Squire Matterhorn 230/10C D-Lock and Cable Kit

The Squire Matterhorn 10c D-lock provides a good level of protection against methods commonly used by bike thieves, and comes with the coveted Sold Secure Diamond rating for not a huge amount of cash. It’s easy to use, and has a small extra security measure via the supplied cable to lock one of your wheels in addition to the main D-lock. If you don’t really care for the quite flimsy frame mount and prefer carrying your lock in a bag, it’s even better still.

The Matterhorn I’m reviewing here is the standard-sized version with an additional cable lock. You can buy the D-lock on its own for £5 less, or the Matterhorn Compact 10c (also with a cable lock) for £10 less. We have reviewed the Matterhorn Compact 10c too, but with just 140mm of vertical and 90mm of horizontal shackle clearance, compared with the standard’s 230mm (vertical) and 114mm (horizontal), the standard will better suit those whose bikes have thicker tubes.

The bigger dimensions will also just fit around things a bit more easily – for example, there are some bike stands outside my local Sainsbury’s that are really beefy, and I’ve found that more compact D-locks won’t fit around it. This one does with relative ease, so for me it’s a better option than the Compact. It weighs slightly more and takes up a bit more space in a rucksack, but that’s fine by me.

The Matterhorn has a Sold Secure Pedal Cycle Diamond rating, the highest you can get for non-powered bikes, which is great for the price. It means that in most circumstances, insurance policies that require your bike to be secured with a lock of a certain rating should have no excuse but to pay out if you are unlucky enough to have it stolen, provided you’ve used the lock correctly.

Most of the other Sold Secure Diamond locks we tested in Dodgy Dave’s big locks test cost well over £100, some well over £200 (though some of these have the even higher Sold Secure Diamond Powered Cycle rating). So, while the Matterhorn isn’t completely grinder resistant, it is one of the most affordable locks with a Sold Secure Diamond certification.

The 1,742g weight quoted at the top is for the D-lock, cable and bracket mount together. The D-lock itself weighs 1,328g, the cable is 375g, and the mount is 39g. The D-lock is among the lightest for one with a Diamond rating, so if you’re regularly carrying your lock out and about, the Matterhorn is a very good option. I certainly didn’t find it cumbersome to haul around in my rucksack, as I’m used to carrying my heavier Pragmasis DIB D-lock or Hiplok D1000.

You get two keys supplied, which lock and unlock the shackle with ease. To keep the keyhole rust-free and protected from the elements, the Matterhorn has a rotating middle section to cover it after you’ve locked your bike up, which I think is a much better option than cheaper, less durable sliding covers.

The 10mm x 1,800mm security cable loops through the D-lock and allows you to secure one of your wheels along with your bike’s frame. An angle grinder would cut through it with ease, but it took Dodgy Dave a minute to get through it with bolt croppers. For £5 extra versus the Matterhorn without a cable, that’s not a bad little extra deterrent at all.

Mount

While this isn’t a major issue for me because I prefer to sling my lock in a bag, the cheapy-looking plastic frame mount is on the flimsy side. This mount is also used on the Matterhorn Compact, and looks exactly the same as on Halfords’ Advanced D-Lock too.

This generic design relies on jubilee clips to tension it, and unfortunately, they don’t provide a whole lot of tension. As Dave reported in his review of the Halfords Advanced vertical mounting on the seat tube will require something like a wrap of old inner tube to stop the lock from constantly slipping down, so your best bet is to attach it to the top tube. Or always save space in your bag for a lock, which is my preference…

Protection prowess

In our locks test, the D-lock part of the Matterhorn passed the bolt cropper test, and it took 59 seconds to cut through one side with an angle grinder. Dodgy Dave was unable to prise a bike away after cutting one side, so needed to make two cuts to release it.

Assuming you’re using the wheel-locking cable too, this means a thief would need to spend at least two minutes very noisily grinding away at this lock if they wanted to pinch your bike without damaging it. That’s probably enough time to make most opportunists give up, and more than enough for people to notice what’s going on if the theft attempt is happening in a public place.

If anything, I think the Matterhorn is better than its test result score of 59/100 suggests, factoring in all its attributes; however, one cheaper lock we tested – the Halfords Advanced – performed significantly better in the test, taking 94 seconds to cut through one side.

Ollie reported some play between the shackle and lock in his review of the Matterhorn Compact. Likewise, I was able to wobble the shackle a bit after locking my bike up with the standard Matterhorn, considerably more than on my Hiplok D1000 – though the latter costs 250 quid. But I don’t believe many thieves would consider trying to find a leverage point to prise it open here. It would always be easier to use brute force, and, as I’ve already explained, that would take them around a couple of minutes of noisy grinding.

If you enjoy watching the LockPickingLawyer’s videos, you’ll also be pleased to hear that the Matterhorn comes with a double locking and deadlocking mechanism – but again, very few bike thieves are able to pick locks, so this isn’t a primary concern.

Against bolt croppers and an angle grinder, the Matterhorn provides a good level of protection that will deter most thieves. To have your bike stolen in a public place while it was locked with the Matterhorn, you’d probably have to be unfortunate enough to fall victim to a brazen gang who would threaten you and/or bystanders if you tried to stop them.

> How to lock your bike when you’re out and about so it’s there when you come back

I’d be perfectly happy securing my bike in town with this lock while I was running an errand. I would be prepared to leave my winter road bike (value of around £1,000) or folding bike locked up with it in a train station for the day, as it’s very unlikely a thief would take the risk considering they would need an angle grinder. For garage or shed security, the Matterhorn will provide an adequate additional barrier against opportunistic burglars, provided it’s looped through an equally secure ground or wall anchor.

Value

In terms of value, the Matterhorn is a pretty attractive proposition, because it also comes with the additional wheel-locking cable, and will keep any insurer happy for your £59.99. Squire’s own compact version of this lock is cheaper at £49.99, so if you only ever need to lock a road bike and want a slightly lighter lock, you might as well save a tenner.

Halfords’ Advanced D Lock costs less at £50, and resisted our grinder attack for longer, but it doesn’t come with a cable.

> Which type of lock is best for your bike?

The Oxford Shackle14 Pro Duo U-Lock costs less than the Matterhorn and also comes with a cable, but it only lasted 25 seconds in our grinder test. For me, that makes the Matterhorn a slightly better value purchase than the Oxford, but it doesn’t beat the Halfords Advanced.

Conclusion

Overall, the Matterhorn provides a level of security that is well above the average bike lock you’ll see in town, for a reasonable price. Its dimensions will work for locking up the vast majority of bike shapes and sizes, it’s not too heavy, it’s durable, and the Diamond rating will satisfy even the most stringent of insurance policies. For securing expensive bikes in private locations, you’ll probably want to spend more on a beefier anti-angle grinder lock, and if you don’t feel like you need an additional wheel lock, there is at least one cheaper option that will resist grinder attacks for longer. The Matterhorn should, though, prevent all but the most committed and well-equipped thieves from nicking your bike.

Verdict

Affordable Diamond-rated lock and cable set that will prevent most opportunist thieves

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