Bicycle security

Master Lock's Street Cuff is basically a pair of handcuffs for your bike. One end goes round the frame and the other round a Sheffield stand, railing or other bit of street furniture. There's a hefty rotating linkage joining the two cuffs together and the whole thing is made from hardened laminated steel.

You may be interested in a new website that enables people to comment on cycle parking in their area. By visiting www.ParkThatBike.info people can identify places where cycle parking is needed, report existing cycle parking that is damaged or vandalised, and flag up wheel-benders, slotted slabs, and other horror stories.

The site uses Google mapping and satellite views to let users mark the location precisely. People can comment on cycle parking both on-highway, in public spaces, and at key destinations such as railway stations, leisure centres, libraries, surgeries, etc.

Zefal’s Lock n’ roll security skewers are something of a missed opportunity to produce an imaginative and inexpensive deterrent to opportunist thieves when locking in the street, outside the café’ and other situations where bikes are left unattended for shorter periods. Standard quick releases in my experience invite unwelcome attention from the light fingered who may snatch a skewer should the bike, wheels and seat post be locked to an immobile object.

There's plenty to be said in favour of a combination lock: you don't need to carry a key and it's a neat solution for popping into town. It still has a job to do though, that of keeping your bike safe from nefarious types, and that's where the Abus Tresor falls down: it simply isn't strong enough.