Most decent options for locking your bike can seem pretty expensive, and make the buying process a little overwhelming at times. We started by doing a deep dive into every type of lock and trying to offer recommendations for every situation. Pretty soon though we realized that it made sense to break the best bike chain locks out into their own list. The main reason for that is that there is a vocal group of experienced users who swear that chains are the best way to protect a bike from theft.
The truth is that it’s more complicated. Sometimes chains are great but they can be heavy and a hassle to deal with at times. Tex-Lock thinks it has a solution in the form of a high-tech rope (yes, a rope). Now that we’ve had the opportunity to spend time understanding how it works and what it’s like to use, we are ready to share the results with you. If you can’t fathom how a rope could possibly secure a bike, keep reading and maybe the Tex-lock will be the next bike lock you purchase to keep your pride and joy safe.
Design and aesthetics
Bike chains excel when you need the flexibility to lock your bike to whatever you find, be that a tree, a signpost, or even a lamppost. There’s no chance a U-lock is going to do the job so you break out a chain lock and wrap it around in the way that works for you. In places like New York, San Francisco, and London where bike theft is a serious problem there was a subset of urban bike warrior that dealt with this kind of scenario all the time and they were vocal about it.
The problem is that the flexibility you gain comes at the expense of weight and noise. You end up with a big chain that makes a bunch of noise and is generally a hassle to deal with. When we did a review of the Hiplok Gold we loved that it solved the problem by making the chain wearable. It works but you still have a heavy chain around your waist. Tex-lock solved the same problem but with a design that’s aimed at a slightly different user.
There are a few variations of the Tex-Lock and two versions. The Tex-Lock is, more or less, a high-tech rope and version 1.0 was only that. The full name of the product we are looking at here is the Tex-Lock eyelet with X-lock. It’s the second version of the basic design and it’s added some pieces and upped the…
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