Bicycle Lock - Standards and Tests

Standards and Tests

Test standards that rate the effective security of bicycle locks are provided by Thatcham and Sold Secure in the United Kingdom, Stichting ART in the Netherlands, SFF in Sweden (see SSF - article in Swedish), and VDS in Germany (see VDS - Article in German).

Sold Secure was set up by the Northumbria Police and Essex Police in 1992 with the backing of the Home Office. It is now a not-for-profit corporation owned by the Master Locksmiths Association. Each model of lock tested requires an initial test and ongoing annual audit. In the U.K., a Sold Secure or Thatcham certified lock is usually required in order to insure a bicycle or motorcycle against theft. Sold Secure certify locks with either a Bronze, Silver or Gold rating, corresponding to an attack resistance of 1, 3 and 5 minutes with various tools.

Tests carried out on behalf of Cycle magazine showed that all of the bicycle locks tested, which had a variety of certifications from Sold Secure, Thatcham, and ART, could be broken in less than 42 seconds. Cables and chains were breached using either small cable cutters or 36" bolt croppers, and D-locks were breached using a stubby bottle jack. Of the locks tested, five had a Sold Secure Gold rating, varying in price from £25 to £100. Two of these Gold rated locks withstood only 10 seconds of attack.

Tests carried out by Almax Security Chains Ltd. and supervised by Readers Digest have shown that most Thatcham and Sold Secure approved motorbike chains can be cut using ordinary bolt croppers. A video of the tests is available online. In similar tests carried out by Motor Cycle News magazine, Almax chains were the only ones to survive a bolt cropping attack. Almax produce a shorter 0.7m version of their chain for bicycles. The tests included chains from Squire Locks, Luma, ABUS, Oxford Products and Kryptonite.

The Dutch consumer news show Kassa 3 published a four-minute show in which a former bicycle thief removed eight consumer-grade locks from a bike in times ranging from 10 to a maximum of 84 seconds. The locks included those from manufacturers ABUS, Hema and Halfords.