The Chainlink

A while ago I was near "The Green Mill"/"Crew" and I saw 6 bicycles locked within 15 feet of each other that were locked horribly. Most of them used cheap keyed cable locks securing only their frame or frame and front wheel to rack/post. 1 had the cheapest U-lock possible securing only the frame. 4 out of 6 all had quick releases, the ones that secured their front wheel didn't have quick release.

There were 2 that were exceptionally bad though. One had a knockoff Kryptoflex cable locking his frame and front wheel, the cable was held together with a high school style Master lock to the rack. The other actually had a decent U-lock (not sure of brand) but the U-lock was only secured to the frame, the part that secured the bike to the rack was a very thin piece of cable that was attached to the U-lock going around the bicycle rack. 

The items that I linked aren't precisely the same ones but are very similar items to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

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h, if he was using the lock that is attached to his bike then it was a ONGuard. I have read many articles from outside the US that praise the Kryptonite NYC U-locks and chains. Doesn't sawing through a lock with a grinder cause attention? I mean I would imagine there would be plenty of sparks and loud noise.

Here's surveillance video of an angle grinder theft on North Clinton in June of 2010. For those who don't want to watch all 10 minutes, start watching at 7:45 and stop watching at 8:35. 

That 50-second commitment may change your opinions about whether the presence of surveillance cameras, parking your bike on a "busy street in front of an open business," and the noise and flying sparks of an angle grinder theft are deterrents to bike thieves.

Eight minutes!?? Your UK article is inaccurate.

El Dorado said:

I have a regular size Kryptonite NYC yellow lock. I plan on getting the mini version as well. The steel in these higher end locks are supposedly harder to cut. I read a UK article that it would take around 8 minutes with a grinder to cut through both sides on these monsters. I believe Abus makes very strong (maybe the best) high end U-locks. The Granite I think is the best. However, I wouldn't trust these Links. They look like twisted legos & can probably be snapped apart.

Holy shit.

I'm highly annoyed with the woman for not doing anything, because you see her think about it for a minute...

How about engraving the bikes serial number in large numbers on the frame?

Well bikes already have serial numbers. A little less than a third of the theft reports to the CSBR include a serial number. The remaining two thirds of victims don't know and have no way of finding out what the serial number of their stolen bike is/was. Not knowing your serial number greatly reduces your chances of ever being reunited with your stolen bike because the serial number is still considered by most law enforcement agencies to be the single most important piece of information when trying to identify a stolen bike.

El Dorado said:

How about engraving the bikes serial number in large numbers on the frame?

I'm not sure what your point is. Once you get into hardened steel locks, it's a question of how many additional seconds it takes to grind one lock over another. There is nothing magical about a New York lock as compared to an OnGuard when you have a grinder in your hand... thicker and/or double-cut needed, a little more time, thinner and/or one cut needed, a little less time. If a New York lock can be cut in under two minutes, then the On Guard probably didn't require much more than a minute for two cuts.

El Dorado said:

h, if he was using the lock that is attached to his bike then it was a ONGuard. I have read many articles from outside the US that praise the Kryptonite NYC U-locks and chains. Doesn't sawing through a lock with a grinder cause attention? I mean I would imagine there would be plenty of sparks and loud noise.

h', that is not always true. The Bikeregistry chain they use to sell on their website for a good price had 4 point links making it harder to cut. Also, IMO making your bike as ugly as possible does help. The average vagrant will pass it by as it would appear to fetch less at the local pawn shops.

The additional degree of difficulty in cutting the bike registry chain (which I own) doesn't come from a qualitative difference in the steel. The degree of difficulty comes from a chain's tendency to squirm around when trying to apply the grinder blade to it. The well-equipped thief addresses this design problem by zip-tying a portion of the chain in place to create a stable surface for cutting. The hexagonal or tetrahedral configuration of chains has nothing to do with the hardness of the steel, it is a design feature to enhance a chain's tendency to squirm.

Oh. And ugly bikes get stolen all of the time.



El Dorado said:

h', that is not always true. The Bikeregistry chain they use to sell on their website for a good price had 4 point links making it harder to cut. Also, IMO making your bike as ugly as possible does help. The average vagrant will pass it by as it would appear to fetch less at the local pawn shops.

At some point the cost of manufacturing an "angle grinder proof" metal chain just becomes prohibitive.  The biggest innovations in lock design have to do with the number of cuts required and how difficult holding the surface still or getting enough exposed surface available.  One of the advantages of a "smaller" sized u-lock is that there is less exposed steel surface on the lock.  

As much as we all want to deny that our "well locked" bikes can't be stolen because "who would go through that trouble"  it can and does happen regularly.  While its not likely to happen to you, its something all bike owners should be prepared to deal with.  

The biggest steps outside of using heavy duty chains and u-locks of preparing are:

1. recording your serial number

2. registering your bike

3. putting some ID card inside the handlebars.  

This at least gives you a chance (albeit slim) of recovering your bike. 


El Dorado said:

h', that is not always true. The Bikeregistry chain they use to sell on their website for a good price had 4 point links making it harder to cut. Also, IMO making your bike as ugly as possible does help. The average vagrant will pass it by as it would appear to fetch less at the local pawn shops.

What exactly is "not always true?"  

How did we jump to chains and uglification? Why pawn shops, now?

Quality trolling, please.

El Dorado said:

h', that is not always true. The Bikeregistry chain they use to sell on their website for a good price had 4 point links making it harder to cut. Also, IMO making your bike as ugly as possible does help. The average vagrant will pass it by as it would appear to fetch less at the local pawn shops.

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