"effectively defeats angle grinders" list, and a couple of the sources:
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https://discerningcyclist.com/angle-grinder-proof-bike-locks/
https://www.bikelockwiki.com/angle-grinder-proof-bike-locks/
Abus Granit Super Extreme 2500 ($300)
Hiplok D1000 ($300) and DX1000 ($350)
Litelok X1 ($180)
Litelok X3 ($300)
OnGuard RockSolid 8590 ($250)
Squire Stronghold D16 Max ($380)
Skunklock Carbon ($180)
Skunklock Chemical V3 ($240)
The last of these is sinisterly innovative. (Look it up.) Skunklock is also a small local (San Francisco) company.
I switched, a couple of years ago, from a 2005 Kryptonite Evolution to a Litelok X1, because I hate bicycle thieves that much.
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My own bike is a laughably obsolete Trek 1400 aluminum-frame road bike, so I won't even try to justify giving away a perfectly decent Kryptonite Evolution U-lock and spending $180 + shipping for the X1 -- except on the aforementioned "Rick _really_ hates bicycle thieves" basis.
And, just in case you want to appreciate my "cable locks are no bueno" statement, your next stop should be YouTube, where you can find bicycle enthusiasts conducting realistic simulated-thief attack tests on particular locks. (Some of those guys are Brits, so be aware that they call U-locks "D-locks".)
As all of those folks say, any bicycle lock can _eventually_ be broken, given enough time and determination. The phrase "effectively defeats" is usually construed to mean things like "We attacked this lock for more than 15 minutes and wore out three expensive grinding discs trying". Point being, real-world thieves would give up and try an easier target. (Also, a slow thief is a nervous thief.)
In case you have not yet heard the "bear joke", beloved of us people working in security fields: If running from a bear, it's not necessary to outrun the bear, only to outrun someone else fleeing.
Rick Moen bike bicycle lock locks safety theft proof resistant durable anti-theft best chance of safety secure locking bicycle
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OK, about YouTube: Searching on YouTube for "bicycle locks cade media" finds some of the clips I have in mind from the lads at CADE Media in England.
View some of these: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bicycle+locks+cade+media
They show typical theft tools at (simulated) work. See those tools here: https://thebestbikelock.com/best-bike-lock/who-is-trying-to-steal-your-bike/
The ones trivial to break -- such as, I'm sorry, any cable lock -- succumb silently and unobtrusively in seconds using nothing stronger than a pair of 10" hand-held cable cutters, a tool so small that thieves just put it in their knapsacks. Stronger locks including less than top-rated U-locks (which the Brits call 'D-locks) can be broken in a few minutes using a -- typically huge and attention-getting, but silent -- pair of bolt-cutters, also pictured.
Probably, bolt-cutters are the meat-and-potatoes tool of a bicycle thief. As the above link points out, they come in handle lengths of 8″, 12″, 18″, 24″, 36″ and 42″. A 36" pair can be bought for cheap at Home Depor, or even more cheaply, just rented! Quoting the page: "Medium sized bolt cutters (18 and 24″) are often carried beneath a long coat, hanging from a piece of rope around the thief’s neck. They’ll defeat weaker chains, u-locks and folding locks."
A big pair is, nonetheless, hard to hide, and very noticeable in use. I believe there are some 42" examples with folding handles. The point of the tool is, of course, leverage at the jaws.
A separate page (https://thebestbikelock.com/how-to-lock-your-bike/) teaches _how_ to use your high-end U-lock so that that leverage cannot be fully used, e.g., _never_ leave the U-lock right next to the ground where leverage is maximal.
"The most common way that the better u-locks are broken is with leverage attacks. A length of metal or scaffolding pole is inserted into the space within the “U” and twisted until it pops open."
And, as it says, don't leave any more space than possible inside the "U", because that's another place to apply leverage -- including using portable bottle jacks, another (rare) tool. This is a reason why the correct way to lock a bike is (a) remove your front wheel using the quick-release skewer (you _do_ have your front wheel quick-releasable, right?), place it alongside the rear wheel, and pass the U-lock around both wheels, the frame, and an immovable object you are locking everything to.
The big-kahuna theft tool is a battery-pack portable angle grinder -- whose disadvantage to the thief is that it's very noisy and gives off sparks when in use. I've already provided the complete list of U-locks that effectively defeat this tool.
To recap, what bicycle thieves need most, though, aside from a weak lock, is seclusion and time. The longer the job takes, the more nervous the thief, and the more likely he/she is to give up and try somewhere else. And places where bicycles are unattended are ground zero for theft.
All of this is why, even with my Litelok X1 that effectively defeats the thieves' best (but most attention-getting) tools, I never leeave my bicycle anywhere unattented for long periods of time. In public, I lock it _only_ in places with constant high amounts of foot traffic (preventing giving the bicycle the gift of seclusion).
At home, my bicycle gets stored (locked) _inside residential living space_, not far from where I sleep and not far from my replica Viking axe. Never, never, ever in any garage, porch, patio, yard, shed, detached laundry room, carport, storage room, etc. -- which are places that say "Hey, free bicycle." Rick Moen |