need help unlocking my bike lock

I bought a cheap 4 combination chain bike lock to lock my snowblower. I can't find my combination. is there an easy way besides cutting the chain to pick the lock? thanks

Reply to
Lem
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If there was, would you want us telling your neighbors how to open it?

It's only 1000 combinations. You've got half a year. Shouldn't be a problem...

Reply to
Joe Kesselman

Yes, but there's no way in heck that any locksmith is going to tell you on an open forum.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

You mean 10,000 combinations (assuming that each wheel has 10 digits on it). Should be a problem, even if half a year is what you have.

Can you remember one of the numbers, and which wheel it was on? For example, if the first numbers was 7, then you've just cut the number of combinations you must try from 10,000 to 1,000. I have used this technique to find lost codes, in one case a security code for an old brick-type cell phone. (I'm not sure if "security code" is the right term, but the code was 3 digits in length and therefore there were 1,000 possible codes to try; I found the code on about the 700th try).

Reply to
Ian W. Douglas

use pliers to undo a link in the chain!

Reply to
billb

Its hardly rocket science. How does the thing work?. It's cheap so not very well machined. Probably not machined at all. When you put light opening pressure on the chain and turn the wheels one at a time, what do you feel?. Maybe the tension is supported on only one wheel. What will happen when the wheel is in the open position?. Think about what is happening inside the lock. Think. Your brain is the tool which solves problems like this. Regardless of what some of the professional locksmiths on this group say, there is nothing difficult or mystical about opening these locks. They are only intended to slow a thief down for a few minutes. When I was eleven or twelve I could open these locks faster than I can now. Practice makes perfect.

Reply to
Roger_Nickel

Its hardly rocket science. How does the thing work?. It's cheap so not very well machined. Probably not machined at all. When you put light opening pressure on the chain and turn the wheels one at a time, what do you feel?. Maybe the tension is supported on only one wheel. What will happen when the wheel is in the open position?. Think about what is happening inside the lock. Think. Your brain is the tool which solves problems like this. Regardless of what some of the professional locksmiths on this group say, there is nothing difficult or mystical about opening these locks. They are only intended to slow a thief down for a few minutes. When I was eleven or twelve I could open these locks faster than I can now. Practice makes perfect. Keep a notepad and pencil handy to keep track of the possibilities if you must.

Reply to
Roger Nickel

Its hardly rocket science. How does the thing work?. It's cheap so not very well machined. Probably not machined at all. When you put light opening pressure on the chain and turn the wheels one at a time, what do you feel?. Maybe the tension is supported on only one wheel. What will happen when the wheel is in the open position?. Think about what is happening inside the lock. Think. Your brain is the tool which solves problems like this. Regardless of what some of the professional locksmiths on this group say, there is nothing difficult or mystical about opening these locks. They are only intended to slow a thief down for a few minutes. When I was eleven or twelve I could open these locks faster than I can now. Practice makes perfect. A pencil and notepad will help you to keep track of possibilities.

Reply to
Roger Nickel

A triple. 3 different msgid/s and 3 different times

Message-ID: <42fa63a3$ snipped-for-privacy@news2.actrix.gen.nz>

Message-ID: snipped-for-privacy@news2.actrix.gen.nz>

Message-ID: snipped-for-privacy@news2.actrix.gen.nz>

Reply to
Mike Easter

Granted but there are ways to speed the process. Obviously, if you remember part of the combo, that's one way. If you understand how the lock works, you may be able to find other ways. Simply getting to the point where you can sequence through it by touch rather than having to spend too much time thinking about individual combos is another.

Of course, if it's a "cheap chain lock" you may simply be able to remove it destructively and buy a replacement. Or find other creative solutions, depending on what it's attached to and how.

Reply to
Joe Kesselman

Sorry about that. My post didn't show up on actrix immediately the way they usually do so I reposted, then they all showed up at once so I cancelled two. Should only be one copy of the message there now, at least that's all I see here.

Reply to
Roger_Nickel

Hiccups are sometimes fun to try to figger out; usually not. Usually they remain a mystery. Sometimes something happens on the user end which causes confusion and possibly a partial explanation. Sometimes it seems like the hiccup is the newsserver's fault.

Rarely is the msgid the same for all 3; usually it is like yours, in which case there isn't always a good answer. Unless the user was actually experiencing newsreader 'balkiness' or uncooperativeness about sending.

My provider's newsserver doesn't honor cancels and such, so no matter what happens they won't leave that server.

I could 'mess around' and visit a newsserver that honors cancels. Since I wouldn't have dl/ed the headers there yet, it is possible that I would only see one.

But even tho' I sound like I might be interested in the process, actually I'm not. I was just commenting and making conversation about something. NNTP news is educational. Just like mail is.

Reply to
Mike Easter

However much I may act like I'm not curious about the process, I couldn't resist the temptation to visit a newsserver that honors cancels and supercedes. news.readfreenews.net Theoretically, if your cancel were to successfully propagate all the way there, then I wouldn't have been able to see the post. But I did see all 3.

One of the possibilities is that your own server doesn't honor cancels. Then, no matter what you do about trying to cancel, it isn't going to happen.

Your post reached my provider's newsserver like this: Path: newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net! stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net! elnk-nf2-pas! newsfeed.earthlink.net! newshub.sdsu.edu! border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com! local01.nntp.dca.giganews.com! nntp.clear.net.nz! news.clear.net.nz. POSTED! not-for-mail

I put some spaces in there after the bangs so that the thing would wrap.

The part that is 'immaterial' in some ways is everything from sdsu.edu to the last EL [backward]. Your clear.net kiwi to giganews and thence to sdsu is your end. If clear.net or more importantly news2.actrix.gen.nz doesn't honor cancels, then your cancel is 'worthless'.

Generally one should assume that cancels isn't going to work. Sometimes if you are posting to a specialty newsserver instead of the usenet at large and you know that the specialty newsserver honors cancels, they work perfectly.

The fact that the items disappeared from the headers available to you suggests that your own newsserver honors cancels, but typically the cancel doesn't get very far, and 'almost' everyone sees whatever was supposed to be cancelled.

I have no idea why I'm talking about this.

Reply to
Mike Easter

No-there really is'nt-unless you are extremely bored-remember it's cheap. Go to a good hardware store-not big box-,find a cheap file. Take the file home. Make sure you can prove on paper that the snowblower belongs to you in case some neighbor calls the cops.

File one of the links open. Keep the file.

Figure up how much it costs you to run the snowblower(fuel,oil,proactive maintainance,labor,protective clothing, etc.)to do an average driveway and sidewalk. Charge 5 times this ammount.

After you have made 60-100 dollars,find a locksmith.Tell him/her about the snowblower security situation and tell them you want a heavy(not cheap) chain and a high security(not cheap) weatherproof padlock.They should help you.

p.s.Cutting a chain is cuttting a chain-Not picking a lock.

later, goma.

Reply to
goma865

If it is the type with four wheels in a cylinder...

Pull on it as if trying to separate it. This puts tension on the wheels. On the really cheap ones the wheels will sort of tilt sideways. Turn the one closest to the end that separates until it feels like it clicks into agroove and sems to be side-to-side very loose but difficult to turn. Do the seme to the next one. Repeat twice more. With the not-so-cheap ones it may not always be the wheel closest to the end, but usually the hardest one to turn.

With a bit of practice you can do this behind your back or blindfoldedfaster than looking at the numbers and dialing the combination.

Reply to
Jay Hennigan

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