John B. wrote:

Given that many of the commercial "bicycle
locks" can be rather easily cut with hand
tools

This cannot in reasonable time unless there
is a hand tool and/or method I'm unfamiliar
with. There is something with the plastic
that prevents you from getting the power
down to the wire. If you keep at it, you'll
succeed eventually, of course, but no thief
will do that out in the open to get a bike
of this (monetary) value.

Try a 4 inch angle grinder with a 1mm cut-off
wheel. You can cut a cable about as fast as
you can push the grinder.

Aha, you guys include power tools in "hand
tools". Well, I suppose the are. In that case
yes, an angle grinder would do it but that
scenario is completely unrealistic in the wild.

But I think that you last point is the
important one. "A bike of this value". I live
about 500 mtrs from a subway station and
there are always a number of bicycles tied up
to posts in the area. Very noticeable they
are all old, dirty, grungy, things that no
body would want. Some aren't even locked.
I've yet to see a $3,000 carbon fiber racing
bike parked there :-)

Yeah, well - for a person those bikes can be
invaluable and for the reasonably handy guy
they can be put it very good condition as well.

But if you were to sell them you don't get
much, especially not compared to their "quality
of life" potential, it is a joke actually.
A haircut with dying for an old lady is more
expensive.

So the professional thief don't bring tools to
steal this kind of things, and the casual thief
doesn't carry any tools on his way back from
the bar friday night

--
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573