Which type of lock is best for your bike?

Which is the best type of bike lock for you to buy? It’s not an easy decision; bike security isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing. Common sense suggests you buy the most expensive lock you can afford, but it’s more complicated than that. Here's how to choose...

For a start, paying more money doesn’t always get you a greater level of security. Beyond that, there are various genres of bike locks to choose from, with different characteristics. A bike lock that offers the highest level of security might sometimes be heavy and/or awkward to carry. That’s not an issue if you lock your bike only in your garage, but you might want a lighter lock for round-the-town use, even if it offers a lower level of security. Plus, as mentioned, cost is likely to be a factor one way or another. None of us wants to spend a fortune if we can help it, but if it protects an expensive bike, it might be worth digging deep.

2025 Bike locks testing angle grinder (credit: road.cc)

We recently security tested 19 locks with bolt croppers and an angle grinder, before sending another example of each one out to be used and abused by one of our reviewers.

To find out exactly how we did our security testing and to see the results, check out our video.

> Cheap vs Expensive Bike Locks - Will Spending More Keep Your Pride And Joy Safe? 

From lightweight café locks designed to deter casual thieves to heavy-duty D-locks that shrug off angle grinders, here are the various options open to you…

D-locks

In our security testing, all of the locks that we failed to get through within two minutes with an angle grinder were D-locks. That said, not all of the D-locks we tested stood up to our angle grinder incredibly well. In other words, D-lock performance varied considerably.

2025 OnGuard RockSolid 8590.jpg (credit: road.cc)

You might expect that if you pay more, you’ll get greater security, but that’s not always the case. It’s true, though, that we tested seven D-locks priced £149.99 or more, and they all stood up to two minutes with our angle grinder, a few of these destroying our angle grinder disc. Most impressive, the Onguard RockSolid 8590 (£199.99) made mincemeat of our disc in 30 seconds.

We also tested five D-locks priced below £60. We didn’t get through any of these with our bolt cutters; with most, the shackle was too wide to fit into the jaws. We did manage to defeat all of these locks with our angle grinder, the £50 Halfords Advanced 23cm D lock putting up the most resistance. It took us 1:34 minutes to ‘steal’ the bike locked up with this one. That would be long enough for a thief to attract attention in many situations.

One of the reasons the Halfords Advanced 23cm D lock held up so well – for its price – is that it features a double bolt locking mechanism, and we couldn’t twist it enough to free the bike even when we’d cut through one side of the shackle. We had to cut through both sides, doubling the time it took.

As a rule, D-locks aren’t especially lightweight; 2kg isn’t unusual, although the Onguard RockSolid 8590 we mentioned above hit the scales at just 1,341g. Weight won’t be a consideration if you lock your bike in only one place, such as in your own garage, of course.

D-locks are also quite bulky, although most come with some sort of bracket that you can attach to your bike frame to make carrying easier (check the conditions of your warranty if you’re at all concerned). That said, the mount is sometimes sold separately. You have to pay £19.99 for a mount for Litelok’s X1 (£149.99) or X3 (£249.99), for example, so factor this in.

Shackle size varies between D-locks, with brands publishing internal lock dimensions online. Check in advance that the lock you’re thinking of buying is large enough for your needs.

2025 Squire Matterhorn Compact 10c.jpg (credit: road.cc)

Some lock brands sell D-locks with added cables so you can secure the wheels without needing to take them off and fit them into the shackle. Bear in mind that the cable is unlikely to be as secure as the D-lock itself. We tested three D-lock and cable combos and managed to get through the cable with bolt cutters in under a minute in each case.

Chain lock

Chain locks offer a flexible and versatile option for securing your bike to larger or oddly shaped objects – like lamp posts, for instance. You can carry a chain lock in a bag or pannier, or sometimes around your waist, although weights vary enormously.

2025 Master Lock Chain with Mini U-Lock.jpg (credit: road.cc)

Chain locks can be challenging to defeat with power tools due to their flexible, moving links and the need for multiple cuts (because the links are often so chunky that one cut isn’t enough). That said, we got through the £39.99 Master Lock Chain with Mini U-Lock with bolt cutters in 41 seconds.

We didn’t get through the £74.99 Hiplok Original – which is a wearable 8mm chain – with our bolt cutters, but we cut it in 31 seconds with our angle grinder. The Hiplok Original has a Sold Secure Pedal Cycle Silver rating, so no one is claiming that it offers the highest level of security.

There are chain locks out there with higher ratings, but we’ve not tested them. Hiplok Gold (£94.99) has a Sold Secure Pedal Cycle Gold rating, for instance, while the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Chain has a Sold Secure Pedal Cycle Diamond rating, although the 100cm-long version will cost you £164.99 and the 150cm model is £209.99.

Bear in mind that these Kryptonite chain locks aren’t lightweight. The 100cm option has a claimed weight of 4.9kg, for example, while the 150cm option is a whopping 6.92kg. You’re probably not going to want to ride far carrying that kind of weight, although it’s not an issue if you’re looking for something to lock up your bike in a garage, for example.

Wearable locks

You’ve always been able to wear certain locks around your waist or shoulders, of course, but these days, a few are designed with exactly that in mind to make them easy to carry when not in use.

2025 Hiplok Original Lock - worn 3 reflective.jpg (credit: road.cc)

The Hiplok Original (£74.99) that we mentioned above, for instance, comes with a 8mm hardened steel chain and a 12mm hardened steel shackle and offers a belt fastening system that adjusts to waist sizes from 28-44in (71-112cm).

2025 Hiplok Original Lock - worn 2.jpg (credit: road.cc)

This makes it simple to carry, and it’s never locked around you, so it’s not an absolute disaster if you misplace the keys.

2025 Litelok Core Plus - lock.jpg (credit: road.cc)

Similarly, although it can be mounted on your bike frame, the Litelok Core Plus (£139.99) also comes with a wearable kit that allows it to be carried around your waist. Again, you don’t need to lock yourself into the Litelok Core Plus, the wearable kit secures it in place. 

We didn’t find that either of these wearable locks provided the highest level of security, but we couldn’t get through them with our bolt cutters. We defeated the Hiplok Original in 31 seconds with our angle grinder, while the Litelok Core Plus lasted 49 seconds.

Still, wearable locks have a place, especially if you want to protect your bike in public settings – where a thief with an angle grinder would likely be noticed – and you value the convenience of something that’s easily carried, even without a bag or frame mount.

Foldable locks

Foldable bike locks are made from a series of steel bars connected by rivets. The big advantage is that they fold down into a small, easy-to-carry package that you can fix to your bike via a compact mount, or stick in a bag or even a rear pocket. The £74.99 Hiplok Switch that we reviewed, for example, weighed a reasonable 1,001g on our scales, for example. That weight includes its mount; it’s just 946g for the lock alone.

2025 Hiplok Switch Folding Lock - in holder 2.jpg (credit: road.cc)

The articulated links provide you with plenty of space to lock your bike easily to racks, poles and the like.

We tested three folding locks priced from £74.99 to £125. We didn’t manage to get through any of them with our bolt cutters but none lasted more than 23 seconds when attacked with an angle grinder. 

With that in mind, our conclusions for the foldable locks we tested would be similar to those of the wearable locks (above): their portability could be a real bonus for you, but they wouldn’t be our recommendation if you’re after the ultimate in security.

One of these locks would be useful if you’re leaving your bike in a public space where a thief with an angle grinder would attract instant attention, but we’d go for something beefier if you’re locking your bike anywhere more secluded.

Café locks

You can’t judge a café lock by the security standards of the other types of locks listed above. The idea of a café lock is simply to prevent an opportunist thief walking off with your bike when you stop for a mid-ride coffee and it’s perhaps just out of view while you choose between an espresso and a cappuccino.

Realistically, you’re not going to lug a 5kg chain lock on a 100-miler at the weekend, are you? A café lock needs to provide a degree of security while being small and light enough to carry comfortably in a rear pocket. The main point is that a thief sees that your bike is locked and decides not to bother trying their luck.

Angle grinder-proof? Nah, you can forget that, so we didn’t put any café locks through our security tests. No point.

Axa Roll Lock (credit: road.cc)

We were pretty impressed with the Axa Roll Lock that we reviewed a few years ago, though, which we described as an “affordable, no-frills deterrent lock, certainly worth a tenner to put off an opportunistic thief”. It weighs just 50g and the 75cm cable is enough to lock a frame and rear wheel to a post.

What about Sold Secure?

If you’ve ever bought a bike lock, chances are that you’ve heard of Sold Secure. It’s a security testing and approval organisation based here in the UK, established by two police forces but now owned and administered by the Master Locksmiths Association. 

2025 Bike locks testing broken locks Sold Secured Gold (credit: road.cc)

Sold Secure puts security products through a series of tests and rates their performance. Bike locks can be given various ratings: Pedal Cycle Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond.

To get a Bronze rating, a lock must be able to withstand an attack from an opportunist thief using basic tools. At the other end of the scale, a Pedal Cycle Diamond-rated lock provides the highest level of security, standing up to a wider variety of tools, including angle grinders.

On top of these ratings, Sold Secure offers a Powered Cycle Gold rating, which is the equivalent of Pedal Cycle Diamond, and Powered Cycle Diamond, which is at the very top of the tree. You can check which products have Sold Secure ratings online.

So, which type of lock should I buy?

It’s difficult to give a definitive answer to this question because everyone’s needs and budgets are different. However, based on our experience, we’d say you should consider buying a lightweight café lock if you just want to deter opportunist thieves at mid-ride coffee and cake stops and nothing more. A café lock won’t resist a determined thief with time to get busy.

A foldable lock might be your best bet if you’re leaving your bike only for short periods and need something that’s reasonably light and convenient to carry. Wearable locks are useful in similar situations, with some of them providing decent levels of security.

If you want the highest level of security, consider a very good D-lock or chain lock, but bear in mind that the amount of resistance these locks provide varies enormously. Your bike won’t necessarily be safe simply because you’ve bought a cheap D-lock, for example. Do some research – check out road.cc reviews and Sold Secure ratings – and make sure that what you’re buying is up to the job.

> Cheap vs Expensive Bike Locks - Will Spending More Keep Your Pride And Joy Safe?