Stanley Q&A

Lock picking experts would use a picking set for picking a lock. There are plenty of videos on youtube which show how to pick a lock.

Keep several things in mind for properly locking your bike:

1. Decide for a busy street when locking your bike.
2. Always choose immovable objects for locking your bike to them.
3. If you go for a mall or an area where people usually spend a lot of time, try to lock your bike some streets away from this area for not giving thieves a clue.
4. Always lock your frame & tires
5. Lock your bike with two different locks and keep the locks off the ground.
6. When you lock your bike at home, try to keep it inside the house or apartment.

Link for https://youtu.be/CeNV11VP9fI

Ensure that your tires and your frame are securely locked. When securing your bike for longer periods of time, use the quick release function to remove the front tire and lock it together with the frame and the back tire, securing both to a fixed object such as a street light or fence.

Choose busy storage locations with high visibility where thieves are less likely to operate. It is the best to use the “two-lock” method, such as a U-lock & a cable lock to maximize security when locking your bike. The bike lock should not touch the ground, so thieves cannot benefit from creating leverage to break the lock. Link for https://youtu.be/CeNV11VP9fI

Some people name a U-shape /D-lock “padlock for bike”. This type of bike lock is a very good solution for locking your bike when you pay attention for the security level and you use such a lock in combination with a cable or chain lock.

Yes, you can reset your bike lock combination. Usually the bike lock supplier shows on the packacking (usually inside printed) how to do this. In addition you will find pretty often on the corresponding supplier webpage code change instructions. For Stanley combination locks you will find the instructions here: https://safeguard-locks.com/code-change-instructions/ Please be aware that you have to know the current code for resetting the lock combination.

When you have your bike lock for a while already it can be that it starts to “stick” a bit. A reason for this is usually that dust, dirt etc are in the internal mechanism of the lock. When there are a lot of such particles they can block the smooth functionality of the locking and unlocking process. You can use lubricant for making the functionality smooth again. We recommend to do some maintenance for each lock from time to time for avoiding such challenges. Here you will find a nice description how to do this: https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Sticky-Lock

There is no final answer for this question. Most of the A-brand suppliers of padlocks are continuously developing their padlock assortment. The security level stated on the blister in combination with relevant certificates such as e.g. Sold Secure, SBSC, VDS give you an orientation. Ultimately it always depends on having a good balance between security level, padlock type and the item you want to lock. If you need support in finding the right padlock for you, contact us – we will support you.

There is not such thing as “the best padlock” out of all padlocks. The best padlock is the one which will give for the item you want to secure the best security measure. This means that e.g. a barn in which you store your expensive bike will for sure need a different padlock type than your sports bag stored in a locker. And in the end a padlock is only as secure as you make the surrounding. This means e.g. that the best barn padlock will not bring anything if you do not use a good hasp and install it well (means not to nail it or use cheap, non security screws). A weak hasp installed wrongly can lead to it that people simply will tear off the hasp.

There is no final answer for this question. Most of the A-brand suppliers of padlocks are continuously developing their padlock assortment. The security level stated on the blister in combination with relevant certificates such as e.g. Sold Secure, SBSC, VDS give you an orientation. Ultimately it always depends on having a good balance between security level, padlock type and the item you want to lock. If you need support in finding the right padlock for you, contact us – we will support you.

On the pages 43 and 44 of our Factbook you can find some explanations and drawings which show you how padlocks work. There are as well some information about the lock developments in the past – check it out, might be fun.

Usually the bike lock supplier shows on the packaging (usually inside printed) how to do this. In addition you will find pretty often on the corresponding supplier webpage code change instructions. For Stanley combination locks you will find the instructions here: https://safeguard-locks.com/code-change-instructions/. Please be aware that you have to know the current code for resetting the lock combination.

The truth is that nearly every lock can be picked or bypassed. As soon as people are talking about a lock which seems to be non-pickable, picking experts will start to work on it and will find a way to pick or bypass it. The thing you win by having a lock with some picking barriers is time. So even though the lock can be picked after a while, a good picking resistance will ensure that the picking process will costs time. And a lot of time is not what people want to invest if they want to pick or bypass a lock.