The Lock Picking Lawyer:

Why I Use This Lock On My Bicycle - Kryptonite Evolution Chain Lock



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpVOTEOMRuE




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Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

Best lock is two locks.
Really, there's very little between locks, and nowadays electric angle grinders will make short work of anything. So best option is to double the time by having two d-locks and so make your bike way less attractive as a target than any others. I used this approach in London and Manchester for years without a problem. One D lock would just stay at the rack permanently, the other I'd carry so as not to add too much weight.

This just absolutely is not the case. Even a short time spent on The Lock Picking Lawyer's Youtube channel - posted up thread - will quickly disabuse one of these notions.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Happy to accept you have a different view. Makes the world a less boring place. Just to clarify, I know that there are some locks that can be picked/smashed, otherwise opened, but in terms of being most secure, the reality is that (unless I have missed something last couple of years) there's nothing that stops a brazen thief prepared to use powertools. And in many many case in urban area that's where the thief starts not after trying with a biro cap and a lighter, or a paperclip, etc. They just go in, 20s with grinder and then are gone. Even if that is a 'weak lock' that can be opened by picking. So the two lock does double the time in my view. Sure, I'd make those not the type that can be opened by a 12 year old and a youtube video, but I'd still use two for the reasons I outlined.

I am exceptionally happy for you, and anyone else to subscribe to the single lock that rates highly approach.

you have. Notably, some manufacturers are actually making locks that survive the most common power tool attacks to a sufficient degree to be worth using, as opposed to generic locks that, well... do this...


This is a scenario that, yeah, should generally be avoided. It's simply not terribly useful to suggest that it can't be.


Which, of course, means that there's no difference at all between a lock that takes a couple of seconds to cut through with an angle grinder, and one that takes 10 minutes or more, correct?


It's generally not difficult to "win" an argument no one else is engaged in. Of course two locks is better than one. Well, two *good* locks are better than one. Two *bad* locks may as well not be there at all, following your own logic. Wearing belts and suspenders together isn't of much use if they can't actually hold your pants up.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

I use two locks when leaving my bike in high risk areas. Best practice is to use two different types. One that requires an angle grinder and one that requires bolt cutters. Thieves are unlikely to be carrying both.

This vid is actually pretty darn good...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfZ-S63AsPQ


Especially given they show that, yes, some newer locks will actually be difficult to attack with an angle grinder, and that the answer to this is to cut through the frame. This is what thieves often do these days, and increasingly so with more expensive bikes and the ability to sell used parts online. There's enough value in the components that they'll just kill the frame to get the parts.


This is really where the value of the second lock comes in. It's not so much that it will require a different tool to defeat it, but that it will require more destruction of the bike to do so. In specific, if you lock both the frame and the wheels to a solid object, this means that they can't just cut through the frame and roll the bike away. This is also helpful when the easiest method of attack is to cut away whatever you have locked your bike to... if the bike won't roll once they do this, you have made it just a little bit more difficult to steal, and that's really always the idea. No method of locking a bike up is impossible to defeat, you just want to make your bike more of a hassle than any of the other bikes in the area.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
Coaching and bike fit - http://source-e.net/ Cyclocross blog - https://crosssports.net/ BJJ instruction - https://ballardbjj.com/

Only could've been better is the police actually showed up. About a 1/3rd of the way in, I thought they were. Good share.

for any of you who think a bike lock (even the best bike lock ever created) will keep your bike safe, then I encourage you to test out that theory by parking in the downtown Denver REI parking lot for 10 minutes and seeing what happens.

No bike lock is theft-proof. The best - and safest - thing is to not leave your bike visible and unattended.

I use a litelok X1 combined with go flexi or a core flex.

as a bike messanger have been using a kryptonite lock and all my years since 2015 my kryptonite chain has never been attacked*. At most thieves stole bike lights of my bike cause I forgot to remove

*all bike locks can be cracked if the thief has enough time! even ulocks, the thieves use jacks to break them open instead of angle grinder. I lock my bike in view and do not spend much time away. It has a sheath around the chain part, but it still have damaged the paint job on my bike.... I use a beater bike (90s fuji). My carbon racing bike I will never venture to do something where it is away from me.

This has always been my approach as well.
I've had good luck in the past, using both a good u-lock and a decent, though far from fantastic, cable with a built-in combination lock.

You also want to know your terrain as well. Sometimes all you have to do is not tempt people. Sometimes you need to make sure that anyone looking to steal a bike is going to steal someone else's bike. And, obviously, if you're worried about someone who just wants to go around damaging bicycles without stealing them, no lock's gonna help.

For those of us with a long commute to the Denver REI parking lot, we need a webcam.