7 ms·

That's great, until you lose your key

DenisM 14y ago
That argument applies to any effective antitheft device. Shall we take it you're against all effective antitheft devices in general?
- stbtrax 14y ago
  If you lose your key to your U-Lock, you cut it off. If you lose the key to your frame... saw your bike in half?
  - DenisM 14y ago
    You plan ahead. I made duplicate keys to my condo and my car and gave them to a couple friends who can be relied on. In a system with electronic lock you could have unique factory key stored at the manufacturer, and recovered for a $30 fee upon inspection of id/receipt/etc.
vitalique 14y ago
Really? Wrap it up with a newspaper and do whatever those bad guys usually do to the U-locks. Just make sure it's your bike.
roguecoder 14y ago
That's a problem with cars right now. The combination of a wallet key, a spare at home and always being able to go back to the dealer make it not-that-big-a-deal, in my experience.
- _delirium 14y ago
  With bikes, at the moment, it seems to be a significant problem: there are a ton of bikes in Copenhagen that end up stuck somewhere because the owner lost the key or forgot the combination. Sometimes the owners get a bolt cutter and cut the lock off; other times the police eventually show up to an area that's getting full of abandoned bikes, cut all the locks (after tagging them for a few weeks, which basically declares open season for anyone else too), and haul out a whole set of bikes. I'm not sure the economics work out for it to be worth doing the equivalent of going back to a car dealer for a new set of keys, when just buying another used bike costs $150-300. A car's worth doing it for because it's expensive, so even a dealer charging you $200 is worth it. But with bikes, even with the current economics many people don't bother: figuring out how to cut a U-Lock is more hassle than buying another cheap bike, and not much cheaper.
icebraining 14y ago
That's what copies are for. Store one in a secure place.

That argument applies to any effective antitheft device. Shall we take it you're against all effective antitheft devices in general?

stbtrax 14y ago
If you lose your key to your U-Lock, you cut it off. If you lose the key to your frame... saw your bike in half?
- DenisM 14y ago
  You plan ahead. I made duplicate keys to my condo and my car and gave them to a couple friends who can be relied on. In a system with electronic lock you could have unique factory key stored at the manufacturer, and recovered for a $30 fee upon inspection of id/receipt/etc.

vitalique 14y ago

Really? Wrap it up with a newspaper and do whatever those bad guys usually do to the U-locks. Just make sure it's your bike.

roguecoder 14y ago

That's a problem with cars right now. The combination of a wallet key, a spare at home and always being able to go back to the dealer make it not-that-big-a-deal, in my experience.

_delirium 14y ago
With bikes, at the moment, it seems to be a significant problem: there are a ton of bikes in Copenhagen that end up stuck somewhere because the owner lost the key or forgot the combination. Sometimes the owners get a bolt cutter and cut the lock off; other times the police eventually show up to an area that's getting full of abandoned bikes, cut all the locks (after tagging them for a few weeks, which basically declares open season for anyone else too), and haul out a whole set of bikes. I'm not sure the economics work out for it to be worth doing the equivalent of going back to a car dealer for a new set of keys, when just buying another used bike costs $150-300. A car's worth doing it for because it's expensive, so even a dealer charging you $200 is worth it. But with bikes, even with the current economics many people don't bother: figuring out how to cut a U-Lock is more hassle than buying another cheap bike, and not much cheaper.

icebraining 14y ago

That's what copies are for. Store one in a secure place.