Hiplok D1000 is an angle grinder eater

British design steps up the fight against bike thieves

‘The Ferosafe layer can resist diamond discs’

There’s an ongoing war between the powers of good and evil as riders find new ways to combat the ever-evolving tactics of criminals. Now British lock firm Hiplok is stepping up with a new weapon in the form of the D1000 – a U-lock that’s intended to make even aggressive angle grinder attacks a waste of time and energy. The prevalence of batteryoperated power tools means that thieves’ arsenals have been vastly improved since the days when a set of bolt-croppers was the weapon of choice. And a portable grinder can make short work of locks that would previously have been considered almost unbeatable. Hiplok’s D1000, launched on Kickstarter this month, isn’t cheap with an early bird price of £200 and a planned RRP of £250, but it promises to up the ante. Alongside the hardened steel core is a material called Ferosafe – described by Hiplok as ‘a composite graphene material that resists high power angle grinders’. Ferosafe was developed by materials specialists Tenmat as an offshoot from another piece of patented technology, Ferobide, a tungsten carbide composite used in farming, mining and other industries where wear-resistant metals are a huge advantage. Ferosafe was originally developed for safes, ATMs, security doors and lock boxes, and as such it’s resistant to cutting or drilling, wearing through cutting discs or carbide drill bits before they can make their way through the Ferosafe itself. It’s even resistant to diamond cutting discs. According to Hiplok, the material means the D1000 can be lighter than its rivals despite the improved security. The firm cites independent tests that have worn down multiple cutting discs in their attempts to grind through, which makes defeating the D1000 a slow, noisy process. Sold Secure has already awarded the design its top ‘Diamond’ rating for motorcycle locks.

The Ferosafe is just one layer of the lock’s defences, backed up by more familiar ideas including double locking (so both sides need to be cut to remove the U-shaped shank), and protection against other forms of attack including freezing and brute force. Although the U-lock format of the D1000 is designed to be used on bicycles, e-bikes and motorcycles, the firm says it’s planning to expand the grinder-resistant range to other designs.

The Kickstarter campaign has already vastly exceeded its modest £20,000 goal (around £175,000 has been pledged at the time of writing, with more than two weeks remaining).

No gaps in security The grinder-resistant Ferosafe composite runs both around the ‘U’ of the lock shank and along the lock body, leaving no gaps to sneak a grinder through when the D1000 Double-locking A double-locking design means that a single cut isn’t enough to release the shank – you’d need to cut both legs to remove it entirely. Hip to be square Square tubes mean that the shank can’t be rotated in the lock body even if you manage to cut through it.

U-lock design The D1000’s U-lock shape means it might be hard to lock a motorcycle to anything, but it should fit around a wheel’s spokes. The internal dimensions are H: 155mm, W: 92mm, while the lock weighs 1.8kg. Paint-friendly A rubber coating provides protection to both the lock and to parts of the bike it comes into contact with.