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I am in the market for a new D-lock since I can no longer fit the key into mine and it has been dodgy for a wee while. It has some 3 in 1 soaking in to it at the mo but I think the problem is terminal.
It has been a while (18 years in fact-I have had my moneys worth out of it) since I bought a D-lock Any recommendations? Any to avoid?
The brackets for Kryptonites are a bit stupid at the moment - they all have a sleeve on the U bit with a flanged shape which fits into a slot on the bracket which makes it a pain to fit inside the triangle on a standard frame if you have any non-round tubes or wish to use a water bottle. It's not able to mimic the diagonally-behind-the-seat-tube-protruding-forwards-and-just-clearing-the-bottle position my old bracket could achieve. The bracket is a combination giant zip-tie/bolt for coarse sizing/tightening but the bit you're supposed to wedge a screwdriver into to loosen the zip-tie bit is far too weak for purpose and cracked. My D-lock is therefore bungeed to my rack, where it rattles constantly.
I had exactly the same problem as Wingpig, mine now either stretches the leather straps in the carradice or bungies to the rack... where it rattles constantly.
Having said that I'm not sure the Abus solution is any better.
Hmm, that is a bit of a bummer. I have just carried mine in my bag/pannier up till now but was wanting to use a frame mount since I don't always want to carry a bag. Sounds like it just creates new problems.
Another thumbs down for the Kryptonite bracket. Even if you can find a place (steering tube on my commuter) the lock rattles incessantly.
The hasp bit gets very rusty too, so the lock needs a good heave to separate when unlocked.
OTOH, nobody has even tried to break either of mine, despite one overnighting and weekending in darkest L'gow.
Kryptonite in bag or pannier for me. Have always found frame mounts unsatisfactory for locks and make it harder to swap lock between frames. (unless you buy extra brackets)
Kryptonite bracket also useless on smaller framed bikes.
Glad you did this thread, Min. I would have left the house with a rusted-open lock if you'd not. Since we're here, I tidied up a bloggy type piece I started a wee while back, but then abandoned:
~~~~~~~~~~
As with any other sport, lifestyle, fashion statement yadda yadda that a freely confessed obsessive like myself can entangle him or herself in, cycling is a mine of milestones as deep as the mutant offspring of the Marianas Trench and the Dalai Lama. I didn't so much collect one recently as I did dance and cheeter round it like a 2001 protohuman with a monolith, but I think I got close enough for Zara to start thrusting. If your name is Zara, I do apologise for the cheekily inserted 'r'.
The milestone I almost passed, the badge for which I threaded the needle but did not sew on, the scalp I did not remove but did get a hulking friend to beat someone to death with a baseball bat nearby, was that of closely resembling a bike thief in the course of retrieving my own device, whilst remaining unmolested throughout.
I say I only approached this Rubicon rather than bridged it since I didn't have to break the lock or chain - in the end, walking home and back for some oil freed the gummed parts and united me with velomobility - but for the ten or twenty minutes of standing hunched over the bike I suspect I appeared bent as a butcher's hook, and from the suspicion I think I detected in the faces of onlookers, was not alone in doing so. Maybe I have an honest face, which was raised heavenwards(or more accurately f***wards, since it was that sake I was oh-forforring) intermittently in exasperation and persuaded the good citizenry of Near The Shops that I was merely an unfortunate bike owner, or maybe they just don't care about bike theft.
Have you ever heard of lower arm strength enthusiasm? It's more colloquially referred to as grip gayness in the virtual shires of weight training, which I found oddly liberating. The forums and other online haunts of weightlifters are/were rife with homophobia, so any instance where homosexuality isn't, in the microculture of any given board, automatically assumed to be Bad And Weak(interchangeable terms) was refreshing. In the course of grip gayness, one often bends. You begin either with drawn steel or nails, but progress to bolts as your wrists and hands(lower arms, even) get stronger, and as with most training methods, one need small incremental steps in order to progess. One of the ways of making any given gauge of nail or bolt harder to fold is to crop the ends of it so you have a shorter lever to apply the stress across.
Why did I bother introducing the almost complete irrelevance above? Because I feel the need to justify why I own a great big pair of bolt croppers. It's not that I'm a bike thief, it's just that I'm a retired grip gaylord and I've never found anyone interested in buying them from me that had a similarly benign reason to own such a larceny-enabling device.
I wonder if anyone would have said anything if they'd seen me using them on the lock, or if they failed and I'd had to knock on recombodna's door(for the bike was parked about fifty feet away) and attacked it with his angle grinder.
~~~~~~~~
Like I said at the top, the padlock has now rusted into place, thankfully waiting untilafter its last wrestle off the bike. Looks like I'm in the market for a new D too. There's a dreadful pun sitting there involving C3PO's dustbin-shaped bolshy friend, but I recoil from it in horror.
Never shy away from Star Wars puns.
I do hope everyone saw kaputnik's recent luverly graphical homage to Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm...
For what it's worth, when I got a new bike I upgraded from a d-lock to a motorbike-style heavy chain. Possibly the Abus City Chain Plus (I'm taking no chances). Anyway the point is that it's now easier to lock the bike up - e.g. I can lock it to lamposts which are too thick for a d-lock - and the chain is easier to get round just the bits I want to lock up, without accidentally locking up the neighbouring bike too. No more wrestling with the d-lock, just thread the chain round and lock it up, seems simpler to me. Heavy but.
Abus locks are good. I've got a Granit X+54, pricey, heavy but very secure (can apparently withstand 5 minutes attack with an angle grinder). Decent brackets - minimal rattle, although check the size of the lock if you have a compact frame. All made in Germany, which I always find reassuring.
Never shy away from Star Wars puns.
I do hope everyone saw kaputnik's recent luverly graphical homage to Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm...
This is not the pun you are looking for...
I must have missed that one, got a link?
I saw it on Facebook, which I can't view here. Where's a kaputnik when you need him.
I love the stormtrooper motivational poster style thing as well, with him holding his head in his hands and below are the words, 'REGRET - those were the droids you were looking for[/i]'
Thread creep! Back OT, I've got an Abus lock that only gets occasional use. It had virtually completely jammed when almost new, and I stopped using it - but strangely seems to operate fine now. It's good for doubling up when riding with someone else.
On the subject of Star Wars:
(Visually safe for all but the stuffiest of Works, but muckiness abounds in the language)
Edit-can't get it to be just a link without embedding the video, so you'll need to copy'n'paste then remove the space.
http://www.you tube.com/watch?v=KF02VoDQSd0
"These are the droids you are looking for."
OR
"That's no moon"
Use short format for non-embedmentationness -
A second vote for Abus Granit locks. Incredibly robust and solid. A wee sliding hatch to cover the lock internals and stop water/dirt ingress. Very good system for ordering replacement keys should you lose the originals.
Also have a variety of different clamp/bracket system options, though brackets usually mean you can't fit your water bottles in, or they interfere with panniers in some way. I usually just bungee/luggage elastic mine to the top of my rear rack. This only works where I have a front rail on my rack to wedge the loop of the 'D' underneath, otherwise I bung it in a pannier. See below for an example (Tortec expedition rack; My Topeak rack also has a similar horizontal rail at the front).
Those little ramps are very useful. The low-profile rack on my audax/commute bike doesn't have them, and it's a pest to bungee anything to the top.
A previous discussion on D-lock mounting.
I ended up buying one of the 'wingpig' mounts linked to in the first post and I've been pretty happy with it. Doesn't impede drink bottle or my left leg.
If my budget were not subject to limits, and I had an excuse, then a Tubus Locc rear rack would be my preferred solution for carrying an Abus D-lock.
Tempted to give this a bash
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/abus-ugh-lock-bracket
I've had my D lock for years too. Had a few bikes pinched but not whie my D lock was securing them... I had a new Adus D Lock with my mtb with a steal wire extender but as the D lock wouldn't go round the lamp post, the cable was cut and the bike knicked. I still have my old D lock from Unidays so possibly a similar age to yours min but it lives at work now. I have a huge chain with massive padlock which now neatly fits round my waist for anything else.
I looked at the prices of new D locks (I only have one bend key (which I've never been able to get copied) and I don't think I'll get a new one. The chain although heavy is strong enough and I tend to leave my bike at work in our new lockable room, or at home in my garage.
I like those new folding locks though, like a series of short bars joined together with rivets which fold into a short block. They come with frame storage and take up much less room thsn a D lock, never mind a huge chain. I'm sure someone will know the name for them.
be careful wearing chains as belts, necklaces, bandoliers or whatever. If you come off the bike and land on them you can do yourself some serious damage - particularly if it's around your lower back, it's soft contents and spine. Likewise around your shoulder isn't great either.
Seconded. When I bought my Thatcham-approved chain I didn't have any means to carry it home except bandolier style and I felt horribly vulnerable.
Saw chap cycling with his door key hanging down his jacksy on a rock climbers little d-lock thingy. Did not like where the Yale was pointing
Crowriver - I have a mate who put that rack / D-Lock combo on his new Genesis Fortitude.
It looks great, is very practical, but does interfere with his huge mudguard / maaaasive tyre combo.
Yes, I'd be slightly worried about the close positioning of the lock/spokes with the rack mount. Looks like a neat solution if you have space for it though.
@DaveC - folding locks, like Abus' "Bordo" range.
Bad news is that the lighter ones have been found to be vulnerable at the rivets/pivots, and the heavier, "Granit" one is quite short (like most high security D-locks).
In a fit of security overkill, I tend to use the Bordo Granit to retain my front wheel and forks, rather than using a cable with the main motorcycle grade (and weight!) D-lock...
Robert
I'm (now) in the market for a new D-Lock too, I dropped mine from a great height and the casing is cracked. Lock still functions perfectly well, but it will just be a matter of time before the rust gets in.
I've been 'lurking' on this thread with interest.
@reikimikey, I actually have that system. Used it for a bit. However it does mean you can only carry one pannier. :-(
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