Lock Recommendations?

[ElHegpah]

Make your bike ugly, and park it next to the prettier ones.

if you want to win a fashion contest, wear good walking shoes.

Expensive locks simply advertise an expensive bike. In any sort of hi-crime area, your best defense is to appear to be a less valuable target.

 

[indianajo]

There are no racks or posts in this 3 county area of only 2000000 population that litelok will wrap around. Thieves that would use a chainsaw to cut down a power pole with 7000 vac wires on the top to steal my cargo bike, I have never encountered one that stupid. 6' sling would wrap the frame and one of those. Sling does scar the paint, so I've given up that for my pristine PakYak with smaller panniers. On large parking lots where concrete wrapped light pole are the only tether within 500" of the store, it takes >8' to wrap one of those. Abus 1/2" security chain in stock at grainger.com comes in 2', 5' and 10' lengths. 10' with fabric cover was $391+freight. Having my garage door cut open to steal the Yuba bodaboda in August, I now have the 10' abus chain to wrap around an auto tire inside the garage. Chain weighs 21 lb, the Abus 82/60 lock is another pound. Both ride in the front rack of the PakYak, inside a roaster pan to not slide out the rack gaps. Roaster pan top keeps chain from rusting in the rain. Bungee cord holds that down.

 

[sc00ter]

Thieves will cut down the power pole you say, you mean junkies! I was going to work one day and the pickup truck in front of me went off the road and hit a power poll! The pole came down across the front of the truck, and I'm thinking the driver had a medical emergency. Was I in for a surprise! I was a bit behind this incident and all the sudden this little skinny hippy guy jumps out of the truck and yells "NOT AGAIN!" and proceeds to try and LIFT the power poll from the front of the truck! I go down the side walk to the intersection and the heavens intervened! I waved down 2 power company trucks and they turned around and boxed the hippy in and called the police! Hippy guy never got the pole off the front of the truck to escape. But to jump out and yell "NOT AGAIN!" has me wondering if this has happened before....

I've found a high security long chain that fits around the U-lock arms works. The noose style chains are very nice. Cables are lighter and are also kinda hard to cut quickly, but I still prefer the chain option. On motorcycles they have a system (Lock It To Me) of chaining them together thru the locks to prevent lift off theft, yet either of you can leave because its done thru the locks. I despise using my storage to lug around a mini Fort Knox because some bum doesn't want to get a job. But its the world we live in. Once I get my garage rearranged I'm doing new ground anchors.

 

[gkochner]

For those interested, I went with the Kryptonite Evolution Long Shackle U-Lock and the Kryptonite New York Cinch Ring 1213. I've only used them once but they seem to be solid options for my bike so far.

It also helps that the bike rack I lock it to is in the parking garage for my employer.

 

[6zfshdb]

There are no racks or posts in this 3 county area of only 2000000 population that litelok will wrap around.

No bike racks around here either in this rural area. Even big outfits like Walmart don't have any provisions for bikes.
The best I can do is to use a cable lock around a bunch of shopping carts. Won't stop a thief with a cable cutter, but prevents roll aways and lift offs.

 

[indianajo]

Even big outfits like Walmart don't have any provisions for bikes.

The 26 years I lived without a car, I never rode the cargo bike to Wal-Mart. People drive the lot looking sideways for the best parking space. Too dangersous for a bike. The line of cars trying to enter back up 10 blocks across I-65. A few times I needed something special I would have the wife take me to Wal-Mart in our car. Stock deletion is going to force me into my F-150 in future to Wal-Mart, however. My local grocery deleted all brands of instant tea 2 years ago. 2 weeks ago they deleted both brands of canola+olive oil margerine. I have had high choresterol controled partially by no saturated fat, almost no beef. Also, my favorite bread with 1 gram sugar a slice was replaced by a 3 gram sugar variety. I'm diabetic. Wal-Mart or $125 a year to Amazon is next. Amazon does not deliver to my summer property; too rural. I've not seen Wal-mart trucks out there either. Only Kroger, UPS, FedEx. Amazon business practices scare me. The repairman cladding the eaves of my garage with metal ordered a sheet metal brake from Amazon. They delivered it to a lady in Nashville that did not order one. They issued him a $1500 merchandize credit, but have not had a sheet metal brake in stock for a month.