Author Topic: I stole my first bike yesterday!  (Read 11249 times)

GuitarStv

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I stole my first bike yesterday!
« on: March 14, 2014, 05:45:48 AM »
Don't worry, it was actually my bike that my U-lock refused to release.  I jiggled the key back and forth, tried wiggling it different angles, tried forcing it a little bit . . . all useless.  The lock would release one of the legs of the U, but not the other one and the steel was too thick to bend it open.  So after 10 minutes of this I went inside, found the company facilities guy and asked if he had a hack saw or something.  (First he was like "Is it even your bike?" and I was like "How many people do you think work at this company and bike in on a day like today (-18 that morning w/high winds)?"  Finally I showed him my driver's license and he wrote down my name just in case - good on him for at least moderately trying to protect bike safety!)

So I get the hack saw and go to work for about 10 minutes.  No fricking way is that working.  I didn't even scratch the metal of the lock or the U part.  So I go back in and ask for some WD-40 to try and unstick the lock if it was rusted.  Flood the key hole with WD-40, keep jiggling the key and no luck.  Finally, I go back in one more time and ask for a hammer.  About 10 minutes of beating the shit out of the lock (as carefully as possible to avoid beating the shit out of my bike) and it came open.  So I could start my 10 mile commute home.

The lock getting stuck locked was annoying as hell, but at least I didn't need to pay for a taxi back home.  I still can't figure out what went wrong with it.  When I locked up in the morning there was no problem, and I've been using it for two years in the same covered bike rack in our parking lot, so it never even got wet to have a reason to rust up.


FWIW - I can no longer recommend that anyone trust a Magnum 3003 U-lock.

whitewaterchica

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2014, 11:40:42 AM »
I've had the same problem with my kryptonite u-lock a few times this winter. It is likely it froze. Sounds kind of silly/suspect but they really do seem to freeze up and then refuse to unlock much like car doors and windows.

GuitarStv

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2014, 11:46:40 AM »
I've had the same problem with my kryptonite u-lock a few times this winter. It is likely it froze. Sounds kind of silly/suspect but they really do seem to freeze up and then refuse to unlock much like car doors and windows.


It never got wet though, which is confusing.  Also, it opened/closed perfectly fine that morning when I locked up the bike.

Jomar

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2014, 01:27:04 PM »
I used to sell these locks at a store I used to work at. Magnum locks kind of blow. They're secure and everything, but it is not uncommon for them to seize up. It might have been frozen, but I've found with these locks that sometimes the gods just don't want them to work (I've seen them seized right out of the packaging). I've found a drop of chain lube into the lock every time you lube your chain will keep it from corroding and seizing, but no guarantees. I'd spend the money on a Kryptonite or Abus lock- I've never had my Kryptonite seize since I got it in 2007, and I ride year round in Winnipeg (one exception was in an ice storm when it filled with water then froze solid. I dumped a kettle of boiling water on it and got it open, let it dry out and voila, it worked perfectly again, no lube even!).

dragoncar

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2014, 01:46:38 PM »
Video of guy blatantly stealing his own bike all over NYC to show how little anyone cares:

http://m.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/03/wont-somebody-please-stop-guy-stealing-bikes-new-york-city/1518/

GuitarStv

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2014, 03:03:19 PM »
Video of guy blatantly stealing his own bike all over NYC to show how little anyone cares:

http://m.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/03/wont-somebody-please-stop-guy-stealing-bikes-new-york-city/1518/

Yeah, I was wailing away on the lock with a hammer and three or four people walked by without even saying a word.

MountainMan

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #6 on: March 14, 2014, 05:48:26 PM »
On the other hand, that's a damn strong lock to hold up so well!  haha

But if it was frozen, maybe wrapping the lock in a baggie or plastic would help prevent it from happening again in the future.

Left

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #7 on: March 14, 2014, 06:55:27 PM »
maybe the moisture in the air that got into the lock and froze it if it didn't get wet?
Try to heat up the lock with something, hair dryer/bag of hot water if you don't mind it getting wet, or heat up the key and hold it inside lock for a bit and try again

YK-Phil

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2014, 07:11:47 PM »
A few years ago, I stole my son's Kona bike back, which I had spotted locked in front of a local high school. Armed with a sledge hammer, it took me about 5 minutes to smash open the U-lock. That's when the new "owner" of the bike, who had got it from local classifieds, came with the police, who was ready to arrest me on the spot. Luckily, the cop believed me when I told him the bike was my son's, and that it had my social insurance number engraved on it. I also told him where I had bought the bike, and luckily our LBS who meticulously kept all serial numbers on file confirmed that I had purchased the bike. Believe it or not, the cop asked me to pay the other guy $30 for the damaged lock, which I did reluctantly, knowing myself very well and my usual bad attitude when confronted by authority, which could have had me handcuffed and dragged to the police station in front of 500 of my son's friends...

GuitarStv

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #9 on: March 15, 2014, 07:53:45 AM »
maybe the moisture in the air that got into the lock and froze it if it didn't get wet?
Try to heat up the lock with something, hair dryer/bag of hot water if you don't mind it getting wet, or heat up the key and hold it inside lock for a bit and try again

I totally did that though.  The first thing I did when the key didn't turn was hold the lock in both hands and try to warm it up, warm up the key and insert it.  Then I flooded the key hole with WD-40.  I've been using this lock for two years now, and this would have been the first time it had ever frozen up.  Pretty sure that the tumbler just broke inside the lock.

dragoncar

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2014, 01:02:24 PM »
A few years ago, I stole my son's Kona bike back, which I had spotted locked in front of a local high school. Armed with a sledge hammer, it took me about 5 minutes to smash open the U-lock. That's when the new "owner" of the bike, who had got it from local classifieds, came with the police, who was ready to arrest me on the spot. Luckily, the cop believed me when I told him the bike was my son's, and that it had my social insurance number engraved on it. I also told him where I had bought the bike, and luckily our LBS who meticulously kept all serial numbers on file confirmed that I had purchased the bike. Believe it or not, the cop asked me to pay the other guy $30 for the damaged lock, which I did reluctantly, knowing myself very well and my usual bad attitude when confronted by authority, which could have had me handcuffed and dragged to the police station in front of 500 of my son's friends...

Jesus good thing you paid for the lock.  Unless you think he knew the bike was stolen, poor fellow is already out the price of a bike.  I doubt he knew it was stolen as he called the police.

wtjbatman

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2014, 10:28:05 PM »
maybe the moisture in the air that got into the lock and froze it if it didn't get wet?
Try to heat up the lock with something, hair dryer/bag of hot water if you don't mind it getting wet, or heat up the key and hold it inside lock for a bit and try again

I totally did that though.  The first thing I did when the key didn't turn was hold the lock in both hands and try to warm it up, warm up the key and insert it.  Then I flooded the key hole with WD-40.  I've been using this lock for two years now, and this would have been the first time it had ever frozen up.  Pretty sure that the tumbler just broke inside the lock.

As someone who has to lock/unlock out door locks all winter in Wisconsin, I can confirm that A) locks can freeze up solid without ever getting "wet". Moisture can collect in the lock and freeze. I've had locks we had to take a blow torch to and you could see the water and steam pour out of the thing, and that B) see the previously mentioned blow torch. Holding a lock in your hands isn't going to work unless you hold it so long you transfer warm to the interior of the lock for so long the ice inside melts.

Or it broke. I suppose weirder things have happened than a lock that is used daily for two years breaking.

Fireman

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2014, 01:03:47 AM »
FWIW - I can no longer recommend that anyone trust a Magnum 3003 U-lock.

It actually sounds very trustworthy...it prevents *everyone from riding your bike!

Milkman666

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Re: I stole my first bike yesterday!
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2014, 07:33:01 PM »
Sounds like a Maple Leafs lock... just kinda freezes up when it really counts and leaves you stranded there in the cold.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.