The Unfortunate Truth About Bike Locks

It’s a scary truth: a portable, battery-powered angle grinder can get through almost any standard bike lock in under a minute, meaning your precious bike is at risk. We put this to the test and reveal why the game has changed for bike security, but all is not lost! We show you how to lock your bike to deter opportunist thieves and look at the new angle grinder-resistant locks that are making a difference.

Chapters: ⏱️
0:00 – Intro: The Major Problem with Your Bike Lock
0:25 – Other Ways to Deal With Bike Theft
1:38 – The Tool That Changed Bike Theft
2:55 – Angle Grinder vs. Bike Lock: The Test
4:25 – All Is Not Lost: Deterring Thieves and How to Lock Your Bike
5:53 – Angle Grinder-Resistant Locks
7:13 – Does Luck Play a Part in Bike Theft?

Useful Links:
Join this channel to get access to perks 👉
https://gcn.eu/JoinYTmemberships
Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! 👉 https://gcn.eu/subscribe
Insurance: Viewers in the USA and UK can explore GCN Insurance products 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNinsurance
Sign Up To The GCN Newsletter 👉 https://gcn.eu/Newsletter
GCN Uploader 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnuploader
Visit the GCN Shop 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnshop
GCN WhatsApp Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNwhatsapp
GCN Instagram Broadcast Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/instagrambroadcast
Join the GCN Club on Zwift and ride with us! 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNClubRides

Do you live in a high-risk area, and what’s your best tip for locking up your bike? Let us know your security set-up in the comments! 👇

Watch more on GCN…
📹 https://youtu.be/aGIKJstHjxE
📹 Watch our Editor’s Choice Playlist 👉 https://gcn.eu/editorschoice
📹 Or why not check out our Features Playlist 👉 ​​https://gcn.eu/gcnfeatures

🎵 Music – licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
Ambience, Pad, Eerie, Tense, Ominous
Beyond the Mountains
Build Crescendo, Reversed Tin Impact
Button, Analog, Phone, Button, Cancel
Cell Phone, Take Photos, Quick Shutter Clicks
Die Is Cast
Ding, Metal Object, Hits
EPIC DEMIC
Fork!
Hud Zoom In, Zoom Out, Short
Imber – Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen
In a Minute – John Runefelt
Keyboard, Razer, Typing, Fast
Let It Flow
Lost My Mind (Instrumental Version)
Mouse Clicks
Semi-Professional Spy
Sweat Peas – Arthur Benson
The Nereid – Beyza
Vexor – Jobii
Video Game, Fight Sword Swoosh, Slide

#gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #technology

📸 Photos – © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images

The Global Cycling Network (GCN) is the largest online cycling channel in the world, bringing together a global community of road cyclists to celebrate everything that’s great about the world of cycling.

Our videos bring fans compelling daily content including expert tutorials, techniques, training, racing, cutting-edge bike tech, unparalleled behind the scenes event coverage, humour, entertainment, and more.

Presented by ex-pro riders, GCN offers a uniquely qualified insight into the world of cycling, and most importantly it’s fuelled by our passionate and enthusiastic fans – everyone who makes up the GCN community. We also bring the latest and greatest tech to your attention, showcase the best places in the world to ride and get exclusive access to events and races.

Welcome to the Global Cycling Network | Inside Cycling

Thanks to our sponsors:
Canyon Bikes: http://gcn.eu/-Canyon
Orbea Bikes: http://gcn.eu/Orbea
Pinarello Bikes: https://gcn.eu/Pinarello
Topeak Tools: http://gcn.eu/Topeak
CamelBak: https://gcn.eu/Camelbak
Pirelli Tyres: https://gcn.eu/Pirelli
Vision Wheels: http://gcn.eu/Vision
Wahoo Fitness: http://gcn.eu/Wahoo-Fitness
Park Tool: http://gcn.eu/-parktool
Selle Italia: https://gcn.eu/SelleItalia
Zwift: https://gcn.eu/Zwift
Silca: https://gcn.eu/Silca
MET Helmets: https://gcn.eu/methelmets
Core Body Temperature: https://gcn.eu/corebodytemp
Precision Fuel & Hydration: https://gcn.eu/precisionhydration
Elitewheels: https://gcn.eu/Elitewheels
CeramicSpeed: https://gcn.eu/GCNCeramicSpeed

Watch our sister channels:
GCN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gcntech
GCN Racing – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnracing
Global Triathlon Network – https://www.youtube.com/@gtn
GCN Italia – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnitalia
GCN en Español – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenespanol
GCN auf Deutsch – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnaufdeutsch
GCN en Français – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenfrancais
GCN Training – https://www.youtube.com/@GCNTraining
Global Mountain Bike Network – https://youtube.com/@gmbn
GMBN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gmbntech
Electric Mountain Bike Network – https://www.youtube.com/@embn

I hate to break it to you, but it is highly likely that there is a major problem with your bike lock. That being, it’s probably not going to stop a thief from actually stealing your bike. And the reason is because of one of these. In this video, I’m going to show you why, but also tell you what you can do about it. Bike theft is a big problem in some places. To get around it, you have a few options. One, just don’t leave your bike unattended. I can’t get on bikes this side. Two, ride a cheap bike. Make it look really awful and then hope that no one will actually want to steal it. Three, insure your bike and that way it won’t matter if somebody does steal it. Or buy a massive lock. It’s bigger than it looks. Chunky. There is a problem with this one though. So, according to Carl Ellis, who is the guru of bike locks and the author of the excellent website the bestbelock.com, it used to be that a bike thieves toolkit would consist of cable cutters and bolt cutters to get through average locks and then a crowbar to lever open D or U locks like this. And then that’s about it basically, apart from their bare hands which are also good enough to get through a lot of people’s choice of locks. Now, most bike lock manufacturers will happily sell you a lock to withstand all of those methods for not a ridiculous sum of money. So, effectively, as long as you’re not buying a flimsy cable lock, you’re okay. But then, at some point in the not too distant past, these became available. These being portable batterypowered angle riders and the game changed because apparently these can get through just about any bike lock out there. So we thought, well, let’s see. For this part of the video, I felt like I needed a glamorous assistant. Unfortunately, none were available, but Alex would kindly step into the bridge. Anyway, this is a cheap angle grinder. The kind of thing you can pick up in any tool store for really not much money at all. In fact, considerably less than this bike lock costs. Yeah. Uh right. So, we’re told that this bike lock we should be able to angle grind through it in between 30 seconds and a minute. Okay. Should we go for it? Um, engage the safety glasses, please. You You’re going to do those? Yeah. Thanks. Before you say, by the way, uh, oh my god, GCN, I can’t believe you’re showing bike thieves how to steal bikes. Um, don’t for one minute think that bike thieves don’t already know this. The bad guys know how to steal bikes already. It’s the good guys that don’t know how to steal bikes and therefore need to know in order to be able to protect themselves. Three. I’m really nervous. So am I. You got cut out for this. No, we like rubbish thieves. Okay, you ready? Yeah. 3 2 1 go. [Music] [Applause] Ah, my safety guard has come loose. I mess must stop. Mate, that’s quite a big cut after 8 seconds. Right. Sorry. 3 2 1 [Music] Wow. How long was that? 36 seconds. Oh my god. [Music] Well, that seems like pretty bad news then. You might at least be hoping that an angle grinder isn’t the most inconspicuous way of breaking a lock and so it would at least deter opportunist thieves. And I think you know what, you’d probably be right there. But we can also see from the news and from random YouTube videos that there are bike thieves that are either determined or just generally a little bit gnarly. And they’re happy to use an angle grinder in public because an angle grinder is also quite a good weapon. But all is not lost. There is also other good news. And it starts with learning how to lock your bike up. Because one look around here shows that most people either don’t know or don’t care. The first point is to lock your bike up in a really busy place. Preferably one covered by CCTV. Have a camera up there. We have a camera there. Now, our guru Kurt suggests that you try and lock your bike up in the middle of a bike rack where possible. The idea being that whilst it’s a pain for you to get your bike in and out, it is therefore also a pain for wouldbe thieves. Try and avoid high-risk areas altogether. I thought this was quite a good tip as well. Try and avoid locking your bike in an area that shows that you’re going to be away for a long period of time, like for example outside a cinema. Then lock your bike to an immovable object. It should be said here that not all immovable objects are created equally. So, avoid ones made from aluminium, wood, duh, and also those that can actually be unscrewed, which unfortunately also includes some bike racks. When locking your bike, don’t just lock the top tube because your bike could then act as a giant crowbar. Instead, lock the frame and back wheel together to your removable object and fill as much of the lock space with bike as possible. Keep the lock off the floor so it can’t get smashed with a hammer. and try and keep the lock mechanism as difficult to access as possible. Lastly, there is also some good news about these. As of a couple of years ago, it’s now possible to buy angle grinder resistant locks. So, those that are so resistant to cutting that whilst not being impregnable, make it really unrealistic to think that a thief could get through your lock out on the street. It would take minutes and minutes and discs and discs. Now the downside of those locks is that typically they cost in the region of a couple of hundred, euros or pounds. Now to find out whether a lock is angle grinder resistant, you want to look on the packaging or the website for a soldsecure diamond rating. Sold Secure being a nonprofit organization that exists only to rate and test security products. It might be as well that you simply don’t live in an area that is high risk enough to warrant any kind of concern about angle grinders. That would be excellent. You could simply get by with a decent locked up appropriately and deter any opportunist thieves. And it might be that you live in Denmark where it would seem that you don’t even need a bike lock at all. Judging from our experiences there on a recent trip, when we were making a video about bike theft earlier in the year, we learned quite a few things. One of them was just how easy it can be to steal a bike. The other was just how much luck plays a part in it. So, we left our bait bike out in the hottest of bike theft hotspots for hours on successive days and it wasn’t stolen. And then we left it right here for a week before someone came and stole it. It might be that you have bad luck and there is simply nothing that you can do to stop your bike from getting stolen. But it might also be, as we’ve seen in the second part of this video, that there is a lot that you can do that can prevent your bike from being stolen. I cannot tell you how in all of the time we’ve been roaming around filming this video, I have not seen a single bike locked up in the right way with a half decent lock. No one needs to come around here with an angle grinder to steal bikes. So, it’s definitely worth bearing in mind. Now, do make sure you let us know what you think about this video in the comments section down below. Make sure you give it a big thumbs up if you’ve enjoyed it, if nothing else, for our glamorous assistant, Alex.