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A Key-Swallowing, Unpickable Bike Lock Design

By Rain Noe - April 28, 2014

in Object Culture

A California-based man quietly began posting videos of padlocks on YouTube a couple of weeks ago. The traffic for "LockMan28's" account was what you'd expect, given the subject matter: A couple hundred views here, several hundred views there. But after posting video of an unusual bike lock over the weekend, traffic rocketed to nearly half a million views in less than two days.

Here's the video of the unusually-designed bike lock that did it. The unfortunately verbose poster wastes the first two-and-a-half minutes blathering about nothing, so skip ahead to 2:40 to see the mechanism in action:

Neat design, and while it is technically unassailable using conventional picks, anyone who's ever lived in a city knows that any lock is only a temporary deterrent to whomever really wants your stuff. The thing can still be cut, and even if angle grinders didn't exist, a casual jaunt through New York will reveal scores of rusting bike frames shackled to racks—and missing every part that could be removed using conventional tools.

As far as who designed it, "Lockman 28" is purposefully vague, as he has plans to distribute the Chinese-packaged lock for $140 a pop. But we have faith in the internet; it's just a matter of time before some fanatic uncovers the "Asian market" manufacturer, and perhaps then we'll learn of the brains behind the actual design.

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Berkana

10 years ago

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What needs to happen is that someone needs to make a bike where the lock is a crucial part of the bike (including a wheel lock so the wheels can't get stolen), such that if the lock is cut, the bike is useless. Then, make THAT unpickable.
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Androo

10 years ago

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Since Kryptonite redesigned its Bic-pen-pickable locks 10 years ago, I've never heard of picking used as a method for stealing a bike. Brute force always works, no matter what, and this can't help you.
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Toby

10 years ago

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It's clever, but picking is not the usual method thieves use to bypass locks... and this design doesn't lock the two sides of the shackle, so cutting one is all it would take. Plus I would think the mechanical complexity would not hold up well commuting through rain, snow, etc.
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Berkana

10 years ago

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If he were to adapt this concept for building security, he would strike gold. The advent of lock bumping and other advanced security violation tricks give him a built-in market for site security.
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Berkana

10 years ago

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Pretty neat, but I have two concerns.

My first concern is that the lock shank is the next weak link. If that lock shank isn't at least as thick as the "New York Lock" and much more narrow, the thieves won't be deterred. Picking isn't the problem; busting open the lock with a hydraulic truck jack is the problem. Powertools are the problem. If the lock cannot be picked, the thieves will try to break it or cut it open.

No lock shank should be wide enough to fit a hydraulic jack.

Secondly, couldn't the thief use a hammer to break off the anodized aluminum anti-picking thing and just have access to the lock that way?
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Leo

10 years ago

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The weakest spot is the hinge of the U-Lock. I wouldn't be surprised if you could just put a car jack in between and crank it up until the hinge breaks.

Just imagine fiddeling with the asymmetric key, the twisting and pulling and turning the lever and repeating the whole process to get the key out again. The key itself is a small piece that will tend to fall down during the covering process. Or be stored a pocket (pants, jacket etc.) and most likely be forgotten there.

I don't know...I like that someone put thought into covering the key hole and making it less accessible.
But I have a strong feeling that this is not yet the best design.
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redfood

10 years ago

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Clever locking mechanism but I don't think I could use the lock because of the way the end of the U is attached to the bar with a hinge.

I don't think I'd ever get that lock that over two wheels rims, the bike frame, and whatever I'm locking my bike to without being able to detach the U from the bar.
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