LITELOK® Gold Original Bike Lock - Lightweight, High Security, Sold Secure Gold

Useless against thieves - see photo

This is a great improvement on my D-lock. It's much lighter and bends nicely into my bike panier therefore taking up less space.It's not as flexible as I had imagined and can be a struggle to open unless you reduce tension on the lock by pressing it flat against the natural springiness of the belt. (Hope that makes sense!) This also means it doesn't have the reach of my old D-lock, so if you want to fasten your bike to a lamp post you'll need to buy two of them.The LITELOK certainly does a lot less damage to the bike, and the objects I fasten it to.I also trust that the bright green colour will also act as a deterrent.I have been using it for a while and would give it 5 stars if it was just a bit longer and a little bit more flexible, but I guess it means that it might no be so secure.PSOne years regular use later, and its much smoother and easier to use!

The trouble with cycle locks is that you never know how good they are until they foil an obvious criminal attempt to steal your bike. Nothing is going to stop a determined criminal with the time and the tools to break a lock. But this lock is so obviously going to be a problem that most criminals will pass and move on to an easier target. This is an expensive lock, but it must be absolutely at the top of the "deterrence effect" for all locks - including hardened-steel motorbike chains. It is heavy, but I am using it on an electric cycle so the weight penalty is less of a problem for me. I'm very pleased with the lock.

This is a reassuringly capable bike lock for a high value bike. It's apparently one of the lightest Gold standard locks out there, but it isn't light to handle. Other buyers have remarked on needing a degree of wrist strength to bend it from its flat, relaxed, form into a circle (as pictured) so as to lock it. That's true, but I have never found it too difficult to manage and I'm pretty sure other blokes will say the same.Locking the rear wheel to the frame, for example, is straightforward but there's not a lot of slack left to lock it - and the bike - around anything larger than a standard bike rail. To overcome this, and lock it to trees and drainpipes etc, I carry another flexible locking cable. That would go around the tree and the Litelok then feeds through the locking cable. (It's worked well for me in the past, and you don't always find a suitable bike rack where you need one). One final point. The Litelok will need to feed through your wheel 'flat' so as not to put any strain on the spokes, so measure the width between your spokes and compare this with the width of the Litelok strap. With my 29er wheel it turns out to be a perfect fit but it's worth checking for your own wheel.

Pros:Good idea in principleEasy to strap to the bike frame to carry aroundBright colour so a good visual deterrentCons:The straps to attach to bike frame are fiddly so would suggest just better stronger Velcro rather than fiddly buckle and VelcroCan be awkward to unlock unless the lock ends are perfectly aligned. Needs to be aligned which is really tough considering the metal bands are forcing the band to bend outward. More than once taken a few goes to get the ends to unlock..Came with a note pointing out “not to force the key in the lock” which highlighted a design fault in my viewNot cheapWould be 4+ star if it was easier to unlock. As it is I say 3 star as would expect it to be better for this price

Unlocking is very laborious and unsafe as the warning label that comes with the lock says. There is always a chance I am going to be in a hurry and end up with a lock that will not open thus losing my bike and money for the lock.Turn that lock a little to hard and that is your bike lost. The last time I bought an expensive bike lock that would not unlock I had to go to the police station and ask for their help to unlock my bike.

Lock sometimes sticks shut and I am concerned that, one day, I shall be stranded somewhere because it fails to open at all. Paid a lot for this, because of the hype and it has failed to work properly!

My e-bike frame has no space to store a standard U-lockSo I was looking for something as strong, given the value of the bikeAt first, the lock was very stiff, hard to turn the key. It's become easier with useLikewise, the whole strap has become easier with use to flex and bend - at first it was difficult to even get the two ends together, even without a bike involved.It has become easier to close now.After 20 or so uses, I can now put through the rear wheel, round a street bike park hoop, and through the main frame, and close with relative easeNB it has to go between the spokes at its full width, which is pretty tight on my bikeI use the velcro straps to store it on the bike, along the cross bar.First couple of times, I put the metal end to the rear, and the scuffed the the read mudguardI now wrap the velcro round the handle bar post, and round the rear of the crossbar - works for now, don't know how long the straps will last