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2 years ago
This product is garbage. Don't waste your time or money. I bought two of them for my trip to Europe and both did not work due to the locking mechanism, that when you put in the correct combination, would not open. I had to use tin snips to cut one of them when I had my bike locked to a tree. Took less than 10 seconds to cut, thankfully in my situation. The company is not responsive to criticism and basically told me I was lying and did not want me to send them the lock that did not open as proof. They were not willing to make things right. read more
Ottolock is marketed as a lightweight method for securing an expensive bicycle for short amounts of time. Their video shows cyclists going on training rides and tucking ottolock in the pocket of their jerseys. They say that ottolock is good for bike safety "in public." Later, they discuss how ottolock withstood rigorous testing stimulating theft attempts. They said, "It's very secure," and "extremely cut resistant." They say it's good for "short-stay security on the go" when stopping for coffee (and sitting in the cafe to drink it). When I bought it, they also showed theft attempts with bolt and wire cutters and a large saw. Only the hacksaw could cut through the ottolock, but after several minutes of work. I showed the videos to my spouse (who has been using her $3k+ bike for daily, all-year commuting and for cyclo-cross racing) and she insisted that we get it! We got it and figured out how to use it. I used it a few times on my $2k+ bike (most memorably when getting a beer with a friend in Logan Square). Soon after getting the ottolocks, my spouse locked her bike at CVS and ran in to buy something. Less than 10 minutes later she came out and her bike (and lock) were gone! We filed a police report and emailed ottolock: "We've been using them on our bikes (both valued at $2,000 and $3,000) and the $3,000 bike was stolen just a few minutes ago. It was locked (with Ottolock) outside of a pharmacy in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago and it was stolen within a few minutes. Both the bike and the lock were gone. Normally we use U-locks and we were under the impression that Ottolock would provide a similar amount of security at a lower weight and size." Jake VanderZanden responded: "We are very sorry to hear this. Our design intent is short-stay security, and unfortunately no single lock is safe in a high-crime, urban area with a motivated thief. We wish you luck with Chicago Police and hope it can be recovered." I wrote: "I'm concerned because this particular situation was very short term (running in and out of a pharmacy) in a good neighborhood of the city. Ottolock advertises that it is better than a U-lock (which is what we have been using successfully for years). It further says that it is extremely cut-resistant. I'm not sure how the thief got the best of the Ottolock (cutting it or somehow yanking it through the clamping portion), but they did it very quickly and easily. I am concerned that (considering what just happened) that Ottolock used false advertising considering that on some parts of the website it suggests that Ottolock is a better choice than a U-lock (even only one dot - whatever that means - less than the three dot rating given by Ottolock to U-locks). "It's pretty obvious that the thief didn't use a hacksaw or angle grinder in this particular situation. The bike was locked for only a few minutes in the same place where it's been securely locked many times before with a U-Lock. That is what anyone might understand as a "short-stay." Certainly, everything on the Ottolock website would point to the bike being safe with it under these circumstances and might even suggest being better than a U-Lock. "Anyway - I highly recommend that you reevaluate the language used to describe the security of the Ottolock. It can be conquered quickly (within a few minutes) and stealthily by a thief. In this case, Ottolock falsely gave me the assurance that it would be a good option for security for running in and out of a pharmacy. It was either very misguided advertising or intentionally deceitful." Jake wouldn't refund the cost of the ottolock but he did offer to send me another. Thanks Jake. read more
9 years ago
More info about Ottolock
27200 SW Parkway Ave
Wilsonville, OR 97070
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(800) 426-5474
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