Walking around Lakeview with an angle grinder

On Friday afternoon someone cut through my U-lock with an angle grinder!

In the middle of the afternoon!!  

 

Right after I got done warning someone about locking up with a cable lock.  

 

BYE BYE bike #2 to Chicago bike thieves. Great way to start the summer.

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Permalink Reply by Brendan Kevenides on May 5, 2010 at 10:05am
Here is a cable lock with an alarm. I would use it with a u-lock. I would worry about minor jostling setting it off however.
Permalink Reply by Brendan Kevenides on May 5, 2010 at 10:42am
Laura:

Sorry to hear about this. This event, along with other recent thefts I've heard about, have certainly got me thinking about how to protect my bike. Thanks for posting the photo of your chopped up u-lock. While ALL locks can be cut, there are locks out there that will take a thief with an angle grinder several minutes, rather than a few seconds, to cut. Here is a review of several high end locks I found. One of them, the OnGuard Beast 5016L chain, took 25 minutes to cut through with power tools. Unfortunately, it costs almost $200. While the theft of your bike was certainly not your fault, your lock was at the low end of the u-lock spectrum. Sadly, I guess those of us who lock up outside will need to spend more money to protect our bikes from theft.

Brendan.
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on May 6, 2010 at 3:07am
I really question that review because I refuse to believe that a decent angle grinder would take 13 minutes to cut any lock.

I bet with a good cordless grinder and the proper abrasive even the cains or NYC could be cut easily in about 5 minutes; or less.

Chicago Bicycle Advocate said:
Laura:

Sorry to hear about this. This event, along with other recent thefts I've heard about, have certainly got me thinking about how to protect my bike. Thanks for posting the photo of your chopped up u-lock. While ALL locks can be cut, there are locks out there that will take a thief with an angle grinder several minutes, rather than a few seconds, to cut. Here is a review of several high end locks I found. One of them, the OnGuard Beast 5016L chain, took 25 minutes to cut through with power tools. Unfortunately, it costs almost $200. While the theft of your bike was certainly not your fault, your lock was at the low end of the u-lock spectrum. Sadly, I guess those of us who lock up outside will need to spend more money to protect our bikes from theft.

Brendan.
Permalink Reply by Aaron Bussey on May 6, 2010 at 3:11am
less than 30 sec
Permalink Reply by heather s on May 6, 2010 at 4:45am
I think whomever tested these went about it the wrong way--as far as I know, it's easier to break through the lock than the chain. But their testers only tried to break the chain, which seems like kind of a rookies mistake as bike-thieving goes.

Chicago Bicycle Advocate said:
Laura:

Sorry to hear about this. This event, along with other recent thefts I've heard about, have certainly got me thinking about how to protect my bike. Thanks for posting the photo of your chopped up u-lock. While ALL locks can be cut, there are locks out there that will take a thief with an angle grinder several minutes, rather than a few seconds, to cut. Here is a review of several high end locks I found. One of them, the OnGuard Beast 5016L chain, took 25 minutes to cut through with power tools. Unfortunately, it costs almost $200. While the theft of your bike was certainly not your fault, your lock was at the low end of the u-lock spectrum. Sadly, I guess those of us who lock up outside will need to spend more money to protect our bikes from theft.

Brendan.
Permalink Reply by Michael A on May 6, 2010 at 5:12am
I reread the article a couple times. I did not see a mention of what type of power tool they used, could have just been a cordless sawzall. Cordless powertools have come a long way in power and battery tech in the last few yrs. There is no "perfect lock" and carrying around 20 lbs of locks and chains is just insanity. Until riding on several chainlink events I personally never owned a lock, never leaving my bikes outside my sight.

heather stratton said:
I think whomever tested these went about it the wrong way--as far as I know, it's easier to break through the lock than the chain. But their testers only tried to break the chain, which seems like kind of a rookies mistake as bike-thieving goes.

Chicago Bicycle Advocate said:
Laura:

Sorry to hear about this. This event, along with other recent thefts I've heard about, have certainly got me thinking about how to protect my bike. Thanks for posting the photo of your chopped up u-lock. While ALL locks can be cut, there are locks out there that will take a thief with an angle grinder several minutes, rather than a few seconds, to cut. Here is a review of several high end locks I found. One of them, the OnGuard Beast 5016L chain, took 25 minutes to cut through with power tools. Unfortunately, it costs almost $200. While the theft of your bike was certainly not your fault, your lock was at the low end of the u-lock spectrum. Sadly, I guess those of us who lock up outside will need to spend more money to protect our bikes from theft.

Brendan.
Permalink Reply by Ron on May 6, 2010 at 9:42pm
Enough of this lock stuff. Thieves are making away with bikes by the hour. They are not going to let locks stop them. If I were a politician, I'd being saying lets take the fight to where the criminals are! Well, while not advocating any violence, I'm saying, ENOUGH! Time to pressure these folks into career changes. Stop allowing them to make a living selling other peoples shit! Now who's coming Saturday?
Permalink Reply by Vilda on May 7, 2010 at 1:58am
I'm in! ;-) (coffee!! ;-) P.s. if someone with a printer wants to print out the stolen bikes registry (as many pages as possible0 that would likely be a helpful tool.
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on May 7, 2010 at 2:18am
I printed out the most recent 90 entries.

Gabe said:
I'm in! ;-) (coffee!! ;-) P.s. if someone with a printer wants to print out the stolen bikes registry (as many pages as possible0 that would likely be a helpful tool.
Permalink Reply by Amber K on May 7, 2010 at 2:33am
I'm right there with you Anson. I'm getting paranoid about locking my bike up anywhere. I lock it up everyday at the western metra station. I usually use two locks. A good mini u-lock and the beast chain and a pinhead locking skewer on the front wheel. I know that wouldn't stop someone from still stealing it if they really wanted it, but at least it would slow them down and hopefully draw some attention with having two locks on it.

Anson Moy said:
Man, bike thievery really sucks then. Now I'm afraid to lock-up my bike when I go places. If this bike thief keep going up, it would cost more than buying a car!!! Not good....not good at all.
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on May 7, 2010 at 4:11am
stickers, stickers, stickers. Has anyone had a nice bike stolen with stickers all over it?
Permalink Reply by ad on May 7, 2010 at 4:23am
My wife had a fairly new Jamis Coda stolen two years ago that had quite a few stickers all over it. She had also taped over the Jamis logos. Stickers may help, but I think thiefs--at least the ones using things like angle grinders--understand components well enough now that it won't guarantee safety.

Julie Hochstadter said:
stickers, stickers, stickers. Has anyone had a nice bike stolen with stickers all over it?

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