Good U-lock..?

[Jurek]

If the lock is only/mainly going to be used at your place of work, can you leave it there, maybe locked to the sheffield stand?   This would lighten your commuting load and possiobly let you get a bigger, heavier (and hopefully better) lock.

I've lost two orange Kryptonite locks this way, by leaving them locked at Waitrose in Greenwich.

[Tim Hall]

If the lock is only/mainly going to be used at your place of work, can you leave it there, maybe locked to the sheffield stand?   This would lighten your commuting load and possiobly let you get a bigger, heavier (and hopefully better) lock.

I've lost two orange Kryptonite locks this way, by leaving them locked at Waitrose in Greenwich.

Bah.  OK, substitue leaving the lock attached to the sheffield stand with leaving the lock in your locker/desk.

[fruitcake]

I think it's not entirely true that thieves don't want to push the bike away. Some are happy to push a bike with one locked wheel through town in daylight. Some want to ride away, some sling it in a van.

Perhaps. Though I guess someone pushing a bike with a locked wheel / missing wheel* / no seatpost* / missing pedals is more likely to arouse suspicion, and they know that. They would arouse my suspicion were I to see them. However, I agree that if a thief has a van, there's little one can do.

*I remember when quick release was a new thing, cyclists would park up, remove their their seatpost and take it with them, and sometimes their front wheel too, because locking skewers hadn't been invented yet.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Yes, it looks suspicious. And what happens next? Almost always nothing.

[Paul H]

I think it's not entirely true that thieves don't want to push the bike away. Some are happy to push a bike with one locked wheel through town in daylight. Some want to ride away, some sling it in a van.

I think this is it and that these conversations have a tendency to treat thieves as if they all had the same motivation, tools, capability and rule book. While it's true you won't be able to beat every potential theft, the more you do the the better the chances. Loads of bikes are stolen every year because they're not locked at all, a Poundshop cable would have stopped some of those. Other thieves prowl with tools only capable of cutting cheap locks... It goes on till there's those who will cut through a frame to walk away with the components.  Being realistic doesn't mean dismissing every deterrent, then if you consider the loss would be significant, insure it.   

[quixoticgeek]

If the lock is only/mainly going to be used at your place of work, can you leave it there, maybe locked to the sheffield stand?   This would lighten your commuting load and possiobly let you get a bigger, heavier (and hopefully better) lock.

I've lost two orange Kryptonite locks this way, by leaving them locked at Waitrose in Greenwich.

I noticed the bike racks at Chelmsford station there was a rail on the wall that people could lock a lock too so that it was there for them the next day. Without cluttering the racks. A nice idea.

J

[L CC]

Yes, it looks suspicious. And what happens next? Almost always nothing.

Many moons ago I shared a train carriage with a bloke in (chavvy) civvies & trainers with no bag and a high end Trek road bike complete with road pedals. He couldn't have ridden it in the outfit he was wearing and it smelt suss to me. What did I do about it? Nothing.
I've also wheeled a single wheeled bike through Diss. I got some looks but that was all.

[Kim]

I've previously described the complete indifference I got when making a 999 call to provide a running commentary on someone sawing through the cable lock on a parked bike.  If it hadn't been for the person in question looking a bit dark skinned, and the operator incorrectly assuming I meant a motorcycle until after they'd dispatched the Bullring securi-droids, they'd probably have hung up on me.

[Feanor]

Yes, it looks suspicious. And what happens next? Almost always nothing.

Junior managed to break a key inside a D-lock leaving his bike stuck to railings just outside Waverly station in Edinburgh.

In the 5 minutes it took me to angle-grind the thing free, throwing sparks everywhere, I'd say several hundred people had walked past me.
Not one batted an eyelid.

[andyoxon]

...
Not one batted an eyelid.

Must be the honest face...   


----

Mrsao went for the Abus Ultimate 420 + cable in the end, on the basis can't be bolt cropped, angle grinding unlikely, & was a decent price.

[fd3]

Abus 540 D lock.
Highly recommend. I have 5 Abus locks with the Granit X Plus core, which are all key'd alike.

I have read about Abus key matching, but I thought i was a theoretical thing that doesn't actually happen.

[quixoticgeek]

Abus 540 D lock.
Highly recommend. I have 5 Abus locks with the Granit X Plus core, which are all key'd alike.

I have read about Abus key matching, but I thought i was a theoretical thing that doesn't actually happen.

Take the key card that comes with the lock to the shop when you order the next lock...

Really simple.

J