Zefal Lock and Roll for Saddle Defeated

[Jorge]

Just had my Brooks saddle and Nitto seatpost stolen off of my bike
last night and from the looks of it, the Zefal Lock and Roll was
broken by the use of a lever. Well, that's what the marks on the top
tube show anyway. Now that the lock has been compromised it opens
freely even in the locked position.

I know that a determined thief will always find a way to defeat a
security mechanism, but I was wondering how hard was it to crack this
lock open?

Since I have the wheel skewers as well, I decided to run a little
test. I taped up the fork blade on my Bleriot and moved my front
fender out of the way. Using a 250mm crescent wrench, I was able to
wedge open the Zefal up about 40 degrees but it was still locked. I
was putting pressure on the Zefal from the bottom pressing up, so what
ended up happening was that with all that force, the tab that keeps
the lock from spinning upside down was defeated and I was able to flip
the lock over and open it right up. Probably took me about 5
minutes.

Has anyone had their Zefal locks broken as well? I think it's an
ingenious product but just not heavy duty for someone with a little
time and a lever.

Cheers.

[JoelMatthews]

I had to break the Zefal off one of my bikes as I had installed it too
tight and could not get it to open. It took a lot of work.
Obviously, I cared about marring the paint on the seat tube or
otherwise damaging the bike. I imagine if someone did not care about
the bike and used a large wrench such as those designed to take apart
old plumbing and the like, they could make quick work of the Zefal.

In my mind, this serves as no demerit for the product. In order for
the Zefal to withstand heavy duty tools, it would have to be
significantly more large and heavy. No one would want to use it.
Zefals are intended to stop opportunistic thieves from grabbing
saddles and seat posts and wheels off bikes parked in public areas.
Bikes left outside overnight or parked in less trafficked areas allow
thieves with heavier tools the time and privacy needed to defeat the
Zefal. You are probably lucky they did not cut your lock and take the
whole bike.

[Z I]

It was reported in this forum that the Zefals could be defeated with a
strong magnet.

I later confirmed this with mine. If you turn the Zefals to lock and
unlock and listen carefully, you'll hear a click. Stick a magnet on
that clicking point when they are locked, and the magnet will pull the
internal pin to the unlock position, and you can flip the quick
release without turning the bike over. Handy if you're working on the
bike... but kinda defeats the purpose.

I'm still using them though. I figure the average swipe and run thief
won't know to carry a strong magnet around in their pocket. Others,
will get my stuff anyway, with a lever as happened here. I'm sorry to
hear you lost your Brooks saddle and seat post. And got a dent on your
top tube! That sucks.

- Zach

[Jorge]

Joel, I agree, the Zefal is great for stopping opportunistic thieves.
I read something interesting yesterday, "Locks keep honest people
honest." Those more determined and with a tool are more difficult to
stop. I think I'll switch to Pitlock for what it's worth, for wheels,
light, saddle and seat post. By the way, why didn't your Zefal unlock
upon turning your bike upside down?

Thanks Zach, I had actually read about the Zefal/magnet issue here but
I didn't see any independent confirmation. I read one post where
someone used a very strong magnet but couldn't get the pin to move.
Good to know that it's possible to defeat that way also.

[EricP]

I've used Pitlocks. They do work, but can be defeated by a skilled
person. However, they won't work on some bikes. Notably newer Surly
LHTs.

Do use them on my Sam Hillborne when it's set up for commuting. Even
then, will throw a cable lock through the front wheel.

For your saddle/seatpost, might want to try a seat leash. Just a cable
loop that goes down to the main lock. It won't defeat effort, but
having to do two actions to steal a saddle will slow down the non
determined.

Eric Platt
St. Paul, MN

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[Mitch Browne]

Just ran the strong magnet test on a Zefal seat post lock ....
success!

It's nice to know I don't have to flip my bikes over anymore .... in
the garage.

I won't be carrying the magnet out in the field though.

[JoelMatthews]

> By the way, why didn't your Zefal unlock upon turning your bike upside down?

Not entirely certain what went wrong, but I think it has to do with
the same reason I cannot use the Pitlock seat post collar on the Bruce
Gordon. Same as Surly, the outside dimension of the seat tube is just
under 30.0. With the different size tubing, appears I overtightened
the Zefal to the point where there was not enough space for it to
open.

Pitlock will stop the pry bar equipped thief (as well as the
knucklehead with an alan wrench set). However, a thief with a hammer
and cold chisel who does not otherwise care about your bike could
knock the Pitlock collar off pretty quickly.

On Apr 11, 4:52 pm, Jorge <jcarp...@yahoo.com> wrote: