Is there a way to raise locking technique awareness?

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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Permalink Reply by El Dorado on August 11, 2013 at 3:54pm

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.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on August 11, 2013 at 4:08pm

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.

Permalink Reply by Liz on August 12, 2013 at 2:33am

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.

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