I have an older version of this lock - now I have to check the bugger. *sigh*

Things like this always give me pause. On the one hand, as a consumer, I am happy to be informed if I have potentially misplaced my confidence in a product. On the other hand, now a lot of people know how to pick these locks that didn’t know prior to that thread. So… which outweighs which?

Security through obscurity isn’t.

What possessed someone to stick a Bic pen without the end cap into a bike lock in the first place?

Minx, there’s some indication that the bad guys already know about this technique as various people have complained about their bikes being stolen despite the lock still being locked to whatever stationary object they had attached it to. The guys that make the lock have even admitted that there have been a few mysterious thefts. Whether they should have revealed how it’s done is open to debate, but without the explanation I think most folks would hold some reasonable skepticism of the claims validity purely on the lock’s good reputation and thusly would have continued to be at risk of having their bike stolen. Plus this way the manufacturer is encouraged to come up with a solution quickly.

Patch, my guess would be either A) they had some background in locksmithing and thus thought this might be a possible vulnerability or B) they’re dumb as rocks and try to insert Bic pens into random objects as a form of entertainment and got lucky.

I used a Papermate pen, but it definitely was able to open the lock with only about a minute of work.  Unfortunately, I am having difficulty relocking it with the pen and now the key does not go in either because the lock is turned.  I suppose relocking is not a problem for thieves though.

Going back to fiddle some more.

Holy crap!  I’ve got the same lock used in the top video clip securing my $600 mountain bike right now!  I guess I’ll be headed to the bike store after work.

Paul - one of the users on BikeForums.net ground the little tab off the outside of the key, and was then able to get the key into the lock to allow the shackle back into place.

Man, what a boondoggle. I’ve got an old Kryptonite lock; it appears to lock differently than the ones in the videos, but still, I’ll have to check the thing.

did

I posted an entry about this on my blog as well, and that is exactly what I did with my spare key to make the lock useable again.  Thanks for the idea though.

Uh, dumb question time....but Paul, why would you want to use the lock again? I’d be tossing it and finding a new way to lock up my bike.

Not to speak for Paul, but the company is likely to offer some form of re-coring the locks once they come up with a better design, possibly at little to no cost. They have a rep they wish to maintain and these locks are very good other than this one major flaw. Very tough to cut off or break otherwise. Not sure if the company will honor the request if the lock appears to have been jammed open though.

It also happens to be the only bike lock I own, and I use my bike nearly every single day.  I mostly lock my bike up in safe and public places, and I am going to wait for the company’s response before doing any new lock purchases.

I mostly lock my bike up in safe and public places,

Whereabouts do you live?  I’ve been meaning to get a new mountain bike. 

Seriously, with the proliferation of this information you might want to pick up a secondary lock until the company gets it act together.

Funny this is just hitting the news bigtime now...When I heard about it originally a few months ago, it was certain brands of laptop locks that people were worried about.

Uh shit....
Grabbed a Bic pen, tried it on a friends 2 bikes. pen too narrow, Used the end of a dryboard marker pen… Just Right! Pushed in and turned.. nadda.. eased off a bit, wiggled, kept at it for 20 second.. POP!! Then spent another 3 minutes getting the damn thing closed, Cause of course the key WONT FIT NOW..
Fairly new cheap CANADIAN TIRE (in Canada) Supercycle brand..
Tried on OLDER, rusty off brand.. 10 minutes, no luck..
SO........ Rusty old off brand U locks better..

Turns out if you have a gun cabinet with this sort of lock it may also be vulnerable. Looks like it might be worth it to try this on any locks you happen to have that are similar.

Oops. Just noticed that I got a trackback from John about that same story.

For no reason what so ever, my kryptonite lock jammed, the key wouldn’t fit in the key slot. I was super mad; I would never have imagined it happening. Emailed kryptonite, they told me to call a locksmith (yeah right like a locksmith would open one of these locks). After 2 month, I got faculties management on our apartment to cut it open (these things come of super easy with the right tool.

Happy to get my bike back, got a new lock.... BUT IT HAPPEND AGAIN!!!!
But it’s really cold here now, the first time it happened it was during the summer, I don’t know if that has anything not do with it, but I’m so mad at kryptonite now! My 300$ bike is locked to a bike rack again!