The Best Bike Locks: Security Ratings and What to Spend

The Short Answer: Buy the Best Lock You'll Actually Carry

The best bike lock for most riders is a Sold Secure Gold-rated U-lock in the $60–$110 range — typically something from Kryptonite's Evolution line or an equivalent hardened U-lock from ABUS or OnGuard. That tier resists bolt cutters and most leverage attacks, weighs little enough to carry daily, and costs a fraction of the bike it protects. If you park a valuable bike outside for hours in a high-theft city, step up to a Diamond-rated lock. If you only stop for coffee in a low-risk town, a Silver-rated lock plus smart locking technique covers you.

Here's the logic in one line: spend roughly 10% of your bike's value on locks, and never rely on a cable lock alone. Cables are cut silently in seconds with hand tools; they're accessory locks, not primary security.

Our Top Picks at a Glance

Every price above is an editorial estimate of typical street pricing, not a listing — models and prices move around, so treat the ranges as orientation.

How We Evaluate Bike Locks

Locks are one of the few gear categories with genuinely independent test data, so we lean on it. Our criteria, in order:

• Independent security rating. Sold Secure (UK) and ART (Netherlands) destructively test locks against real attack tools. A rating from either outweighs any marketing claim.
• Attack resistance per pound. A lock only works if it's with you. We weigh security against carry weight, because the world's toughest lock left at home protects nothing.
• Usability. Key smoothness, mounting options, internal space, and whether it fights you at the rack every single day.
• Value against the bike it protects. A $150 lock on a $300 bike is misallocated; a $30 lock on a $3,000 bike is negligence.

Sold Secure ratings, decoded

Sold Secure is the rating you'll see most often, and it's worth understanding because it turns lock shopping from guesswork into a decision:

Two honest caveats. First, ratings measure resistance time, not invincibility — an angle grinder eventually defeats almost any conventional lock, which is why grinder-resistant models exist as a distinct (and pricey) category. Second, a Gold chain and a Gold U-lock resist different attacks differently; the rating is a floor, not a full description.

Best for Most Riders: A Gold-Rated U-Lock (Kryptonite Evolution Class)

For daily commuting, a mid-size hardened U-lock in the Sold Secure Gold tier is the sweet spot, and Kryptonite's long-running Evolution series is the reference point most riders compare everything else against. ABUS and OnGuard make strong equivalents.

Why it wins: a hardened steel shackle in this class shrugs off cable cutters and most bolt croppers, the double-deadbolt designs resist twisting attacks, and the whole package typically lands under 4 lb. That's a weight you'll genuinely carry — in a pannier, a frame mount, or a belt loop — which matters more than any spec. If you're building out a full daily-rider setup, this is the lock tier we assume in our complete commuting gear guide.

Worth knowing: mid-size U-locks have limited internal space. Locking your frame and rear wheel around a fat rack tube can be a squeeze, and full-size versions add weight fast. Many riders pair a mini U-lock with a cable or a second small lock for the front wheel.

Best for High-Theft Cities: A Diamond-Rated U-Lock (Kryptonite New York Class)

If your bike sleeps outside in a major city, move up to the Diamond tier. Kryptonite's New York line is the best-known example: shackles around 16–18mm depending on model, oversized crossbars, and hardening throughout. At this thickness, bolt croppers are effectively out of the game — the shackle is simply too thick to fit the jaws.

Why it wins: it forces a thief to bring power tools, which means noise, sparks, time, and witnesses. Most walk on to an easier target, and in bike theft, being the hardest target on the rack is the whole strategy.

Worth knowing: the weight is real — these locks commonly run 4 lb or more, and the mini versions sacrifice internal space to save steel. This is a lock you plan your carrying system around, not one you toss in a jersey pocket.

Best Grinder Resistance: Hiplok D1000

The battery angle grinder changed urban bike theft, and a small category of locks now exists specifically to answer it. The Hiplok D1000 is the most prominent: a Sold Secure Diamond U-lock built with a hardened composite material designed to destroy cutting discs rather than yield to them. Independent testers have consistently found this class of lock takes dramatically longer to cut than conventional hardened steel — often burning through multiple discs.

Why it wins: if grinder theft is common where you park, this is one of the few products that meaningfully changes the math rather than just the resistance time.

Worth knowing: the price. Expect several times the cost of a conventional Diamond U-lock, with a compact internal opening and substantial weight. It's rational protection for an expensive bike or e-bike parked outside daily — and overkill for most other situations.

Best Chain: Hardened Chain + Quality Padlock

A hardened chain from Kryptonite, ABUS, Hiplok, or a comparable maker solves the U-lock's biggest annoyance: reach. Chains wrap around thick posts, odd racks, and multiple bikes, and they're the natural choice for a fixed home-parking spot — a garage anchor, a courtyard railing, or the secure end of an apartment storage setup.

Why it wins: flexibility, plus excellent leverage-attack resistance — there's nothing rigid to pry against. Heavy home chains with 14mm+ links, paired with a matching padlock, reach the top rating tiers.

Worth knowing: weight per unit of security is the worst of any lock type. A chain that matches a Gold U-lock's protection usually weighs noticeably more, and light "portable" chains with thin links often rate no better than a budget U-lock. Buy chains by link diameter and rating, never by looks.

Best for Carrying Convenience: A Folding Lock (ABUS Bordo Family)

Folding locks — hardened steel plates joined by rivets, folding into a compact block — mount neatly on the frame and open wide enough to reach around awkward racks. ABUS's Bordo family made the format popular, and higher-end versions carry Gold ratings.

Why it wins: the carry experience. It's the lock type most likely to actually be on the bike when you need it, with better reach than a mini U-lock at similar weight.

Worth knowing: the pivoting joints are the format's structural compromise, and security testers have generally rated folding locks below comparable U-locks against determined attacks. Treat a folding lock as a convenience-first Gold-tier option, not maximum security.

Best Budget Lock: A Silver-Rated U-Lock (Kryptonite KryptoLok Class)

If your bike is inexpensive, your area low-risk, or your stops short, a Silver-rated U-lock in the $30–$55 range — Kryptonite's KryptoLok class and its OnGuard and ABUS equivalents — is honest, proportionate security.

Why it wins: it defeats the opportunist with hand tools, which is most theft in low-risk areas, at a price that doesn't sting.

Worth knowing: large bolt croppers can defeat this tier. Don't stretch a budget lock into a high-theft city or overnight street parking. And skip the temptation to "save" further with a cable-only lock — that's the one genuinely bad buy in this category.

U-Lock vs Chain Lock: The Two-Minute Decision

• Choose a U-lock if you carry the lock on every ride, park at standard racks, and want the best security-to-weight ratio. This is the right answer for most commuters.
• Choose a chain if you lock at a fixed spot and can leave it there, need to reach around irregular objects, or lock multiple bikes together. Weight stops mattering when the chain never travels.
• Do both if you can: many riders keep a heavy chain at home or work and carry a U-lock for everything in between. Two different lock types on one bike also forces a thief to bring two different tools.

How to Lock a Bike Properly

Technique is free security, and bad technique wastes a good lock:

1. Lock the frame first, always. A lock through only a wheel means the frame walks away without it.
2. Capture the rear wheel with the frame inside the shackle when space allows — rear wheels are the expensive one. Secure the front wheel with a second lock or cable.
3. Fill the shackle. Empty space inside a U-lock is room for a jack or pry bar. A snug lock is a stronger lock.
4. Keep the lock off the ground and the keyway facing down — both make tool attacks more awkward.
5. Choose the anchor as carefully as the lock. It must be closed-loop, solidly fixed, and not cuttable itself. Busy, visible, well-lit spots beat convenient dark corners.
6. Take the quick-release stuff with you. Lights, computers, saddlebags, and quick-release saddles vanish fast; a good pannier setup makes stripping the bike a ten-second habit.

One more theft-prevention note that has nothing to do with racks: bikes on car racks are a known target at trailheads and highway stops. If you transport bikes regularly, factor locking into your rack choice — we cover this in our hitch vs trunk rack comparison.

What Should You Actually Spend?

The 10% guideline is a starting point; risk should adjust it up or down:

• Bike under $500, low-risk area: $30–$55 Silver U-lock.
• Commuter bike parked outside daily: $60–$110 Gold U-lock — the value sweet spot for most readers.
• Nice bike or e-bike in a major city: $90–$150 Diamond U-lock, ideally plus a secondary lock.
• Expensive bike, grinder-heavy theft area: $250+ grinder-resistant lock, or honestly reconsider whether that bike should park on the street at all.

The consistent theme across every tier: the lock you carry beats the lock you don't, technique multiplies whatever you spend, and cables are accessories — never the answer.