Less expensive options include replacing standard quick release skewers with skewers that need a standard hex key to be opened. Despite hex keys not being very rare, this method still guards the bicycle from casual opportunists, needing the less common tool and more time to be removed. Pentagonal key skewers exist which bring some of the benefit of a locking skewer at a lower cost. Quicker and cheaper yet, and only effective against thieves unequipped with even a screwdriver, quick-release levers can be tied down by a common hose clamp.
Test standards that rate the effective security of bicycle locks are provided by Thatcham and Sold Secure in the United Kingdom, ART in the Netherlands, SSF in Sweden, and VDS in Germany. Sold Secure was set up by the Northumbria Police and Essex Police in 1992 with the backing of the Home Office. It is now a not-for-profit corporation owned by the Master Locksmiths Association. Each model of lock tested requires an initial and ongoing annual payments by the manufacturer of several thousand pounds. In the U.K., a Sold Secure certified lock is usually required in order to insure a bicycle against theft, and a lock that passes the tougher Thatcham standards is usually required to insure a motorbike. Sold Secure certify locks with either a Bronze, Silver or Gold rating, corresponding to an attack resistance of 1, 3 and 5 minutes with various tools.
Tests carried out on behalf of Cycle magazine showed that all of the bicycle locks tested, which had a variety of certifications from Sold Secure, Thatcham, and ART, could be broken in less than 42 seconds. Cables and chains were breached using either small cable cutters or 36" bolt croppers, and D-locks were breached using a stubby bottle jack. Of the locks tested, five had a Sold Secure Gold rating, varying in price from £25 to £100. Two of these Gold rated locks withstood only 10 seconds of attack.
Test standards that rate the effective security of bicycle locks are provided by Thatcham and Sold Secure in the United Kingdom, ART in the Netherlands, SSF in Sweden, and VDS in Germany. Sold Secure was set up by the Northumbria Police and Essex Police in 1992 with the backing of the Home Office. It is now a not-for-profit corporation owned by the Master Locksmiths Association. Each model of lock tested requires an initial and ongoing annual payments by the manufacturer of several thousand pounds. In the U.K., a Sold Secure certified lock is usually required in order to insure a bicycle against theft, and a lock that passes the tougher Thatcham standards is usually required to insure a motorbike. Sold Secure certify locks with either a Bronze, Silver or Gold rating, corresponding to an attack resistance of 1, 3 and 5 minutes with various tools.
Tests carried out on behalf of Cycle magazine showed that all of the bicycle locks tested, which had a variety of certifications from Sold Secure, Thatcham, and ART, could be broken in less than 42 seconds. Cables and chains were breached using either small cable cutters or 36" bolt croppers, and D-locks were breached using a stubby bottle jack. Of the locks tested, five had a Sold Secure Gold rating, varying in price from £25 to £100. Two of these Gold rated locks withstood only 10 seconds of attack.
No comments:
Post a Comment