The Best Bike Lock
Leave a bicycle locked up on the street, and a pro with the right tool can spring it faster than you can buy a Slurpee. We’re not bike thieves—not even close—and we were able to slice through cheap locks with $20 bolt cutters and a hacksaw, on our first try.
So we wanted to see how much a quality U-lock increases the odds that your ride will still be there when you get back. We put four popular brands of locks against those hand tools, and the bike thieves’ weapon of choice—a cordless angle grinder. In the end, we found some locks that can buy you a few extra seconds of security. But the results conclusively proved one thing: Your bike is never really safe outside.