Well, I’ve finally managed to get the rear frame lock for the Raleigh DL-1. I ended up getting the ABus lock, rather than the AXA one that I had on my Raleigh Sports, and that WorkCycles uses on their bikes, because it was made for wider tires. My bike doesn’t have particularly wide tires for a city bike, but it does have really large fenders, and I didn’t think the AXA, after measuring it, was guaranteed to fit over the fenders, so I went for the ABus.
I can say that the ABus was MUCH easier to get on the bike than the AXA one was. It has large, heavy plastic straps that loop around the lock and the frame, and have grooves in them, so it basically locks it in place like a really heavy zip tie would. If anyone has one of these, and has an idea what to do with the ends of the plastic bands, that would be welcome :) They’re not really in the way, but it does look a bit goofy.
It may seem like that’s not the most secure method of attaching a lock to a bike, but if you think about it, if the lock is locked, it still prevents the person rolling the bike or removing the rear wheel, even if the lock is detached from the frame, so it really still does its job. The AXA lock uses a similar, but more complicated system with metal ties to attach the lock to the frame, or in the case of WorkCycles, they drill small holes in the seat stays because they know they are sturdy enough to handle it, and then screw it onto the frame.
There are a few differences between this lock and the AXA lock. With this lock, you can remove the key when it’s unlocked, which is not the case with the AXA lock. This one also, rather than having a separate port where the chain lock plugs into, has it integrated into the knob that pushes the lock through the wheel, so you stick the end of the chain lock into the knob, turn the key, and then push the knob through. There is a catch in the track that the knob runs in that catches the end of the chain lock and holds it in place when the lock is locked. The chain is shorter than the one for the AXA lock, which is unfortunate, but I think it will work out alright in almost all cases.
Anyway, I’m ecstatic to have the rear frame lock again, as I missed using it just to run into shops quickly and not worry about having to un-do the U lock and lock my bike up fully, if it was going to be in plain sight and I wasn’t going to be away from it more than a few minutes. I’m also still very used to this kind of lock setup, and the U lock always felt cumbersome and awkward to me for whatever reason.
Next will be getting the generator-powered rear light replaced (this bike had one originally, but it was missing when we got the bike, so I have a battery-powered one for the time-being).
Anyone else made any useful or interesting updates to their bikes lately?
