This is a lock for a specific purpose, and deserves a place in the kit of many cyclists. People cycle for many reasons, and there is a huge market of recreational cyclists for whom this lock provides peace of mind. I am as much of a ‘road warrior’ as the next guy, but I also have one of these locks for when I don’t want to carry my full commuter kit.
Ever been on a Sunday ride for pleasure with a close friend and stopped into a cafe with outdoor seating at lunch? Ever ridden competitively with a bunch of other sport cyclists and rolled up to a bar for a beer afterwards, standing outside and catching the last rays of sun? Ever popped down to a local restaurant to pick up a takeout order? All these situations require you to take your attention off your bike momentarily leaving it vulnerable to opportunistic theft. Yet none of these situations necessarily require you to be encumbered with a solid lock.
Not everybody lives in an urban dystopia. There are a lot of people in the world that are living in pleasant, walkable (and yes, gentrified) communities, filled with cafes, bars and other amenities, that should be positively encouraged to purchase such a lock as an accessory to their cycling life.
I’m from San Francisco, and before that NYC, so like you I always use a u-lock. But when my girlfriend and I rented bikes in Portaland, OR, they gave us these dinky little cable locks, not much better than these. When we asked if these were sufficient, the woman at the bike rental place said “ha, everyone from SF asks that. These locks are all you need here”.
So in some cities, small locks are just fine.
And please spare us your righteous indignation against Mark for posting about this. He wasn’t recommending this as a primary bike lock, or hardly even as a bike lock at all. Just for locking random things that otherwise wouldn’t really need a lock.
One side note: never EVER use WD-40 as a lubricant or anti-freeze agent. It’ll collect dirt and permanently gum up your lock. If you must, use a little silicone spray or plain old graphite powder.
I don’t think anybody is saying this is a lock that will keep your bike safe for hours on the mean streets of NY or SF where professional bike thieves walk around with bolt cutters and plasma torches (umm, that second one might be a bit of an exaggeration)… It’s been pretty clearly described as a visual deterrent to prevent casual theft in convenience situations, from (as noted in the headline) amateur thieves. Ie, that random asshole who sees something unlocked on the street as they’re walking by, and takes it just because they can. It’s not going to stop a determined thief, but that’s not the purpose.
Edit: having said that, it sounds like all these things need is a good solid tug to break the locking mechanism, so, yeah, you could also just carry around a piece of string and tie it up with that, to achieve the same amount of security theatre.
I’m a city kid. I’m living in a city where bike theft is an organized business. I use a serious lock, and I accept that unless the lock ties them all down I’m at risk of losing parts.
But if all you’re concerned with is preventing the joy-riding teenager – either because you don’t really mind losing the old bike so much as the inconvenience factor of losing it unexpectedly, or because that’s really the primary risk in your area – simply slowing them down and saying “don’t do that” may be entirely sufficient.
Especially if the other bikes in your area don’t get secured at all so one of them will go walkabout instead.
Basic principle, speaking as a locksmith: You don’t need (and can’t get) complete security. What you need is appropriate security for the item based on its value and how much losing it would bother you, and in many cases all you need is to be visibly epsilon more secure than your neighbors.
So if we are going to take this “visual deterrent” stuff to the limit, what’s the best lock when that really is all you need? I have an old opaque plastic jumprope which would be much lighter than any cable, per foot. There must be locks out there with solid looking shells whose insides can be removed to save weight. Or perhaps just loop it in a way that looks like the lock is hidden under something. Makers, activate!
A backpacking buddy used to say he always zips up his tent when he’s not around, “To keep the honest people from stealing anything”.
Fact is, that does make a difference. Shouldn’t, but humans are weird. Some have impulse control issues and all you need to do is not trigger the impulse.
