These things I think are the best you can do. Near impossible to break. Difficult to pick locks.
Angle grinder beats everything but these will give them some trouble.
Here is a cheap but (probably) ok version,
This is what I use. Want the best and pay for it? I think this is it. My scooter is very expensive and worth stealing so I think this was worthwhile. YMMV
Downside? It is heavy and not easy to carry. I use a backpack and put it in that but without a backpack…dunno how you would carry this.
Back in the day I knew cyclists who were spending big money to shave a few ounces off their road bikes … and then bought locks that weighed a ton to keep them secured!
I can see how those handcuff style locks would be all but required for a scooter which has no frame openings but does have a riser tube with big blobs at both ends. And is a vehicle where removing the wheels isn’t very valuable or practical. A perfect adaptation of the bike lock genre to something that’s equally (or more) stealable but very different geometry.
For a bike (e- or not) I suppose one could lock one end onto the vertical frame tube, route the other end through the front of the rear wheel then attach it to a handy signpost. Doesn’t seem real practical for use with bike racks, fences, etc. And would still leave the front wheel unprotected.
Yeah.
The old joke was that the combined weight of bike and lock was a constant. 10lb bike needs a 4oz lock. 4oz bike needs a 10lb lock. And every combo in between.
My kid’s ebike, which was the cheapest one I could get, has a three position lock on the battery: run, off, release. In the off position the bike does not turn on, meaning it is now a 60 pound pedal bike. I would not trust that for security, but I guess it means if someone rides away, their legs will get tired.
I’ve never seen that combined with a steering lock, like on a motorcycle, but it might exist. Using a metal pin to lock the pedals or hub is a simple enough idea, it must exist.
I’ve seen reviews for ebikes that require entering a combination on the keypad to unlock them, ones with proximity keys, and phone based keys.
This weekend I saw an ebike with an Abus handcuff/claw lock, and one of the claws was clamping on to the front wheel. I noticed it because I hadn’t seen that style of lock before. I didn’t studied it too closely, because I didn’t want to be that guy at the festival paying way too much attention to a locked bike that isn’t his.
There’s something like that called a ‘cafe lock’. It’s a small but stout lock that permanently attaches to the frame, and when engaged(manually or electronically) throws a bolt through the rear wheel spokes. Someone can still pick up the bike and walk away with it, but it’s usually used on the kind of e-bikes that are heavy enough to discourage that sort of thing. But for sure you can’t ride or push it way.
Take the front wheel off, put it next to the rear wheel, then lock through both wheels and the frame. Or at least get a length of good steel cable you can pass through the front wheel.
Ships’ anchor chains make for pretty good bicycle security, but make sure you are able to lift individual links off the ground.
I’ve certainly seen bicycles designed with easy to remove front wheels and seen those kind of bikes locked up with the front wheel alongside the rear wheel.
Not so practical on a much heavier more awkward e-bike not designed for front wheel quick release.
One point to consider: You might not want a lock that’s too secure. I once had a lock jam up on me, and need to be cut off, and it was a royal pain. Bolt cutters just slightly dented it, and a hacksaw slid right over it. I eventually used a canister of MAPP gas to heat it as hot as I could to relax the temper, and still dulled two hacksaw blades getting through it.
Of course, if a thief had really wanted to steal it, they wouldn’t have done all of that; they’d have just cut through the bike rack it was locked to.
I have a theory, which I shared in another bike thread and a lot of other posters disagreed with, but I still believe it so I’ll share it here:
There are two types of bike thieves: the pros, who know how to defeat just about every type of bike lock, and the casual opportunists, who will take a bike that was left unlocked. You can’t really guard against the former no matter how good your lock is, so I always just get an inexpensive halfway decent lock to guard against the latter.
Though this Kryptonite deal sounds good, if it’s on the level and there’s no catches or small print:
I’d be really, really interested to see how often they pay out on that deal. They are not the only ones with such an “insurance” policy but I would be really surprised if they ever pay out except in a few cases which is good for advertising.
I might be wrong. I really do not know the data on that. Just my expectation that such insurance works hard to not pay if they can find a way not to…and they usually have a way not to.
The details of the Kryptonite guarantee are here. Just by a quick perusal, I note a few things:
The guarantee costs $35/year. That in itself probably makes it profitable for the company, since probably less than 1% (WAG) of guarantee buyers have their bikes stolen, apply for guarantee payment, and satisfy all the criteria for a payout (see below).
The max payout depends on the type of Krytonite lock. For the Evolution lock mentioned upthread, the max payout is $1000 for a powersport bike. That’s probably far below the value of the bike.
A claim must be made to Kryptonite within 7 days of the theft, and reported to the police within 72 hours of the theft. Probably a lot of claims that would otherwise be successful fail to meet those deadlines.
There are several mentions of coverage from “your insurance” company. It’s not clear to me whether that means they will only offer the guarantee if you also have coverage from another insurance company.
What they say / mean is that your own insurance is primary. If your main insurance pays out, Kryptonite will cover only your deductible. If your primary insurance denies the claim, it’s unclear what will happen, but my hunch is no payout for you.
If you don’t have applicable insurance, then Kryptonite will cover to the amount stated depending on the kind of lock.
But: the “insurance” is void if you use their lock to secure a cable or chain and the cable or chain is cut. Which makes some sense; they don’t control how flimsy those parts are. But as a practical matter, the cable or chain is always easier to cut than the lock. So any thief not stealing his (good bet it’s “his”) first bike is gonna cut the cable or chain, not the lock.
To me this is exactly like the purchase warrantee on a TV at Best Buy: pure profit for them, pure BS and expense for you.
It’s theoretically possible for it to work out to your advantage. And a small percent of buyers every year get that treatment. But it’s sure not the way to bet.
