban & i use this for convenience and only to stop bike snatchers > i consider it a "back up lock" that can also secure my back pack if needed
I am saddened to discover what crosses the line in this regard.

Last edited by JustinOldPhart; 05-25-20 at 03:32 PM.
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Old 05-25-20, 09:36 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by JustinOldPhart
>>> further to your padlock ... i keep a smith & wesson gun stuffed in my shorts> its light small extra convenient & can pistol-whip thieves ... i use this for convenience and only to shoot at bike snatchers > i consider it a "back up gat" that can also secure my back pack if needed
#always outnumbered NEVER OUTRUNNED
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Old 05-25-20, 10:29 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by JustinOldPhart
>>> further to your padlock ... i keep a smith & wesson gun stuffed in my shorts> its light small extra convenient & can pistol-whip thieves ... i use this for convenience and only to shoot at bike snatchers > i consider it a "back up gat" that can also secure my back pack if needed
I hope you delete this so the mods don’t have to.
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Old 05-25-20, 10:36 AM
  #30  
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Ya know, indy, if things are that constrained on what is obviously a bit of humour, they can delete it and ban me. If that is taken as a serious threat to society, they can delete it and ban me. If we have slid so far into PC that what I paraphrased is considered offensive, they can delete it and ban me. If the zeal for censure is so strong, they can delete it and ban me.
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Old 05-25-20, 10:44 AM
  #31  
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I want to carry something small and light when I tour, not 4 pounds of u lock.
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Old 05-25-20, 11:15 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Texboy
So, there so many YouTube videos that can be easily cut a cable lock with a bolt cutter or cable cutter. Many cyclists and even police don’t recommend using a cable lock to lock your bike. Why the local bike shops are still selling cable locks?
Cost/benefit.
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Old 05-25-20, 12:01 PM
  #33  
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Many people have bikes that are worth less than $100. People like us who have bikes that are worth over $500 are a small minority.
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Old 05-25-20, 12:28 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by greatscott
I've used nothing but a cable lock for more than 40 years, in fact the same cable and lock that long, which means no one has ever stolen my bike. Of course I don't live in NY City, but if I did live there I surely wouldn't lock up a nice bike, I would take a $200 or so used bike and lock it up instead because any lock, no matter what you paid for it, can be broken within 30 seconds, which makes all locks these days not that much better than my stupid cable lock!

So your best defense against getting a bike stolen is simply getting a beater bike and lock it up outside.
For decades I had a cable lock and padlock that just went around my waist twice with enough slack to be completely unnoticeable riding. Very, very convenient! I loved that it could lock frame and both wheels to a tree. Combined with a fix gear beater bike that no one wanted, easy and secure. (The '90s changed that a little. Fix gears became popular. Still, mine with fenders, rack and brakes was pretty far off the radar, Before that I almost wanted to watch the bike get stolen just to watch the thief try to ride it.)

I also liked locking to trees because that was far from other bikes and nobody was going to be near it except to unlock it or steal it. Ie, might be more of an attention magnet than simply another person at the bike rack. Also no rack or other bikes to make the boltcutters less noticeable.

Ben

And yes, to not have your bike get stolen, park it next to a more desirable one. The old bear attack secret, You don't have to be able to run faster than the bear, just your companion.

Ben
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Old 05-25-20, 02:23 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by JustinOldPhart
Ya know, indy, if things are that constrained on what is obviously a bit of humour, they can delete it and ban me. If that is taken as a serious threat to society, they can delete it and ban me. If we have slid so far into PC that what I paraphrased is considered offensive, they can delete it and ban me. If the zeal for censure is so strong, they can delete it and ban me.
Bringing g...u...n talk into a thread is against the posted rules of these forums and usually gets the thread closed since the moderators don't have th inclination or time to monitor all the posts made in all the threads.

If people don't want to follow the rules of the forums then why to they join?

Cheers
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Old 05-25-20, 04:05 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
Bringing g...u...n talk into a thread is against the posted rules of these forums and usually gets the thread closed since the moderators don't have th inclination or time to monitor all the posts made in all the threads.

If people don't want to follow the rules of the forums then why to they join?

Cheers
he didn't!!

he brought a Cable Lock into the conversation of a Cable Lock thread.

here is a picture

picture of what he is talking about.... Different brand but SAME THING!
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Old 05-25-20, 04:18 PM
  #37  
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so did i sin for talking about a small unobtrusive CABLE LOCK or did i sin for making the guy troll my idiotic lock or did the guy who trolled my idiotic CABLE LOCK sin because if you ride bikes you can't sin and get away with it
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Old 05-25-20, 04:20 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by jack pot
so did i sin for talking about a small unobtrusive CABLE LOCK or did i sin for making the guy troll my idiotic lock or did the guy who trolled my idiotic CABLE LOCK sin because if you ride bikes you can't sin and get away with it
the "sin" was "ignorance"

they say you can't fix stupid, but maybe Pictures is a good start?
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Old 05-25-20, 04:31 PM
  #39  
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i apologize to all the straight shooters that i offended and i promise not to create any more low caliber problems for Jus___________t & i promise i will never use the words "S_____ & W_____ " in the general cycling forum > mea culpa mea culpa mea culpa
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Old 05-25-20, 05:50 PM
  #40  
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I use one for convenience. When I'm out for a road ride i have one in case i stop at the local coffee or ice cream shop and it isn't out of sight for more than a moment. It stops the 'roll away' theft. If someone is carrying bolt cutters, they're probably carrying an angle grinder and going to get it one way other the other.

I'll sometimes carry the U-lock on the mountain bike, but honestly there's no point where i am. I don't commute by bike and my rides either begin and end at my house or at my car.
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Old 05-25-20, 07:42 PM
  #41  
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Reverse osychology.

u lock signal to bad guys dat yur bike is worth steeling.

a low key bike...keeping it low key with small cable lock.
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Old 05-25-20, 09:30 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by mtb_addict
Reverse osychology.

u lock signal to bad guys dat yur bike is worth steeling.

a low key bike...keeping it low key with small cable lock.
You should try that, it is really good advice, I am not being sarcastic at all. You really should use the smallest cable lock it is the best idea ever made in the entire world that anyone has ever come up with in all of the time humans have existed. When you buy your next bike you should make sure to leave it outside overnight with a tiny cable lock to show those stupid thieves your bikes are super low key and they will walk away from them saying "wow...that guy must be super low key, I should find the most secure lock and take that bike, stealing that bike isn't worth it"
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Old 05-25-20, 10:10 PM
  #43  
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When I lived in Columbus, IN, I could leave my bike outside unlocked at work without concern. One snowy day I even left it overnight unlocked. Of course it was there in the morning.

Now I live in Portland, OR. Different story.

The US is not a homogeneous bike theft zone.
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Old 05-26-20, 07:23 AM
  #44  
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A professional thief can steal your bike regardless of the lock. The average thief doesn't walk around with bolt cutters so a cable lock works most of the time (e.g. 5 minutes for a quick run into a store).
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Old 05-26-20, 07:34 AM
  #45  
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Bike thieves caught on video:
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Old 05-26-20, 07:39 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by Sy Reene
For snatch n'ride (as you phrase it), wouldn't a simple padlock put around say the rim of your wheel, accomplish the same thing, yet be much more un-snippable?
Yes but that leaves you open to "snatch and throw in back of pickup." I prefer it's locked to something immovable.
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Old 05-26-20, 07:48 AM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by jack pot
so did i sin for talking about a small unobtrusive CABLE LOCK or did i sin for making the guy troll my idiotic lock or did the guy who trolled my idiotic CABLE LOCK sin because if you ride bikes you can't sin and get away with it

No one said you did anything wrong. The guy who rewrote your post definitely violated forum rules.
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Old 05-26-20, 07:50 AM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by Metieval
he didn't!!

he brought a Cable Lock into the conversation of a Cable Lock thread.

here is a picture

picture of what he is talking about.... Different brand but SAME THING!

Wrong guy. No one complained about the gun lock reference. Another guy rewrote the post to actually talk about something that wasn't a lock.
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Old 05-26-20, 07:58 AM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by bikehoco
Bike thieves caught on video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-gV8ICIcao
Obviously staged. If you're really attempting to get away quick, no way would you ride on grass when there's pavement. Dead giveaway that they wanted the soft landing.
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Old 05-26-20, 08:51 AM
  #50  
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A cable is also a good way to secure you bike on your car rack. I loop mine around the frame, and lock it to the hitch.
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