The Bike Lock

Out with the old.

I believe I purchased this lock in 1989 in honor of the purchase of my first ever, shiny new road bike, the Specialized Allez Pro. The Allez Pro needed all the protection it could get, as it was very cutting edge for the time - 8 speed handle bar shifters and clipless pedals and who knows what other fancy innovations. Those may be nothing now, but in 1989, they were the bomb. (On a side note, the handle bar shifters did wonders for my bike handling, but the clipless pedals not so much. They were a tight and many a stop light involved slow motion crashes when I was unable to get my foot out of the pedal.) The Allez Pro is a little less shiny today, but it is still my daily commuter bike and is still being locked by the above vintage Kryptonite ulock. (No, I am no longer falling down at every stop.)

There is a slight possibility this lock appeared in my life in 1996. In 1996 I was riding my GT Karakoram. Ah, how I loved that bike. Unfortunately, I would leave it outside Seattle Central Community College where I was taking night classes. One night I came out and the bike and the cable lock that was attaching it to the bike rack were long gone, never to be seen again. Very sad. It's possible I bought the ulock in response to the theft, but the more I consider it, the more I'm thinking that I had the u lock, and I just used the cable lock because it was so much lighter.

So, we're going with 1989. That means I have owned and used this lock regularly for about 1/2 my very long lifetime. At some point, 2005 or so, Kryptonite came out with the announcement that these ulocks had a fatal flaw. Essentially they could be jacked open with the end of a Bic pen! At the time I thought seriously about replacing it. But just never did. I think I even went into bike stores to buy a new one on multiple occasions, but some how always talked myself out of it. I also meant to test the Bic pen trick, but never did that either.

But today was the day. I went into a bike store to buy brake pads and walked out with a new bike lock! Good bye old lock!

Whew, what a week. A new recycling bin and a new bike lock. Who has time to be depressed about Valentine's day!

In with the new!