24 September 2009

No Bike in this photo : 2

busted U lock bike parking
A follow up to the broken cable lock, here's a U-lock compromised outside Target this week.

Be careful, there seems to be a rash of thefts recently!

8 comments:

Trisha said...

Whoa. No wonder my bike locking method made you nervous! That's some serious determination...

MamaVee said...

EGAD!!! I thought U locks were theft proof!

Velouria said...

That's a U-Lock? Gosh. Is that the Target in Somerville?

kfg said...

Nope, not determination at all. Just a matter having the right tools and knowing how to use them. This thief was a bit of a wiseacre ( a Dutch word) though.

Speaking of the Dutch, you see all those pictures of Dutch women riding around hauling chains that look like they weigh more than the women? That's not just some "quirky Dutch thang." They know what they're doing. A good, square link chain is so tough that it cannot be cut to length even by an industrial supplier. It has to be MADE to length (10 to 25 bucks a foot, depending on how thick the link material is). This has to be mated with a lock with a shielded shackle, because a chain is only as strong as . . . well, if the whole rig is super secure, they can always just cut the pole you locked it to.

Dottie said...

That doesn't look like a Kryptonite lock, does it? 'Cause that would worry me more :)

Charlotte said...

To be fair, I don't think it's a kryptonite, I think it was a cheap Target lock (yes, that's the one just over the line in Somerville), and I think the bike was left there overnight.

Still... it's sobering.

townmouse said...

U lock? Looks more like an X lock now...

Anonymous said...

U-locks are most certainly not "theft-proof", and there are many different kinds of U-locks, even within Kryptonite's product line. Why do you think some Kryptonite locks cost $25 when others cost $50 or $75... the stronger they are the more they cost (it has to do with the design as well as the type of metal used). Even Kryptonite's cheaper U-locks are broken around the Boston/Cambridge/Somerville area ALL the time. Easily and quickly, too.

You have to pick the right lock for your area as well as for your bike. My fairly inconspicuous 3-speed is locked with a $60 Kryptonite lock, I wouldn't trust it with anything less around here. Maybe if I lived in the suburbs, but not in the city.