Kryptonite bike locks flawed
By Theo Emery
Associated Press
BOSTON — You don't have to be the Man of Steel to open a Kryptonite bike lock.
Associated Press
Faster than a speeding bullet, word is spreading across the Internet, through cyclist hangouts and into bike shops that all it takes to open a circular-key lock, like the one on the famous U-shaped Kryptonite-brand lock, is a ballpoint pen.
Bike messenger Jen O'Brien, of Boston, center, chats with colleagues, while her Kryptonite lock rests on the frame of her bicycle. A flaw in the design of some Kryptonite locks, as well as similar models from other companies, has revealed that the locks can be picked using a ballpoint pen.
The U-shaped Kryptonite — consisting of a steel curve with a locking horizontal bar — is a must-have among serious bicyclists. It can cost more than $50, and for an extra $10 to $20, it comes with a guarantee that says the company will pay customers more than $1,000 if product failure results in the theft of a bicycle.
In recent days, bicycle chat rooms on the Internet have been flooded with irate comments from cyclists, some of whom have posted short movies of themselves picking their own locks with the shaft of a Bic pen.
A spokeswoman for the Canton-based company, the country's largest bicycle-lock manufacturer, said it plans to accelerate the introduction of new versions of the lock because of the complaints.
Kryptonite spokeswoman Donna Tocci said in a statement that the design still provides "an effective deterrent to theft," but that the company is developing new products using a pen-proof, disc-style cylinder.
