Battery lock

[Leedspete]

Well after my saga with my previous bike which was an oxygen which I managed to sell, I have brought a Kristal E3. I did have some issues with the brakes but the seller refunded me for these but I have another dilemma.

I have managed to lose both the battery keys. They are in the house but where? I haven’t a clue. Maybe with all the odd socks. Just asked the seller if they have spares and they will get back to me. But is it easy to source these keys independently. Or am I stuck.

 

[Andy-Mat]

Well after my saga with my previous bike which was an oxygen which I managed to sell, I have brought a Kristal E3. I did have some issues with the brakes but the seller refunded me for these but I have another dilemma.

I have managed to lose both the battery keys. They are in the house but where? I haven’t a clue. Maybe with all the odd socks. Just asked the seller if they have spares and they will get back to me. But is it easy to source these keys independently. Or am I stuck.

They are usually easy to pick and then replace the cylinder, with a new one.
Or get a very hard router head, and using a Dremel, route away the part with the pins, so that you can turn the cylinder and unlock it.
You did not supply a piacturer, so I am guessing that you have a style of cylinder to turn
My wife loses keys, its a full time job just keeping one step ahead......
regards
Andy

 

[Leedspete]

They are usually easy to pick and then replace the cylinder, with a new one.
Or get a very hard router head, and using a Dremel, route away the part with the pins, so that you can turn the cylinder and unlock it.
You did not supply a piacturer, so I am guessing that you have a style of cylinder to turn
My wife loses keys, its a full time job just keeping one step ahead......
regards
Andy

I know the keys are in the house. Lol. Will get a picture up soon.

 

[sjpt]

I know the keys are in the house. Lol. Will get a picture up soon.

Maybe a picture of the house ... perhaps we can find the keys.

 

[Andy-Mat]

I know the keys are in the house. Lol. Will get a picture up soon.

Maybe a lockable key cabinet (well away from front door and all windows!), maybe with a keypad, so no key to lose!
regards
Andy
PS. If it helps, check the fridge and freezer, I have found my wife's keys in such places, several times!!! Move everything around while looking....

 

[Leedspete]

Apparently I didn’t look around good enough as my missus has found the keys. All is good. lol

 

[Andy-Mat]

Apparently I didn’t look around good enough as my missus has found the keys. All is good. lol

By the sound of it, both keys are possibly on the same ring, if true, that is an awful way to treat important keys....
Always have (at least) two copies of each key that are important to you, and store them in two different places.
When I worked for a short time in the morally deficient "LockSmith" trade, it constantly amazed me just how often I needed to open safes (using cutting disks usually), because THE one key was lost.
The second key was usually also inside the safe. How daft can some people get!!!!
I usually asked why the owner did that and the answer was generally the same, there was no safe place for the second key!
I did (jokingly!) say to a couple of safe owners, you should get a second safe, and store the second keys in the other safe....then provided you still have one key for one safe, you can still open both safes!!!
None of them appreciated my humour, but there was a good logic behind the comment, that they simply did not understand.....
Its the same with people wanting all their outside house doors to be opened by a single key, and the costs involved if one of those keys are lost, you may have to replace up to 4 or 5 different locks, just to feel safe again, whereas if each lock has a different key, just losing one key requires only the replacement of one lock.
In the same situation, locks with an electronic PIN number pr password, a different one for each person, can do a better job, plus codes can be altered easily. Not cheap, but little in the way of maintenance costs once installed.....
regards
Andy

 

[StuartsProjects]

I did (jokingly!) say to a couple of safe owners, you should get a second safe, and store the second keys in the other safe....then provided you still have one key for one safe, you can still open both safes!!!

Or find someone local, but probably not next door, whi also has a safe and keep each others keys.

And dont put labels\addresses on keys .................

Where possible I use combination locks.

 

[Andy-Mat]

Or find someone local, but probably not next door, whi also has a safe and keep each others keys.

And dont put labels\addresses on keys .................

Where possible I use combination locks.

I have yet to see a combination lock, made well enough, to prevent people opening them.The mechanical tolerances on most allow people to find the combination easily.
The same goes for padlocks generally speaking, I have shown ladies, who had little interest in learning (my daughters!), how to open one with a Rake (pick), within a few seconds.....funnily enough, that changed their interest!
If you want a safer padlock, pick one that does not use a cylinder of any sort...
For Door locks, Chubb are safer than cylinders too!
regards
Andy

 

[StuartsProjects]

I have seen the videos, I realise how easy it is to pick a lot of padlocks and combination locks.

I have a low cost cable combination lock clipped to my bikes seat post, its there so that I always have some form of lock with me. A lock with a key might well be better, but since the cable could so easily be cut, in practice the security difference seems to be small. Someone could stand there and take the time to find the combination (or rake the lock) but why waste time, use a pair of cutters\croppers.

I do have a Abus bar combination lock for the bike too, and I guess that could be opened in time, but it seems more likley that the prospective thief would not waste time doing that and just use a portable diamond cutter.

Are there any statistics on how many cycles are stolen by having their locks picked (key or combination) versus ones where the lock is simply broken open ?

 

[Andy-Mat]

I have seen the videos, I realise how easy it is to pick a lot of padlocks and combination locks.

I have a low cost cable combination lock clipped to my bikes seat post, its there so that I always have some form of lock with me. A lock with a key might well be better, but since the cable could so easily be cut, in practice the security difference seems to be small. Someone could stand there and take the time to find the combination (or rake the lock) but why waste time, use a pair of cutters\croppers.

I do have a Abus bar combination lock for the bike too, and I guess that could be opened in time, but it seems more likley that the prospective thief would not waste time doing that and just use a portable diamond cutter.

Are there any statistics on how many cycles are stolen by having their locks picked (key or combination) versus ones where the lock is simply broken open ?

You make a good point, and those cutting disks in a battery driven unit, can cut just about anything.
Which is why I have two bike locks (the name of which I have forgotten!), one to block the front wheel, and one for the rear wheel, plus hopefully catching a bit of heavy duty fence or similar. Plus a sensitive vibration alarm that looks like a rear light, plus a GPS tracker.
The GPS tracker is set up that if the bike is vibrated, it sends a message to my smart phone, in the case that I am too far away to hear the alarm. And it tells me exactly where my bike is too!
Up to now I have not lost my bike!!
Regards
Andy

 

[StuartsProjects]

I do have one of those Milenco Motorcycle locks with 12mm chain, if I want to be more secure, but its very heavy.

I also have a vibration alarm, under the saddle.

Whilst the alarm does not do GPS, its loud, and I am working on adding a LoRa transmitter to it so that I get a notification to a small handheld receiver if its moved, no phone network needed. The LoRa ought to be good for a few hundread meters or so in an urban area.

Most every time I leave the bike I will be no more then 50m away having a coffee or maybe a beer. I might sometimes leave it outside a small shop but would not leave it outside and wander around a supermarket, thats what the Brompton is for.

 

[Andy-Mat]

I do have one of those Milenco Motorcycle locks with 12mm chain, if I want to be more secure, but its very heavy.

I also have a vibration alarm, under the saddle.

Whilst the alarm does not do GPS, its loud, and I am working on adding a LoRa transmitter to it so that I get a notification to a small handheld receiver if its moved, no phone network needed. The LoRa ought to be good for a few hundread meters or so in an urban area.

Most every time I leave the bike I will be no more then 50m away having a coffee or maybe a beer. I might sometimes leave it outside a small shop but would not leave it outside and wander around a supermarket, thats what the Brompton is for.

You are doing a good job it would seem!!
The bad point about GPS is it must be in range of a cell tower, though the good ones still log everything in a small memory, and "catch up" with you when back in range.
regards
Andy