The Abus Granit X Plus is about as secure as a portable lock can be
The Abus Granit X-Plus has long been among the best D locks on the market, it has a Sold Secure Gold rating and it's not hard to see why.
The shackle is made from 13mm square section hardened steel, and locks at both ends to the base. It has pointed ends which extend right through the base to protect against attacks from jacks, and the square section is intended to make it harder to twist or crop.
You can get the Granit X-Plus with a couple of different mounts, ours came with the TEXKF frame mount that has a positive locking action and secures via a webbing strap. You get two keys too, one with an LED bnuilt-in so you can find the lock in the dark, a useful touch.
There are two lengths, with either a 230mm U (£89.99) or one that's 300mm long (£99.99). The longer lock is more versatile in that you'll find more things that it will easily reach, but it's heavier and more awkward to carry. For lesser D-locks we'd also worry about the longer lock being gappier and therefore harder to fill to prevent a thief getting a jack or big crowbar in there to pry it open. However, the Granit X-Plus resists that attack well enough that we think you can safely choose the longer U if you need the length.
We gave it a good go (five minutes of serious abuse), but to no avail: we couldn't break this one with our standard thieves' armoury. The shackle is super stiff and no amount of cropping, twisting or thwacking would do any serious damage. the plastic sleeve got a bit mangled, but that was about it. Some meaty blows to the base broke off the plastic covering, but only to reveal a serious-looking steel plate construction that does a very good job of protecting the lock mechanism and was dismissive of our efforts. After all the violence was over the lock was still in perfect working order; even the plastic cover just snapped back on.
As we've said, we used all our standard kit on the Granit X-Plus and it came through unscathed. We didn't go the whole hog though and use the 'extreme' kit — one of the latest generation of battery powered angle grinders — simply because we know that the outcome would have been a broken lock. We know of no D-Lock that will currently withstand assault by power tool.
No doubt the lock manufacturers are on the case to rectify that. However it has always been the case that given time and sufficient fire power a really determined thief will get your bike. Luckily there are few such thieves about and locks don't give in quietly when attacked with an angle grinder.
It's a really excellent lock, this. It's not even that heavy for the amount of protection it provides. Unless you live in a real crime hotspot it should give you all the protection you need.
We've polled road.cc community for your top tips to stop bike theft, and compiled your tips with ours in our Bike Locking Bible.
Verdict
Excellent level of protection from a well-designed and capable lock.
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Dave is a founding father of road.cc and responsible for kicking the server when it breaks. In a previous life he was a graphic designer but he's also a three-time Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling world champion, and remains unbeaten through the bog. Dave rides all sorts of bikes but tends to prefer metal ones. He's getting old is why.
17 comments
Being a part time muppet, I managed to break the key off in one of these within an hour of buying it. The keys are relatively long, and with the weight of the lock there's a very high chance that if you drop it with the key in, even from bike frame height, it will snap off. In my case, it was whilst trying to work out where to mount it on my frame.
If you do break a key, it's almost impossible to get out. I was lucky that a local locksmith enjoyed the challenge, but it still took him a day to work out how to fish it out without disassembly.
From speaking to a local bike shop, it seems I'm far from unique. It's a very secure lock, but handle it carefully.
It would be nice if Abus could extent the cover in someway to provide a guard to protect a key in the lock. I may try something myself as it should be a fairly easy mod and will give me a little peace of mind.
I presume this uses the same key barrel assembly as their flex-o-steel Granit which I find impossible to get the key into in one go. The tumblers must shake out of alignment and it can take me several minutes to coax the key fully into its key-hole.
I fear one day I won't manage it and will be left with a big paperweight.
Is the weight quoted 1525g for the 230mm or the 300mm?
Is this a Abus Granit X Plus 54? If so you can find them even cheaper online. ; )
I've got the Granit X-Plus 54, and the key slips in without effort. With a drop of gun oil every few months it's been that way for three years now, without any sign of decline.
Very happy with mine, been using daily for 4 years.
Lost both keys at one point and bike was locked for a week until the replacement came from Germany for a very reasonable price!
Heavy but reliable.
as far as these kinds of locks go, its a good one
however, none of these bicycle locks (and other locks) offer the protection needed to leave a quality bicycle in a public place
a few years ago, I worked for a bike shop in West London and we had a contact who was a professional lock-smith working for a West London Borough (council) to remove bikes that had been locked and abandoned on public streets for 3+ months. The council placed a warning sticker on these bikes to inform the owner of their removal.
He also offered a service that was promoted through local bike shops (using his business card) for legitimate owners of bicycles who had lost their keys to their quality lock - and could prove ownership of their bike using a receipt with frame number - he would charge £30 for the service
what was scary was how quickly he would get through even £150 chain locks or £100 D-locks, literally less than 2 minutes using a battery powered, cordless angle grinder with a fresh cutting disc
he told me on several occasions about these jobs he undertook for council or private clients, the private clients he would ask to leave the scene for a few minutes (claiming H&S issues) as if they knew the truth about how quickly he could cut their locks, they would not buy another lock, or another bicycle!
he also said on these occasions that the kit he was using was common hardware amongst the thieving community
I have not locked any of my bikes on the street since learning that information from him, and I have £150 chain locks and £100 d-locks at home!
There are some locksmiths in the UK that can do them as well. I paid £10 for an x-plus to be cut from it's serial number, all done using proper Abus key blanks. He advertises on ebay as 4keycuttingltd
I recently bought a new bike and looked to lock it with some gold secure standard lock and ground anchor £130 later it still only withstands 5-10min attacks sledgehammer and saw, what i realised when looking for locks was that any determine theft will be able to make off with my bikes no matter how much you pay for your locks.
As the review mentions any bike lock that is practical to carry can be beaten by someone with power tools.
I really just think of locks as providing a hassle factor for a casual thief and not as something that is ever going to really deter a serious robber. My hope is that most junkies etc won't walk around with a battery powered angle grinder.
I don't leave the good bike locked in public because it might attract a serious thief who would realise the value and have it gone by the time I turned around.
After 3 months the top plastic cover fell off, without any help. I may have dropped the lock once? The provided frame clip can sometimes release the lock.
This was "cosmetic" but revealed the steel lock insert which was then open to the elements.
Took back too cycle surgery, would not replace had to return to Germany for a free fix, which took several weeks.
Not good customer service as was without secure lock for this time.
I agree that often have to waggle key to get into lock.
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After 3 months the top plastic cover fell off, without any help. I may have dropped the lock once? The provided frame clip can sometimes release the lock.
This was "cosmetic" but revealed the steel lock insert which was then open to the elements.
Took back too cycle surgery, would not replace had to return to Germany for a free fix, which took several weeks.
Not good customer service as was without secure lock for this time.
I agree that often have to waggle key to get into lock.
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+1
I've got one of these locks, and I know that if someone really wants my bike it won't stop them. But it will stop someone taking a fancy to it as they pass, and maybe make even better equipped thieves move on to something else that will take 30 seconds less to get through.
A lock like this might be a condition of insurance too.
I have one of these, they are good locks but I have noticed the ends of the U that fit into the keyed base have a habit of scratching the frame.
I think it's a pity that bicyclists are always told to never leave a nice bike secured in a public place. We don't tell motorists that they have to drive an old, cheap, beat-up, crummy-looking car if they want to park it in a public place!
Part of the reason seems to be that the law treats bike theft much differently than auto theft. I recently saw a video on You-Tube about a prolific bike thief in the UK, who stole over 100 expensive bikes, mostly at railway stations. This guy was actually caught and arrested on camera. He later received a 6-month suspended sentence and was barred from railway stations.
I wonder: If I had stolen more than 100 expensive cars, would I have received a 6-month suspended sentence? NO WAY JOSE! I would probably be looking at 25-to-life in Hard Rock City.
You know, I don't think the courts take any vehicle theft that seriously, 2 wheels or 4.
My cover came off when I left it for a few days locked to a cycle park rack, same lock as yours.
With a bit of fiddling it just slotted back on. Has been fine since.
The police treat it seriously. I got stopped once by a police car in the UK because they were looking for a bike just reported stolen. They do all they can. Shame that the prisons are so costly and full.
Why not bring in some cheap chinese labour to look after our prisoners? Heck we are happy to buy iPhones that are made in factories where the workers live in dorms far away from their families, so they can send money back. We could pay double what Apple pay (via foxconn) - and it would still be a fraction of the cost of a uk worker.
Or better still, don't give prisoners or ex criminals the vote. Then we could give them less cushy conditions inside, which would save a lot of money and more people could be locked up. One part reason they have it so cushy is that parties fear that if they made it tough for them they would lose key seats.
The US don't an NHS but they sure do lock a lot of people up. We should be more tough on crime like they are!