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Comment by levpopov | Hacker News Reader

While the overall point of simple racks being better definitely stands, the premise that a bike needs two locks is just silly and impractical. Get wheel locks for your bikes - pinhead, hexlox (my favorite), etc. If your wheels are secured to the frame you just need to lock the frame with one lock/chain.

Takes way less time to park and you dont need to lug multiple 5lb locks (unfortunately thats how heavy secure locks actually are).

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Pitlock are nice. The day I lost my Pinhead key and opened one with a flathead and a hammer in less than a minute was a little sobering. They’re still better than a quick release.

For sure, nothing is 100% secure (and even with multiple U-locks an angle grinder will win out after a while). I've had a good experience with hexlox so far - they are super hard to remove without a key. Haven't had any theft issues in multiple years of parking around San Francisco.

With wheel locks + 2 D locks you can get around the problem of the bike being used as a lever to break a single D lock. It also means thieves are less likely to screw with your bike trying to take the wheels off.

Well, I'd say that two locks are nice to have, if not entirely necessary. You can quickly use just the ring lock if you're hopping in and out of a store, and get out the larger one to lock your frame when you're storing your bike for a longer period.

Pinhead & Hexlox barely say how they work or offer any instructions and they're also quite expensive compared to cheap bikes.

They're simply skewers that can't be removed by a standard wrench, but instead require a weird wrench with a semi-unique combination.

Could you still hack one? Sure, given time and forethought, but every other bike near you will have quick-release or regular hex nuts.

In central london you need two locks, end of story

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