Disclocks are great additions to a layered security setup for your bike. Ideally, a large chain and lock will prevent it from getting picked up or ridden or pushed away. But, if you’re parking up for a brief time in a reasonably visible location, then a disclock is a quick and easy way to immobilise your bike and hopefully, make opportunistic thieves move on to the next bike.
They are simply locks that go through your brake disc – normally the front – and prevent the wheel from turning. This means that if an opportunistic thief manages to break the steering lock, they can’t hop on your bike and either push or ride it away, under its own steam or more likely, being pushed by an accomplice on another bike.
It’s important to note that a disclock won’t prevent your bike from being picked up physically and thrown into the back of a van – that’s why you need to chain it to something immovable – but it will prevent ride-aways.
1. Xena Alarmed Disclock
Of course, a large padlock might be able to fit through the brake disc but the advantage of a purpose-built lock like this one from Xena is that it is incredibly strong and compact and can often fit under the seat or certainly, in a pannier, topbox or tankbag (this one lives in a pannier on my Himalayan permanently and I use it constantly, whenever I park and can’t see the bike).
The XX15 (there is also an XX14 and an XX10 – the former using the same pin as the 15 but with a shorter reach and the 10 using a smaller pin) and all three are available with a built-in 120dB alarm. This can either be activated mechanically or, like the XX15 being reviewed here, the alarm can be activated and deactivated – as well as several functions tweaked – using an app on your smartphone.
First things first – it’s a weighty, hefty bit of metal. It uses a double-locking mechanism, so you have to use the key to unlock it and lock it onto the bike’s brake disc, offering greater security than a push-to-lock version (there’s a 6mm version of this too). It uses a 14mm diameter hardened, carbide-reinforced pin to pass through the disc and this locks into a stainless-steel body.
Backing up the physical properties is a 120dB alarm, which is triggered by vibrations or movement and will draw attention to the bike if someone tries to mess with the lock – or the bike – when it’s armed. Contrary to traditional alarmed disclocks, instead of the alarm being deactivated when you remove it from the bike, with the obvious chance of setting it off yourself as you remove it, the Xena version can be controlled via Bluetooth by the app on your smartphone.
So you simply fit the lock to the bike, which takes seconds, then walk away, setting the alarm on your phone as you go. When you return, you deactivate it from your phone and by the time you reach the bike, you just unlock it, stow it away and you’re ready to go – it is as easy as saying it out loud and takes roughly the same sort of time.
In addition to setting and deactivating the alarm, the app also gives access to changing the sensitivity, alarm and duration of the alarm if it is set off.
Verdict
This is a very simple yet effective disclock. In its very basic form, it’s a solid lock that will prevent the bike from being ridden away and offers a hefty visual deterrent.
On a higher level, it has a piercing (I know, I tested it) alarm to draw attention if anyone tampers with the bike and further, you can set and unset the alarm and change its characteristics from your smartphone.
Any one of those makes it worth considering; all three makes it a handy weapon in the war against theft. And at less than £70 currently from Sportsbikeshop, it’s a proper bargain too.
Pros:
Solid mechanical lock
120dB alarm with Bluetooth control
Optional chain attachment
Cons:
None we can think of
