But the basics remain the same: two bike locks. The lightest and strongest I can afford to carry. The more and stronger the better (I naively had to return the 1.7 kg Abus Granit 540 that almost broke my rucksack!). The theory is that it requires different tools to break it and two would offer twice the resistance.
Here's the two I have chosen for my best bike for my journeys across France/Belgium/Holland and in London/Cambridge: it consists of a D-Lock for the frame/rear wheel and a cable lock for the front wheel.
And oh, park somewhere crowded because no lock survives 10 seconds against an angle grinder....
Lock Spec 1:
First up is the D-Lock.Name: Abus Futura Mini
Weight: 692 gr.
Claim: 11 mm round shackle + Very intensive use of special weight-optimized alloy and light material
To put this in perspective, my daily Abus Sinus Plus 23cm is 1.1kg whereas this mini is only 67mm wide, and about 12cm long, so isn't very versatile around street objects. It came without brackets unlike it's longer brother. The mechanism is very smooth to operate.
The main appeal is that it fits in my jacket chest pocket (whole) and the short lock body in my medium saddle bag. This allows different carrying options to distribute the weight.
Lock Spec 2:
The supporting back up is a simple but chunky cable lock. The combo comes to 1364 gr.Name: Abus Catama 870 + QuickSnap
Weight: 672 gr
Claim: 19mm but actual steel cable is merely 12-13mm in diameter.
This is about twice the bulk of a standard so-called 12mm cable lock but I feel safer knowing this has 12mm of actual steel wires.
In my opinion this is better than using the usual cable loop back onto the D-Lock, not only because this cable is thicker but also because it is independent and requires a separate attack.
To be honest, I have left my lock keys inside the lock in central London and survived, so take my reasoning with a pinch of salt.....
Ideal Locking
The one I've never done is to include the saddle. And that's the risk I'm willing to take.
The general advice is to lock up the frame plus both wheels esp if they are on quick release.
There's a way to do this with two small locks. The main trick is to lock the rear wheel inside the triangle with the most secure lock as that secures the frame. See illustration pic above. Once you accept this, you realise that you don't need such a big D-Lock.
D-lock stays hidden (below) inside the saddle bag with the tools and the U-lock/shackle hangs on the saddle rails. The cable QuickSnap is bolted to the saddle clamp which is fortunately only possible on this post.
Cycling with Kids
When I go out with the boys, I simply replace the Mini with a normal D-Lock that can go over two rear wheels and the third bike simply sandwiched in the middle with just cable loops. To me it's a sensible compromise. It doesn't really need a static object because I can't imagine anyone would walk away or around with three bikes on their shoulder.Ironically this is when I left the keys in for over 7 hours in central London!
Really?
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| Maybe outside a police station |
