I bought what I thought was a good bicycle U-lock the other day. It certainly is well constructed, made of hardened steel, and it would be a pain in the ass to open through brute force. Sawing it would take forever, and prying it open would be near impossible unless you had a hydraulic jack or something. Doubtless a thief could cut through it with a plasma cutter, an oxyacetylene torch, or an angle grinder, but not too many bike thieves carry these things around. And even if they did, where would they get the power? So like most people, I judged the lock by its overall construction, not by the tumbler mechanism, which I assumed would be like most locks — meaning pickable by someone with with the right tools, expertise, and time.
WRONG.
To my horror, I learned (thanks to several YouTube videos) that these tubular locks are highly vulnerable to a childishly simple hack, as they can be easily picked by this:
A common, ordinary Bic pen (or many of the countless imitations). This vulnerability has been known for some time, but I didn’t know it, and frankly I was skeptical when I heard about it. Even watching the videos didn’t convince me. Surely, I thought, it couldn’t be that easy. But I had a Bic pen lying around, so I thought, why not try it? It was a little hard to stuff it into the lock opening, but once it was in there I started rotating it to the right, and to my utter astonishment, the lock opened in something like 10-20 seconds. On my very first try!
Which means that a supposedly tried and true standard lock in use for decades (on a lot more things than bikes) was weaker than a cheap piece of plastic.
Incredible. Chagrined (and no doubt also motivated by determined bloggers and the threat of litigation), the Kryptonite lock company instituted an exchange program where you could send in your old lock for a replacement. Mine was a Cutter, and while the label says, “Lifetime Warranty. If this thing sucks, send it back at any time,” I didn’t feel like spending money to send it back and wait for a refund, then have to buy another lock.
So, I thought and thought. “Ruminated” is a better word. It seemed to me that if there was a way to prevent the pen from getting to the lock, it would be able to do its job. But exactly how was I to make the thing impenetrable? Bearing in mind that to lock a bike properly requires more than just a U-lock (because that cannot protect both wheels), I toyed with the idea of a second lock on top of the first lock, wrapping a chain or cable around it. etc. But this would require too much hassle and could most likely be pushed aside by the pen wielders.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that a piece of pipe would work, except the pipe would have to have a hole for the key, and you’d have to weld a ring somewhere on it for a separate chain, and the whole thing would be unwieldy, and might be difficult to open even with a key.
Then I remembered that there are hinged pipe repair clamps designed to go all the way around a pipe and be bolted securely! They come in many sizes and are available at most hardware stores.
Voila! With a simple chain and padlock. I figured out an easy and inexpensive way to easily thwart the evil pen wielders of the world while preserving the strength and security of the U-lock, with about the same amount of work which is required to properly secure a bike with a second chain anyway.
Here’s the result:
Naturally, I had to tell the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRKnXoF2e5M
The wicked pen can be stopped.
Comments
9 responses to “They said the pen is mightier. But I showed them!”
Eric,
Forget the key. The easiest
way to beat that lock is to freeze
it and tap it with a hammer.
Various canned chemicals will do
it.
Or wrap some dry ice to it with
a rag, then pour on a little acetone.
Tap lightly, voila.
At least thats the way they do it
here in Richmond, Va.
Thanks for your ( and Simon and
Sarahs ) blog. It’s usually the third
I check everyday, right behind Insta-
pundit and Volokh.
Will Freismuth
Thanks Will!
I don’t think too many thieves around here are running around with dry ice and acetone, or liquid nitrogen.
Even liquid nitrogen is not all that reliable:
http://www.creekcats.com/pnprice/bikelock.html
As to dry ice and freon, there’s a lot of skepticism:
http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=6343
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-67282.html
These things are possible, but for the average thief around here, just not practical.
Besides, most bikes in this flaky student town are locked with flimsy little cables that can be easily cut with an ordinary wire cutter. So unless you have a fantastically valuable bike, if you double lock it, the thief will most likely go for the easy pickins!
Unfortunately the padlocks that you have secured the clamp and chain with are vulnerable to an equally simple hack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipMi6ryESqk
There’s a moral about the illusion of security that could no doubt be applied to the TSA or the War on Drugs, but I will leave that up to highly-trained Blogging Professionals.
The thieves will probably just snip the thin cable chains anyway.
Snip the thin cable chains on OTHER BIKES, I mean.
Carl,
Honored to be of service. Thanks!
[…] Discovers the Bic Pen U-Lock Hack Posted on August 16, 2012 7:30 pm by Bill Quick Classical Values » They said the pen is mightier. But I showed them! I bought what I thought was a good bicycle U-lock the other day. It certainly is well constructed, […]
I forgot to ask. Is the pen still useable?
I have done the coke can pick, but it isn’t all that easy, and takes time and fiddling. (As you can see in the video.) To have to pick TWO locks is too much of a hassle for your average bike thief. Also, it won’t work on my lock, which is a combination lock with sliders. It can be picked, but it takes time. The chain can be cut, but that takes time too. The more layers, the more time, the more hassle. Most thieves will look for the quickest grab of the most valuable bike which entails the least amount of trouble. There are plenty to choose from. Most people around here have a single thin cable, but the better the bike, in general the better the lock.
The writing end of the pen is the same as before. I used the other end and simply took the little plug out.
When I replace my bike (too many components need replacement at once), I dress the new bike in duct tape and paint messes to make it as unappealing as possible.
Also it’s a low-end bike in the first place, which means around $150 at today’s prices.
Add luggage carrier and cracked milk crate on the back, and you’re good to go.