Over on the Dublin city thread - Bike theft

mr potato head

The Dublin City Thread has a bit on the well known haunt for bikes that have "walked"

There is also a good link to an article on bike theft in Dublin called - Zen And The Art Of Pedal Cycle Theft which was writen a while ago so might have been posted before

Quint

I just read that and was going to post it here. It's mad that stolen bikes are openly sold like this.
All a scumbag needs is a bolt cutters and he'll cut through any u-lock, easy business to go into.

Lumen

Quint wrote: »

All a scumbag needs is a bolt cutters and he'll cut through any u-lock, easy business to go into.

Not sure that's accurate. My understanding:

You can get through most chains (and probably all cable locks) with 3ft boltcroppers, and all but the most extreme ones with 4ft boltcroppers.

Some u-locks are vulnerable to jacking if carelessly used, but the highest rated u-locks require power tools or a great deal of patience.

Most bikes I see around town have crap locks. This is arguably a good thing if you have a decent lock.

Quint

Power tools will glide through anything, but the average scummer won't have one.
A seriously good chain is the best, but even the best Abus €250 motorcycle u-lock can be cut through handy enough with a bolt cutters. The scummers put a lenght of metal pipe on the bolt cutters handles to give themselves extra leverage.
I think the seriously good chains would be way to heavy for a cyclist

Gavin

Ulocks are not cut through with a bolt cutters. As Lumen says they are taken off with a lever or portable, battery/petrol angle grinders

Best bet is a chain and a ulock, leaving the chain where you intend parking, if it's going to be regular.

Lumen

Quint wrote: »

even the best Abus €250 motorcycle u-lock can be cut through handy enough with a bolt cutters.

Do you have any sources or experience to back that up?

My Kryptonite NY Fahgettaboudit U-Lock has an 18mm shackle. I didn't think boltcroppers could take that much girth.

Quint

Gavin wrote: »

Ulocks are not cut through with a bolt cutters. As Lumen says they are taken off with a lever or portable, battery/petrol angle grinders

Best bet is a chain and a ulock, leaving the chain where you intend parking, if it's going to be regular.

A regular boltcutters can be bought handy enough. There's no way the average scumbag will have a petrol angle grinder. They're way too noisy and big.Bolt cutters is silent and easy to carry in a big jacket. But you get the odd gang going around with a van and angle grinder. Heard of one crown going around with a jaws of life that they use to cut people out of cars!

Lumen wrote: »

Do you have any sources or experience to back that up?

My Kryptonite NY Fahgettaboudit U-Lock has an 18mm shackle. I didn't think boltcroppers could take that much girth.

I worked in a bike shop on amiens street. The junkies from the methadone clinic next door used to tell me stories! They'd also used to try and rob anything that wasn't nailed or chained down. Even the valve dust caps used to get stolen.
Check out the videos here, they test different locks. The site sells really heavy (even to heavy for some motorcycles) chains, but they always come out on top of the security test in motorbike magazines. The test in the videos are independently monitored. There's other videos on motorcycle websites of people getting through really good locks surprisingly easy with a simple bolt cutters.

Thing is, you can only get the best lock that you can afford and that's practicle.

Tayto2000

Lumen wrote: »

Do you have any sources or experience to back that up?
My Kryptonite NY Fahgettaboudit U-Lock has an 18mm shackle. I didn't think boltcroppers could take that much girth.

They're almost all croppable as long as you can get the head of the croppers onto the ground for leverage... The only chain marketed as boltcropper proof is the Almax chains, even the Abus range only claim a high level of resistance.

Have a look at their site, they have clips of some of the best being cut...

http://www.almax-security-chains.co.uk/

I've got an Almax for locking up at home, but it's way too heavy to carry around unfortunately.

(Edit: Hah, same link! Great minds... )

Lumen

Quint, Tayto2000,

I've seen all those Almax videos, but AFAIK they all involve chains not u-locks.

I spoke to Almax last year about shipping over their 70cm chain, but it was going to be 4kg with lock and all-in quite expensive. I don't think it's really bike-portable, although I might get the long version for my shed.

Quint

They used to have a long video of all the chains being cut, and 2 guys from motorcycle mags watching. In that video they had an Abus u-lock being cut through easy enough.

Tayto2000

Lumen wrote: »

I've seen all those Almax videos, but AFAIK they all involve chains not u-locks.

U-locks are not magically different to chains in terms of width and hardness of the steel. If anything, they are actually easier to cut with croppers since they are more stable and easier to brace than loose chain links.

If it's any consolation, most of the high end chains have to be cut with croppers with a 4 foot handle length to get the required leverage and jaw width, especially where the lock has a square profile (And repeated cropping of hardened steel will ruin the jaws as well...). This is not easily carried, concealed or not, without a vehicle. This should apply to good U-locks too.

The good news is the smaller croppers often carried by thieves in a backpack or jacket can't get through the decent chains. They don't have to, a walk around town or College usually fills me with despair at the number of nice bikes locked up with shoelace thickness cable locks or crappy U-locks...

coolaboola

I know I'm jinxing myself, but a word in praise of my trusty lock.

Its a monster U-lock I inherited from my Da about 18 years ago. Its outlived four bikes and I'm hoping it'll see me through many more.

Its so big you can tell the difference when you cycle my bike with or without it on the carrier (and I cycle pretty hefty bikes!).

I haven't seen a U-lock like it (i.e. feckin' huge) in any bike shop, alas.

Tayto2000

Sounds like a motorcycle U-lock, they're a good option if you don't mind the weight

The tax man

Nice to see Lidl helping out yet again.:rolleyes:

blorg

Could be useful although not much back of the head protection for the bike.

niceonetom

blorg wrote: »

Could be useful although not much back of the head protection for the bike.

ah, but when anonymity matters...



plus, allegedly euro?

ROK ON

blorg wrote: »

Could be useful although not much back of the head protection for the bike.

I really appreciate that it says Euro on the front.
I guess that I will have to go and get one of these new forms of helmet with integrated shades. (I guess it finally solves the sunglasses arms over or under helmet straps).:D