A disc lock you can happily live with (Abus Granit Detecto X-Plus 8000)

Member Name: bikerchris

Product:	Abus Granit Detecto X-Plus 8000
Date:	17/03/08 (939 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Alarmed (with perfect sensitivity), well constructed, key cover, high security rating

Disadvantages: Cost, tiny bit of rust with proper use (i.e. rain)

I've never been in favour of disc locks, as they may cause embarrassment, damage or require you to strap a luminous cable to your throttle.

This Disc Lock gives me confidence though, because of the integrated alarm that's sensitive to movement, immediately after taking the bike off the side stand it goes off - not offensively loud, just noticably. Protecting your discs and caliper fixing points - plus hundreds of pounds worth of fairing should it fall over!

I used this with a hire bike (from Hexagon via White Dalton) I had after an accident (car drivers fault), and found it to be an excellent little device. They're not cheap of course and at £100 it's a big price to pay for convenience, and I would have thought only regular riders should buy this sort of device.

There's little to talk about really, sadly no one ever tried to tamper with it or nick the bike, but as this has a bloody high security rating I would trust it for sure.

Use is as easy as most - stick the key in, turn, slap on the disc, turn the key again. The alarm activates shortly afterwards (seconds later), when I started using it at first it beeped a bit loudly after being set. I wasn't happy with this, but luckily found a way to stop it - just get it on quick! I always rotated that black plastic cover to avoid water ingress and potential for rust. Speaking of which, I was surprised by the rust that appeared around the security pin (the bit that goes through the disc) for such an expensive piece of kit.

As you'd expect, it does come with a little textile bag for storage on your belt, despite its noticable weight - I tended to throw it in my tank bag.

So, despite the little bit of rust that occured, this is a brilliant lock and a good investment. I've no idea how you get to the battery, but lets worry about that later. As far as I'm concerned, having this disc lock for 4 months let me know how handy it is - and it's this reason that I'm going to buy one. Well...I mean put it on my birthday wish list :o)

GENERAL ADVICE:

Whatever disc lock you have, try not to park in such a way that lets you immediately speed off. It's preferable if you have to reverse a little first - a disc lock that's been left on is less damaging at low reversing speed. Additionally for this reason, place the disclock IN FRONT of the rear caliper - this way you can't build up more than 1mph of speed.

Keep the rubber side down people. Everyone use their indicators and keep your distance from the vehicle in front and the world will be a happier place.

Cheers!
Chris

Summary: A great disc lock, sadly with a great price tag! (it's on my birthday wishlist though!)