Originally Posted by
tafi .
Arguments about whether or not a lock can be picked are pretty moot when most passers-by wouldn't care if you were using an angle grinder....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zb8YXrmIA
If you think this could only happen in New York, think again. I live in Sydney, and we Aussies like to pride ourselves on being friendly and caring towards each other. But I could still stand on a busy city corner (corner of George St and King St for those who know the area) at lunch time on a Friday hacking at someone's ABUS shielded cable lock with a pair of 80cm long bolt cutters, and no-one battered an eyelid. Before you ask, the guy who belonged to the lock was a courier who had just dropped his keys down a drain. But I found it really weird that no-one even raised an eyebrow.
Oh, and the bolt cutters made short work of the $80 lock. Even though they were blunt he was on his way again in two minutes.
For U locks a quieter means of breaking is to use a car jack (the kind that comes with the car) to pop it open.
No bike lock is safe, anywhere. I've even seen the leftovers of an entire bike rack being unbolted from the slab and loaded (complete with all the attached bikes) into a van. A few guys working as a team got it done in minutes. They could then go back to a workshop and break all the locks at their leisure.
I and my colleagues used to hold competitions to see how quickly we could crack combination locks. I wasn't particularly good, but one guy could crack a four digit combo lock in under a minute, and for that you only need your bare hands.
Of course it's only the hardened theives, who are clear of head and deft of hand, who are the ones who can get this sort of thing done on the tougher locks (and it is usualy worth it if the bike is even remotely expensive). In a lot of cases, however, a quality lock will deter the casual opportunist, looking for a quick buck.
Long story short, if you want to be sure your bike won't be nicked then it shouln't leave your sight.