Abus 440 Alarm U-Lock bike lock review

There are several styles of bike lock available to you, including chain locks, folding locks and perhaps the most commonly used, the U or D-lock.

Regardless of the design, all of the best bike locks share a common goal - to keep your bike safe from thieves. And while it’s hard to find any lock that’s a match for an angle grinder, there are varying degrees of protection available to you, typically indicated by the lock’s security rating.

To offer an additional deterrent some bike locks are armed with an alarm. Abus, who’ve been making bike locks since 1958, have opted for this method with its 440 Alarm model.

Construction

Both the shackle and body of the Abus 440 Alarm U-Lock are made from hardened steel, where the steel is heated and then plunged in to cold liquid, before heating again, which ultimately causes the grain structure of steel to become harder.

The benefit of a U-Lock, or as we often refer to them in the UK as D-Locks, are that the simplicity of their solid structure and no moving parts other than the locking mechanism makes them very difficult to penetrate and gives them pretty good theft resistance properties alone.

It is still well worth getting specific bike insurance, though, as no lock is ultimately unbreakable. This way, should the worst happen, you will at least be covered

The brand say that the duel locking mechanism on the Abus 440 Alarm is a very high quality barrel, which they claim is incredibly difficult to pick. As the user of the 440 I can assure you that you would have to be pretty brazen to even attempt it.

In use

I've used a couple of opportunist deterrent bike alarm locks before, and found they generally have the effect of making my bike look slightly more hardwork to grab and run off with. But I would never feel happy about leaving it for any length of time, e.g at a train station or outside work.

While I can't profess to have tested the ability to hacksaw, lop or pneumatic drill through the shackle, or indeed pick the lock with a hair grip or a nail file, I can say that even lifting the set Sold Secure level 8 (silver standard) bike lock off a desk at 5am in the morning will make it emit an ear-splitting bleep that's enough to wake an entire household.

It's what Abus call it's '3D position detection' system which detects vibrations and the smallest of movements to trigger the alarm to trill at 100db. Technically this is around the noise level of a hand drill or french horn, or as I like to call it at 5am "Aaaaahhhhhhhhh, what the, ahhhh" followed by several profanities level.

There is a locking setting that allows you to use the Abus 440 Alarm U-Lock, without setting the alarm, making it much easier for transportation, and generally when the lock isn't in use.

Talking of transportation, it's this aspect of the lock where you have to make compromises. Something so robust and strong is of course going to be heavy and somewhat combersome. Weighing 1400g there's no denying the Abus 440 Alarm is going to add to your bike's weight. Even with the easy to use bike mounting system, it's not exactly a lock you're going to want take on a long club run or a ride of any real duration.

There's also the issue with product placement. Having been all over my size small road bike, the only fit was under the top tube and it meant sacrificing my standard water bottle location. I could just able squeeze a bottle in too, and it's highly likely that a bigger frame would accommodate a better mounting location. A smaller shackled lock would certainly be a better fit on the bike, and would obvious reduce the lock's overall weight, but measuring 23cm means that there's enough length to get the lock around a sturdy pole and your top tube. Personally, if keeping my bike mine was my priority, I'd happily accept the weight and bottle compromises.

This is much more than an 'opportunist anti-theft lock' option. If that is what you are looking for, you really can't go wrong with the Abus 440 Alarm. The only real downside is the battery choice. A rechargeable option would be appealing, but I suspect this opens up a weakness in the design, but Albus has selected the lesser known CR2 batteries, so it's worth getting a set in early doors as a back up.

The Sold Secure level 8 (Silver standard) Abus 440 Alarm U-Lock is a fantastic bike theft deterrent, with a solid shackle and high level duel locking mechanism. Its weight and size does mean that it's not one for taking on long rides, but if your main concern is leaving your bike unattended, then it's one of the best on the market.