The Pen is Mightier than the Lock

[yangman]

There has been an assortment of articles describing a fatal flaw in the locking mechanism of some tubular locks which allows them to be picked almost trivially with cheap plastic pens. The wave of reporting began with this post.

Although this vulnerability affects many different lock manufactures, Kryptonite, a small bike-lock company, considered the King of them All, is taking much of the blunt because of its reputation. The lockmaker has just recently (Sept 17) announced plans to offer replacement for affected locks purchased since September 2002, and substantial discounts for replacements for owners of even older locks.

I am a Kryptonite owner myself. Although I could not find a suitable pen to try picking open my lock, poking at its pistons with a safety pin confirms with almost no doubt that the method described works. And, really, my confirmation is but a drop in the bucket, and not a very big droplet at that.

Fortunately for me, autumn is the season of rain in Vancouver, and I've no reason to take my bike out before spring except for recreational purposes when I wouldn't want to be lugging around a huge metal weight anyhow. Nevertheless, I'm still in disbelief that such an obvious and fatal design flaw has been left unsolved for so long.

[Occhidiangela]

Diablo I Mana Shield Bug.

[eppie]

I also heard this in the news over here. I just thought it was another american conspiracy to disrupt the dutch society. :D
Once all of our ten million bikes are equipped with this lock, at night american paratroopers would land and steal all of them... imagine the consternation when we wake up the next morning. How do we go and drive to our work in the windmills. How do we get to the field to harvest tulips.... Probably instead of working we have to start smoking weed not only in the weekends but also on weekdays.
Within a week we are ready to be invaded......

(why do we need american bicycle equipment anyway?)

[Occhidiangela]

Or, one could choose a nice German padlock for bike security. :lol: A simple and cost effective way to foil yet another nefarious American plot to "Debike the Dikers!"

Then again, there may be a real Trojan Horse in the bike theft plan, what with the thorny problem of metric, versus English, wrenches being necessary for bike repairs . . .

Occhi

[yangman]

European engineering is nice and all, but can they stand up to good-old North American style brute forcing? ;)

All jokes aside, Kryptonite locks are known as best of the best. Ignoring this lock problem for the moment, the resistances these locks have are far into the realm of rediculousness. From what I've read and remember, short of being blown up with explosives, these things have been subjected to everything from Jaws of Life to liquid nitrogen. And, the toughest test of them all, sitting out on the streets in NYC. As the story goes, when the test was concluded, only the frame of the sacrificial bike remained, firmly locked by a Kryptonite. The company even offers to pay up to $3000 for anything that was locked down properly with their locks and was still stolen.

Also, for many of us, getting our bikes stolen is a big deal. Emotional damages aside, serious roadie/downhill/free-ride bikes cost anywhere from a grand up to as much as ten to twenty big g's. Granted, people who would commute with the ultra high-ends are simply insane, but it's not difficult to spot people riding five-grand foot-powered two-wheelers here in Vancouver.