Best bike lock 2022: Lightweight designs, secure chains and more

There were 64,500 reported bike thefts in the UK last year and, believe it or not, that was down more than 11 per cent on the previous year. Bikes are very tempting targets for thieves – and, obviously, it’s easy to make a quick getaway on one.

Whether you own the latest £5,000 carbon-fibre racer, or use an old £200 clunker to get around town, having it stolen can be a huge source of heartache and inconvenience.

A decent lock will make thieves think twice about trying to swipe your beloved machine, but bear in mind that even the toughest can usually be defeated by a determined thief with a portable angle grinder or bolt cutters. But at least the prospect of having to hack their way through a quality lock or chain might encourage them to look elsewhere to find a less-secure victim instead.

Always buy a lock that’s been tested to industry standards such as Sold Secure – we’ve seen cheap unrated locks bought off the internet prised apart with little more than bare hands. Sold Secure awards different gradings according to effectiveness against various methods of attack, with diamond being the very best.

Aim to budget about 10 per cent of the value of your bike to spend on a lock. And, if you want to stay extra safe, try to use a couple of different types of lock so would-be thieves need more than one type of tool to defeat them.

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Make sure you lock your bike to an immovable object and in a well-lit, public place – preferably in sight of CCTV. We also recommend locking your bike even if you keep it in a garage or shed. And don’t forget to remove any expensive lights or GPS units before you leave your bike unattended anywhere.

How we tested

Although we weren’t tempted to attack the locks we tested with angle grinders or other cutting equipment, we did try them out in a variety of urban areas, locking our bikes to a variety of different objects to check out their versatility. We tested how easy they were to carry and how quick they were to lock or unlock – especially from awkward angles.

The best bike locks for 2022 are: