In light of all the bad press that modern u-locks are getting, I don't understand why the U-lock makers do not resurrect this design.
The lock is constructed of flat, hardened steel stock about 1.5 inches wide and 1/8 inch thick, not the round steel stock used in later variations and still used today. That flat steel construction allows the lock to be secured in a way that probably makes it impervious to the prying tools used to devastating effect by bike thieves on most contemporary U-lock designs.
The flat steel crossbar of the 1970's Kryptonite lock inserts through a slot in the U-shaped shackle and enters a locking "bonnet" where metal fingers engage two holes in the end of the crossbar.
This puppy will not be pried apart, not without some serious hydraulic action.
It features a high-quality, vending machine-grade integrated cylinder lock (not the cost-reduced cylinder locks of Kryptonite's infamous Bic-pen-picking days) and weighs a little over two pounds.
To this day I use my 1970's-era Kryptonite U-lock regularly throughout my travels in the City of Atlanta and have experienced no thefts and no attempted thefts.
My guess is, the best way to defeat my lock is with an angle grinder.
Good luck.
By 1978 Kryptonite and its imitators adopted the use of round steel stock in their U-lock designs, to make the locks easier to coat with a protective plastic jacket and to make the lock easier to attach to a bicycle frame with the use of a mounting bracket, which incidentally, few lock owners bother to use.
Kryptonite, or any of your competitors, we are waiting for you to provide a u-lock design that is known to work, and work very well.
To this day I use my 1970's-era Kryptonite U-lock regularly throughout my travels in the City of Atlanta and have experienced no thefts and no attempted thefts.
My guess is, the best way to defeat my lock is with an angle grinder.
Good luck.
By 1978 Kryptonite and its imitators adopted the use of round steel stock in their U-lock designs, to make the locks easier to coat with a protective plastic jacket and to make the lock easier to attach to a bicycle frame with the use of a mounting bracket, which incidentally, few lock owners bother to use.
But bicycle thieves have found numerous ways to pry apart these successors to the original Kryptonite U-lock design.
Kryptonite, or any of your competitors, we are waiting for you to provide a u-lock design that is known to work, and work very well.
As always, thank you for reading!
Note: I found some useful reference material for this article courtesy of Sheldon Brown.
