Scooter security: Oxford Loop Lock 10 review

Date reviewed: February 2018 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £9.99 | Weight: 558g | www.oxfordproducts.com

The Loop Lock 10 is a 4.3mm steel cable with a plastic coating to protect your paintwork. It comes with two keys, and stretches out to 1.8m in length.

Size and weight

Weighing just 558g, and rolling up very small, it shouldn’t be a problem to carry this on any moped, scooter or motorcycle.

Ease of use and compatibility with scooters

As it naturally coils up quite tightly, it can be a little awkward to pass this cable through a wheel, though the plastic coating makes it pretty easy to wipe clean.

It’s long enough to reach around a wheel or chassis part, and to secure to a solid object.

To understand how best to use your lock, click here

Resistance to attack

Unsurprisingly, this is very easy to defeat; while it was too small and malleable to be bothered by our 42” bolt croppers, hand-held cutters defeated it almost as easily as a hacksaw. The padlock can be smashed open quite quickly with a lump hammer, while an angle grinder took a little over a second to blast through it.

Verdict

Any security is better than no security, so while this is clearly a product intended for low-value bicycles, it would require tools for a crook to steal a scooter that had it fitted, which many of the crooks using stolen two-wheelers for robberies aren’t carrying.

Really, this should only be used for securing things like a relatively cheap crash helmet when you’re away from a bike or scooter, but if you absolutely have no other option, it’s better than nothing.

Big thanks to Piaggio and repair/claims specialist 4th Dimension for supplying parts that allowed us to carry out real-world testing. Both are companies who, among others in the moped, scooter and motorcycle industry, are passionate about reducing crime.

To see more security kit tested by BikeSocial, click here