Frame Locks

hardCopy

I recently visited Odense in Denmark. Lovely city, really well set up for bikes, everybody cycles.

The thing I found strange was that everyone seemed to use really flimsy looking frame-locks, these were like half a handcuff attached to the rear brake mounts:



How do people manage with locks like this? My host did mention that bike thefts are a big problem, but that didn't seem to deter anyone from using these locks. Is it a case that people over there just buy cheap bikes and accept that they'll eventually need a new one? I just couldn't imagine a bike lasting more than a minute in Dublin locked like these bikes.

This is how most bikes were locked, no anchor point at all:

el Bastardo

Much the same deal in Germany. Those locks are used for beer bikes rather than expensive, 'fitness' ones. If they get lifted, then either they buy a new one or they lift someone elses. Those frame locks are pretty easy to bend with a bit of beer power (and a desperate will to freewheel rather than walk home!).. or so I hear

Doctor Bob

Bikes are covered under house insurance in Denmark. I'm a bit sketchy on the details but I think that insurance companies will only pay out on a stolen bike if it was locked at the time it was taken. Wheel locks satisfy this criterion.

Old Copenhagenize post with a bit more detail.

I have one on my Dutch bike, but I also have a sturdy U-lock and a pig's tail cable. I'd never leave it locked with just the wheel lock, but then again, my bike is such a tank that nobody'd bother carrying it more than 10 yards... but that's a hypothesis I'm not willing to test.