Help! My bike is locked up, and I lost my key.

[CCrew]

Borrow or rent a battery powered angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. Alternatively buy one then return it I guess. You’ll only use it for about 60 seconds

[RideTheWomble]

Don’t worry about the Metro folks. The station managers could care less what goes on over at the bike rack.

I wish I was joking.

[Mark Blacknell]

Call Lt. Heather Hurlock at the Arlington Police Auxiliary Unit. http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/police/divisions/operations/sos/PoliceDivisionsOperationsSosAuxiliaryPolice.aspx She cuts abandoned bikes all.the.time. It’s not really a service offered to people in your position, but I imagine she’ll probably know exactly how to do it. If you already have the info/tools you need to cut it, just go do it – but take some proof of ownership with you and be prepared to answer questions.

[pfunkallstar]

If it is a cable lock then you might be able to get it with a burly cable cutter. Chain is best dealt with using a hacksaw. U-locks are pretty easy to break open with a car jack – safety first though with the flying end cap!

[elcee]

Any decent locksmith should be able to open a padlock.

[Jsnyd]

Don’t really have to add much. Just cut it off. In the future maybe invest in a combo lock or something with a few keys to it. Hope everything worked out. Sorry for your troubles.

—
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.845429,-76.949765

[justasaintz]

Actually calling the cops could work. Saturday i saw a cop trying to help a taxi driver opening the door with what looked like a tool you often see in movies to open car doors.

[FrankF]

Yeah! I found my bike key. On Monday, a week after I lost it and long after I had given up hope, I discovered my bike key taped to the restroom door in my office building. I don’t know if it was found on the floor in the restroom, where I had already looked, or in the hallway, though there was no reason for me to have lost it out there. Wow, I’m lucky. I also want to thank all of you who posted suggestions. I hope that’s advice that I’ll never need again.

[creadinger]

That’s exactly where I lost my key a couple of years ago. A colleague found it and taped it where I would see it. Fortunately I got it back the next day, not a week later. I’m sure your bike is very happy to be free from its shackles.

Otherwise, this is a great thread for people to check when it happens to them.

[KLizotte]

This thread should be a quick reminder to folks to get duplicate keys made if they are using those types of locks.

[Dirt]

One of the things that I like about the On Guard locks is that each one of their nicer locks comes with six (that’s right, six) keys.

The problem is that I have 4 of their locks. Keeping all 24 keys organized is interesting. I eventually went to Brown’s Hardware and got color-coded key cover thingies that made the process a little easier.

Good luck!

[vvill]

I have an OnGuard lock and like it for the same reason. The lighted key is nice too but it’s bulkier so I leave that one at home.

[CCrew]

@KLizotte 8624 wrote:

This thread should be a quick reminder to folks to get duplicate keys made if they are using those types of locks.

funsucker

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