AN ex-convict and reformed professional motorcycle thief once told me that if he really wanted to steal a bike, nothing would stop him.
He then proceeded to demonstrate by taking some of the supposedly toughest chains on the market, standing a link on its side on a hardened surface, and smashing it with one accurate swing of a long-handled sledgehammer.
Any chain, he said, could be almost silently cut with some patience and a carbide hacksaw blade.
He could no doubt get through this chain too, but it‘s unlikely he’d do it in silence, thanks to the movement sensitive, 110 decibel alarm incorporated into the padlock.
That’s the theory. In practice there’s an obvious flaw in the design. The alarm emits from holes in the padlock, visible in one of the pictures. Place your fingers over them and the piercing sound is quietened dramatically. A strategically placed lump of blu tack has a similar effect (not that I want to give anyone tips).
With the chain linked through a wall anchor, inside a locked garage, and me fast asleep upstairs at 4am, I’m not at all convinced I’d hear it.
There’s another problem, this one more of an irritation: as soon as the key is removed, the alarm is activated, even when not chained to anything. Top stop it going off with every jolt you have to remove the battery-powered alarm unit (something that can only be done using the key) or leave the key in it.
With the alarm unit removed, it can be used as a normal padlock.
Despite the complaints, I think it’s not a bad security product for £130. Some chains cost close to £300 without any alarm.
The dimensions of the padlock and chain are impressive and the alarm is an extra source of reassurance.
In any event, as the reformed thief highlighted, nothing is in invulnerable.
The chain comes in a range of lengths up to two metres.
Price: £130 for 1.1m chain, £150 for 2m
Contact: www.motohaus.com
