Chain
A chain lock is a chain with a lock. It often has a key or a combination lock attached to it. A long enough chain can pass through both wheels, the frame and attach the bicycle to an immovable object.
Chains vary widely in their security level. If the chain is bought from a hardware store, it is most likely made from basic iron or steel and can easily be cut with a relatively inexpensive pair of bolt cutters. Chains specifically designed for locking bicycles are available. These case hardened security chains have links shaped in a manner that deters bolt cutters, such as with a hexagonal or trapezoidal cross-section and are difficult to cut with hand tools, but easily defeated with power tools.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, which may be the lock itself. Although a cheap keyed or combination lock may be an appropriate match for a hardware store chain, a case-hardened security chain necessitates a specialized lock such as a monobloc padlock or mini u-lock.
Read more about this topic: Bicycle Lock
Famous quotes containing the word chain:
“Oh yes, that’s right. They chain up wild animals. That’s all I am, an animal.”
—John Elder [Anthony Hinds], British screenwriter, and Terence Fisher. Leon (Oliver Reed)
“It could not have come down to us so far,
Through the interstices of things ajar
On the long bead chain of repeated birth,
To be a bird while we are men on earth,”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and life is after all a chain.”
—William James (1842–1910)