Mary Carol
18-09-04, 01:13 PM
Ballpoint Pen Can Defeat Bike Lock
September 17, 2004
BY THEO EMERY
BOSTON -- You don't have to be the Man of Steel to open a Kryptonite bike lock.
Faster than a speeding bullet, word is spreading across the Internet, through cyclist hangouts and into bike shops that all it takes to open a circular-key lock, like the one on the famous U-shaped Kryptonite-brand lock, is a ballpoint pen.
The U-shaped Kryptonite -- consisting of a steel curve with a locking horizontal bar -- is a must-have among serious bicyclists. It can cost more than $50, and for an extra $10 to $20, it comes with a guarantee that says the company will pay customers more than $1,000 if product failure results in the theft of a bicycle.
Bicycle chat rooms on the Internet have been flooded with irate comments from cyclists, some of whom have posted short movies of themselves picking locks with the hollow shaft of a Bic pen.
A spokeswoman for the Canton-based company, the country's largest bicycle-lock manufacturer, said it plans to accelerate the introduction of new versions of the lock because of the complaints.
Boston bicycle messenger John Anderson, 23, said a friend showed him how to defeat a U-lock.
''People spend a couple of grand [on their bikes], so it's kind of a bummer that people can steal them so easily,'' he said.
Benjamin Running, a 28-year-old graphic designer in New York, helped start the furor after he posted on the Internet a video of himself picking his own lock.
''These locks literally are viewed as the industry standard, the lock that you must have. They're recommended by every bike shop,'' he said. ''I'm absolutely shattered by this.'' AP
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-lock17.html
September 17, 2004
BY THEO EMERY
BOSTON -- You don't have to be the Man of Steel to open a Kryptonite bike lock.
Faster than a speeding bullet, word is spreading across the Internet, through cyclist hangouts and into bike shops that all it takes to open a circular-key lock, like the one on the famous U-shaped Kryptonite-brand lock, is a ballpoint pen.
The U-shaped Kryptonite -- consisting of a steel curve with a locking horizontal bar -- is a must-have among serious bicyclists. It can cost more than $50, and for an extra $10 to $20, it comes with a guarantee that says the company will pay customers more than $1,000 if product failure results in the theft of a bicycle.
Bicycle chat rooms on the Internet have been flooded with irate comments from cyclists, some of whom have posted short movies of themselves picking locks with the hollow shaft of a Bic pen.
A spokeswoman for the Canton-based company, the country's largest bicycle-lock manufacturer, said it plans to accelerate the introduction of new versions of the lock because of the complaints.
Boston bicycle messenger John Anderson, 23, said a friend showed him how to defeat a U-lock.
''People spend a couple of grand [on their bikes], so it's kind of a bummer that people can steal them so easily,'' he said.
Benjamin Running, a 28-year-old graphic designer in New York, helped start the furor after he posted on the Internet a video of himself picking his own lock.
''These locks literally are viewed as the industry standard, the lock that you must have. They're recommended by every bike shop,'' he said. ''I'm absolutely shattered by this.'' AP
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-lock17.html