I'm aware from browsing history here, there are many Brompton purists that think a lock is heresy. I don't. When touring there are many instances where you need to securely lock your bike for periods of time. One lock I've used for years on my traditional touring bike is the Seatylock compact. It folds well, is very compact and secure.. the issue with the pins pretty much solved… And more importantly it looks secure, deterring opportunistic thieves. Some think too heavy, and for daily office commutes where the bike comes inside, it's unnecessary. But touring? Weight has very little impact on most tourers when rolling.. there's numerous studies to this affect. Within reason, obviously.
Enter the Seatylock Mini.
The gap behind the seat post is ideal for a bike lock. I trimmed most of the Seatylock lock mount away. I might even remove it altogether and epoxy a rubber boot to hold the bottom of the lock to the rear triangle hinge. Special attention to the area on the right as you're looking from the rear: leave room so your cables don't get pinched. A velcro strap with an inner down tube strap is then sufficient to hold the lock securely, and, importantly, noiselessly.
The fiddly bit is the rear frame hinge latch. This needs to be inverted to make the necessary room. It's straightforward but take your time and don't lose the spring.. booiing…. Note that you need to invert the stud in the suspension rubber so the latch can engage. If you also carry a 'cafe lock ' .. great. The Seatylock Mini lock can't be easily stolen since it's secure inside the latched triangle.
Except for the mutilated, learn by doing, mount, I'm very happy with the outcome.
by rileyrgham
3 Comments
This is very smartly done. The locks being gold rated is nice, but I do wish they sold a diamond version after watching some youtube videos about angle grinders. Here is a video about a foldylock vs an anglegrinder and it lasts around 10 seconds [www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrOsR28VRY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrOsR28VRY)
It’s a good idea. Didn’t realise seaty lock fits under the seatpost. I had an abus lock which did that but from memory it was quite poor from security perspective.
Personally when touring I have friends with me and we would take turns guarding the bikes outside shops and stuff. I only really carry a lock when going on long journeys on trains or busses where I need to lock the bike somewhere inside the train so it wouldn’t get pinched.
Personal rules of Brompton locking, don’t get the best lock on the planet, get a lock that’s better than the one of the bike next to you, and make sure that bike is nicer than your bike. Also make sure to lock your bike to something instead of just to itself.
Fold Brompton so that people don’t recognise it right away as something they could jump on and ride off with.
And don’t lock in places where you wouldn’t want your daughter/girlfriend/boyfriend whatever to walk.
Then living in the Netherlands this is easy, finding a bike nicer than yours with a worse lock shouldn’t take a lot of time. And every time one of my bikes went missing in the past 2 decades, violated the rule of not just locking the bike to itself, and often doing so in a quiet place where it was the only bike around. .