As a rule of thumb when you buy a lock for your bike you spend about a tenth of what you've paid for the bike.So if you've paid £1000 you should spend a £100. Great advice and I've followed it, but, and it's a big but, when I'm on the road I'm trying to keep the weight down and a big bulky lock is going to spoil the line of my jersey. On the flip side I'm stuck if I need a pee or want to pop ina shop for a coffee or a biscuit. Generally I choose the latter and on most of my traing circuits I have notable bushes and walls.
So I need light and easy to carry, something like a zip tie. But one I can reuse and unlock. I suppose as well I should have it a little stronger than a flimsy piece of plastic that can be severed with a set of nail clippers or a magnifying glass on a sunny day. The answer obviously would be a lockable zip tie with a reinforced inner core. Does such an item exist? Well it does actually, in the form of the Z Lok from Hip Lok. This is what they say
Our Design & Innovation Award-Winning, reusable security ties provide ultra-convenient added protection for short stops, use on car racks, with accessories and other outdoor equipment. A cutting edge concept in security with a multitude of applications, Z LOK is available in both a keyed and combination locking version in a variety of colours.
The Z Lok come in 2 different options as stated. The keyed option starts off at £9.99 whilst the combo version is £19.99. Compared to simple key and combination locks they are expensive but the lightness and ease of use is worth the premium. Personally I go for the combo version. The keyed version is fine but it uses a generic key so anyone owning one can open any Z Lok. It's probably also within the capabilities of the average scrote to bodge up a tool to replicate it.
The combo weighs in a pretty awesome 80g whilst the keyed is even better at 20g and fits easily in a jersey pocket or if you happen to be one of those weird people it will easily wrap around the frame somewhere. Whatever!. All the Z Loks feature a reinforced steel core for security and the Combo version has a 3 digit self settable code. Length wise the Combo is 430mm and the keyed 400mm.
Now don't get me wrong the Z Loks are no substitute for a proper heavy duty lock if you're going to be leaving your bike for any length of time such as outside work and are really for a very quick trip to the loo for example but they also have a variety of other uses such as on roof carriers, luggage, attaching helmets to the bike after a sportive for example. I'm going to be taking them touring as extra lightweight security for luggage.
No lock is truly infallible. A dedicated thief will get your bike if they want it. An opportunist looks for an easy option. The more visibly awkward a bike is to steal the less likely it is to be so. Z Loks are perfect for this and if you go for a nice bright colour it'll stand out and the thief will nick your mates instead.
More info can be found here
https://www.hiplok.com/product-category/security-ties/
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