Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on September 30, 2014 at 3:04pm

Sarah,

I am sure there are people who have a strong need for quick releases if they need to disassemble their  bike to move it by car or want to lock it up with a single Kryptonite.

In my case I dropped quick releases for  regular, non locking skewers which discourages but does not eliminate theft. And of course there have been locking skewers for several years now from several manufacturers.

So my two cents  - not that you asked - is that I wonder how large the market is for these?  Quick release is no longer so quick if you have to remove a lock each time you want to release.  Seems like a bit of a contradiction. I would think building the lock into the skewers themselves - while maintaining quick  release  capability - would be the way to go. No additional parts to carry.

Great vid by the way.  Best of luck to your cousin.

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Permalink Reply by ad on October 1, 2014 at 2:34am

For what it's worth, I came pretty close to ordering.  And still might.  

This is by far the best option to protect wheels (outside of using a ulock) that I've seen hit the market. The locking skewers currently on the market that I am aware of can generally be defeated with some know-how--and in a a way that this product will not be susceptible to.  My bet is that the vast majority of people who have quick release wheels (at least on a commuter bike) still only ever remove them to either lock the wheel, or change a flat.    

The only thing holding me back is my city bike has through-axle hubs with track nuts rather than quick release, and I'm not sure it's worth it to spring for these on my long distance bike that I rarely lock up in the first place.  If my commuter had quick release hubs, I'd be all over this.  

 
jolondon30 said:

Sarah,

I am sure there are people who have a strong need for quick releases if they need to disassemble their  bike to move it by car or want to lock it up with a single Kryptonite.

In my case I dropped quick releases for  regular, non locking skewers which discourages but does not eliminate theft. And of course there have been locking skewers for several years now from several manufacturers.

So my two cents  - not that you asked - is that I wonder how large the market is for these?  Quick release is no longer so quick if you have to remove a lock each time you want to release.  Seems like a bit of a contradiction. I would think building the lock into the skewers themselves - while maintaining quick  release  capability - would be the way to go. No additional parts to carry.

Great vid by the way.  Best of luck to your cousin.

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Permalink Reply by Josh L. on October 1, 2014 at 3:09pm

Curious Jeff how would thieves defeat the locking skewers? I thought they had very obscure or one off keys that were difficult to acquire.
ad said:

For what it's worth, I came pretty close to ordering.  And still might.  

This is by far the best option to protect wheels (outside of using a ulock) that I've seen hit the market. The locking skewers currently on the market that I am aware of can generally be defeated with some know-how--and in a a way that this product will not be susceptible to.  My bet is that the vast majority of people who have quick release wheels (at least on a commuter bike) still only ever remove them to either lock the wheel, or change a flat.    

The only thing holding me back is my city bike has through-axle hubs with track nuts rather than quick release, and I'm not sure it's worth it to spring for these on my long distance bike that I rarely lock up in the first place.  If my commuter had quick release hubs, I'd be all over this.  

 
jolondon30 said:

Sarah,

I am sure there are people who have a strong need for quick releases if they need to disassemble their  bike to move it by car or want to lock it up with a single Kryptonite.

In my case I dropped quick releases for  regular, non locking skewers which discourages but does not eliminate theft. And of course there have been locking skewers for several years now from several manufacturers.

So my two cents  - not that you asked - is that I wonder how large the market is for these?  Quick release is no longer so quick if you have to remove a lock each time you want to release.  Seems like a bit of a contradiction. I would think building the lock into the skewers themselves - while maintaining quick  release  capability - would be the way to go. No additional parts to carry.

Great vid by the way.  Best of luck to your cousin.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by S on October 2, 2014 at 1:05am

It really depends on the type but if you search around on google or even this site, there are mentions of how to do it.  It's pretty simple actually.

jolondon30 said:

Curious Jeff how would thieves defeat the locking skewers? I thought they had very obscure or one off keys that were difficult to acquire.
ad said:

For what it's worth, I came pretty close to ordering.  And still might.  

This is by far the best option to protect wheels (outside of using a ulock) that I've seen hit the market. The locking skewers currently on the market that I am aware of can generally be defeated with some know-how--and in a a way that this product will not be susceptible to.  My bet is that the vast majority of people who have quick release wheels (at least on a commuter bike) still only ever remove them to either lock the wheel, or change a flat.    

The only thing holding me back is my city bike has through-axle hubs with track nuts rather than quick release, and I'm not sure it's worth it to spring for these on my long distance bike that I rarely lock up in the first place.  If my commuter had quick release hubs, I'd be all over this.  

 
jolondon30 said:

Sarah,

I am sure there are people who have a strong need for quick releases if they need to disassemble their  bike to move it by car or want to lock it up with a single Kryptonite.

In my case I dropped quick releases for  regular, non locking skewers which discourages but does not eliminate theft. And of course there have been locking skewers for several years now from several manufacturers.

So my two cents  - not that you asked - is that I wonder how large the market is for these?  Quick release is no longer so quick if you have to remove a lock each time you want to release.  Seems like a bit of a contradiction. I would think building the lock into the skewers themselves - while maintaining quick  release  capability - would be the way to go. No additional parts to carry.

Great vid by the way.  Best of luck to your cousin.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ad on October 2, 2014 at 2:58am

To be honest, anything can be defeated if the thief wants it bad enough.  This seems to remove at least one of the problems that use to exist in relation to defeating both pinhead and pitlock skewers, however.  Though people have stated on here that pitlocks (and maybe onguard's pinheads) were apparently redesigned to address that specific problem already.   

      

I can think of a few ways of the top of my head that a person who really wants a front wheel would be able to walk away with it without ever even having to try to defeat the locking skewer.  The safest way to secure will always be to ulock, but you have to either remove the wheel, or deal with the weight penalty of carrying two ulocks.    

It's a seemingly smart design, though, and it ultimately accomplishes one of the main theft deterrent goals in my mind, which is to make sure your bike/wheels are harder to steal than other bikes/wheels around where you're locking.  Enough people don't even bother to lock their quick release wheels by any method, so any security steps taken likely make your wheels at least a little less attractive to a thief.   

jolondon30 said:

Curious Jeff how would thieves defeat the locking skewers? I thought they had very obscure or one off keys that were difficult to acquire.
ad said:

For what it's worth, I came pretty close to ordering.  And still might.  

This is by far the best option to protect wheels (outside of using a ulock) that I've seen hit the market. The locking skewers currently on the market that I am aware of can generally be defeated with some know-how--and in a a way that this product will not be susceptible to.  My bet is that the vast majority of people who have quick release wheels (at least on a commuter bike) still only ever remove them to either lock the wheel, or change a flat.    

The only thing holding me back is my city bike has through-axle hubs with track nuts rather than quick release, and I'm not sure it's worth it to spring for these on my long distance bike that I rarely lock up in the first place.  If my commuter had quick release hubs, I'd be all over this.  

 
jolondon30 said:

Sarah,

I am sure there are people who have a strong need for quick releases if they need to disassemble their  bike to move it by car or want to lock it up with a single Kryptonite.

In my case I dropped quick releases for  regular, non locking skewers which discourages but does not eliminate theft. And of course there have been locking skewers for several years now from several manufacturers.

So my two cents  - not that you asked - is that I wonder how large the market is for these?  Quick release is no longer so quick if you have to remove a lock each time you want to release.  Seems like a bit of a contradiction. I would think building the lock into the skewers themselves - while maintaining quick  release  capability - would be the way to go. No additional parts to carry.

Great vid by the way.  Best of luck to your cousin.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on October 2, 2014 at 4:29am

A simple and cheap alternative is to use a pipe clamp around the fork tube and QR lever. Perfect for a beater bike. 

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Permalink Reply by David Altenburg on October 8, 2014 at 4:28pm

So the bummer with these is that they apparently work only with external cam QR skewers. I placed my order before realizing that. Unfortunately, the external type of QR skewers don't clamp as tightly as internal cam skewers (Shimano-style), so they won't work for horizontal dropouts.

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Permalink Reply by prof.gfr on October 8, 2014 at 5:28pm

bummer that they won't work on older or vintage-style internal cam skewers.  I also wonder if they would rattle while riding.  But a very ingenious idea.  

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Permalink Reply by Jim Reho on October 8, 2014 at 5:29pm

I have some Pinheads on my front and rear wheels.  While I agree that no such locking device is invincible, I think the Pinheads are enough to deter the casual thief.  They're not all that easy to work with even if you have the key!  I think the locks referred to in this thread are an elegant idea if you have the right kind of skewers.  Not excessively expensive, either. 

S said:

It really depends on the type but if you search around on google or even this site, there are mentions of how to do it.  It's pretty simple actually.

jolondon30 said:

Curious Jeff how would thieves defeat the locking skewers? I thought they had very obscure or one off keys that were difficult to acquire.
ad said:

For what it's worth, I came pretty close to ordering.  And still might.  

This is by far the best option to protect wheels (outside of using a ulock) that I've seen hit the market. The locking skewers currently on the market that I am aware of can generally be defeated with some know-how--and in a a way that this product will not be susceptible to.  My bet is that the vast majority of people who have quick release wheels (at least on a commuter bike) still only ever remove them to either lock the wheel, or change a flat.    

The only thing holding me back is my city bike has through-axle hubs with track nuts rather than quick release, and I'm not sure it's worth it to spring for these on my long distance bike that I rarely lock up in the first place.  If my commuter had quick release hubs, I'd be all over this.  

 
jolondon30 said:

Sarah,

I am sure there are people who have a strong need for quick releases if they need to disassemble their  bike to move it by car or want to lock it up with a single Kryptonite.

In my case I dropped quick releases for  regular, non locking skewers which discourages but does not eliminate theft. And of course there have been locking skewers for several years now from several manufacturers.

So my two cents  - not that you asked - is that I wonder how large the market is for these?  Quick release is no longer so quick if you have to remove a lock each time you want to release.  Seems like a bit of a contradiction. I would think building the lock into the skewers themselves - while maintaining quick  release  capability - would be the way to go. No additional parts to carry.

Great vid by the way.  Best of luck to your cousin.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on October 13, 2014 at 6:12am

Story on buzzfeed with a frustrating GIF for bike thieves. Love it.

https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos_h264high/3D5DD65C8B113310672857006...

• ▶ Reply