Tech Specs: Abus Final 420 & Cable
Worth: £54.99
Weight: 815g (shackle), 330g (cable)
Shackle Thickness: 13mm
Locking space: 140 x 105mm
Cable Size: 120 cm
Safety Certification: Offered Safe Gold
There’s nothing worse than returning to your bike after an extended day at work, solely to find it’s not the place you left it. For commuter cyclists in city areas, holding their mode of transport protected from prying arms is totally essential, and investing in one of many finest bike locks is a precedence for a lot of.
Designed with commuters in thoughts, the Abus Final 420 + Loop Cable guarantees compact and dependable safety at an inexpensive value, however is it one of many finest finances bike locks you should purchase?
Based on the model, this D-lock and cable combo is good for securing your journey on busy streets, and with bike theft a relentless concern, it claims to be powerful, versatile and simple to make use of. So we spent a while placing it to the take a look at, assessing its suitability for the busy commuter bike owner who’s in all probability already lugging round a backpack or pannier bag and wishes one thing compact, light-weight and reliable that doesn’t break the financial institution.
Learn on for an in depth have a look at its design high quality, portability, safety providing and whether or not we’d suggest it for safeguarding the finest commuter bikes from theft.
Design and aesthetics
The Abus Final 420 is a conventional D-lock that comes with a 120cm Loop Cable for a 2-in-1 locking mixture. It balances a compact and minimalist design with a daring crimson shackle that, in accordance with the model, is meant to scare off opportunistic thieves. It is available in two sizes — 140mm and 230mm — with the 140mm model examined right here being significantly moveable and well-suited to city and commuter cyclists.
The shackle is made out of 13mm thick hardened metal and sheathed in a rubberised exterior coating to guard your bike’s paintwork. This further layer brings the entire diameter as much as 17mm and contributes to a thicker and extra sturdy look, which you’d count on to see on dearer and higher-security locks.
The double locking mechanism secures the shackle at each ends because it slots right into a chunky locking cylinder with a keyhole at its centre (notably missing a weatherproof cowl). The result’s a compact D-lock that seems to be packing much more metal than it really is. This, mixed with the brilliant, aggressive crimson colouring, acts as a visible deterrent and clearly demonstrates Abus’ deal with creating the phantasm of a way more sturdy lock than the worth tag affords. This isn’t a touch upon the precise safety the lock offers, although, which we’ll come to shortly.
Regardless of its comparatively chunky look, the Final 420 weighs 815g and feels gentle within the hand. It’s very straightforward to hold, whether or not you select to make use of the included bracket to mount it to your body, or tuck it right into a pannier or backpack. The Loop Cable weighs an extra 330g and doesn’t include any form of carrying resolution, but it surely’s malleable sufficient to wind up and retailer in a bag.
Safety
Whereas Abus has put lots of thought into visible deterrents, it doesn’t skimp on the precise safety the Final 420 can present. It’s bought certifications popping out of its ears, together with a Offered Safe Gold ranking within the UK, plus a number of European awards, just like the Swedish SBSC and Danish Varefakta.
The 13mm metal shackle, whereas not the thickest available on the market, is sufficient to withstand widespread instruments like bolt cutters, and is bolstered by a double-locking mechanism that makes it extra proof against prying or twisting. It’s this type of safety that makes me extra inclined in direction of the shorter 140mm shackle, versus the longer 230mm model. Whereas an extended shackle can supply extra versatility when it comes to anchor factors, the shorter choice leaves much less room for leverage.
In the meantime, the cylinder lock is top quality, including to its total safety, and has been designed to withstand choosing. It even carries Abus’s ice spray seal, that means it’s been examined to face up to excessive chilly assaults. All of this, mixed with the 120cm Loop Cable, is designed to maintain bikes protected in busy city areas. The cable makes for a extra versatile method to locking up, because it means that you can safe your entrance wheel to the body and rear wheel, in addition to to an anchor level. I’ve all the time been informed that it’s higher to mix two totally different lock varieties to discourage opportunists, because it requires them to have a couple of instrument and method, and subsequently takes a bit of longer. Nonetheless, it’s price noting that cables typically don’t present the identical resistance as a D-lock, so whereas it’s an efficient visible deterrent for many chancers, the entire mixture is unlikely to face as much as somebody with an angle grinder or related financial institution of energy instruments handy.
With that in thoughts, the Abus Final 420 + Loop Cable will swimsuit most commuters locking up through the day in areas with a medium degree of theft danger. I wouldn’t suggest it for in a single day storage in a high-risk space.
Efficiency
Anybody who’s used an Abus D-lock earlier than will likely be conversant in the simplicity of their use. Mounting the Final 420 to a motorbike body is extraordinarily fast and simple to do, due to a well-designed bracket that comes full with spacers to accommodate quite a lot of tube diameters. It solely takes a couple of minutes and a Phillips screwdriver to safe it to the seat tube and journey off.
One thing to contemplate is that the bracket really situates the lock on the surface of the body, which implies there’s an opportunity it’s going to rub in opposition to your leg as you pedal. Should you journey a larger-sized bike, you’re going to have extra selection about the place to position it, and probably not want to fret a lot about this. Nonetheless if, like me, you journey an XS body, you’ll be extra restricted in placement choices. With out giving up my second bottle cage on the seat tube, I used to be solely capable of mount it simply beneath the highest tube, which meant the lock would come into contact with my left leg as I pedalled. It wasn’t probably the most intrusive factor on the planet, and after I rapidly bought used to it being there it didn’t hassle me as a lot as I believed it will, but it surely’s price contemplating when you’re in search of a extra streamlined choice. On the plus aspect, when you do resolve in opposition to body mounting, the lock is small and light-weight sufficient to slide right into a bag with out including an excessive amount of weight or bulk.
For the needs of this assessment, I stored the lock mounted to my bike body and carried the Loop Cable in a backpack. Regardless of a slight looseness when making an attempt to shake the bracket by hand, the Final 420 is mercifully silent whilst you’re using. Maybe my leg held it in place and prevented it from rattling whereas the bike was in movement, however both means, I used to be grateful for the quiet.
By way of on a regular basis usability, it’s extremely intuitive: simply unlock the Final 420 with the important thing, detach the shackle and cylinder from the bracket, thread the Loop Cable by way of your entrance wheel and body, round your anchor level, and pop one loop by way of the opposite to cinch all of it tight. Then thread the cable loop onto one of many prongs of the D-lock shackle and safe your rear wheel to an anchor level by way of the body’s rear triangle. This manner, all of the vital components are secured with a combination of two totally different lock varieties.
The cable is versatile and simple to work with, and although it offers an additional layer of safety, I’d as soon as once more warning in opposition to counting on it alone in higher-risk areas; it’s higher suited as a secondary deterrent for lower-risk conditions.
The shackle’s compact dimension is an actual asset right here, because it retains every little thing near the anchor, decreasing the house obtainable for a thief to use leverage to pry it open. With a locking space of 140 x 105mm, it matches snugly round commonplace bike racks just like the Sheffield stands seen within the photographs right here, making it actually appropriate for built-up areas with a lot of devoted bike parking. Nonetheless, it’s much less more likely to work as nicely with thicker or unusually formed anchors, like lampposts or sq. poles. Make sure you test in opposition to the supplied measurements earlier than shopping for, to test that it’ll be suitable.
Participating the lock feels easy and stable, and the high-quality cylinder permits the important thing to show with precision and minimal effort. I discovered the lock to function with out sticking, even in chilly and damp circumstances, making it a dependable contender for normal use. Nonetheless, it’s laborious to disregard the dearth of a canopy for the keyhole, which may depart it susceptible to climate harm in the long run.
Verdict
Total, the Abus Final 420 + Loop Cable delivers nicely as a commuter-friendly lock. It’s compact, rattle-free when mounted, and simple to make use of on the go. Whereas it’s not designed for in a single day storage in high-theft areas, its portability, straightforward setup, and safe lock mechanism make it an ideal selection for each day rides and daytime use in medium-risk environments. Commuter cyclists in want of a dependable and licensed lock to maintain their insurance coverage suppliers blissful will discover it a superb choice.
Nonetheless, it’s not excellent. It comes with some drawbacks like its inflexible design that limits it to slender anchor factors, and the dearth of a keyhole cowl that exposes the interior workings to nasty climate circumstances.
If it’s important to get inventive with locking up in uncovered areas, it is probably not your finest guess, however when you’ve bought common entry to a Sheffield stand or equal that’s shielded from the worst of the climate, you’ll be golden.
| Characteristic | Ranking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Safety | 8/10 | Offered Safe Gold and certifications from 5 international locations, together with ice spray testing. |
| Construct High quality | 8/10 | It feels sturdy and sturdy regardless of its lightness, although it’s lacking a weatherproof keyhole cowl. |
| Ease of Use | 9/10 | Extremely straightforward to arrange and use on the go, so long as you persist with the fitting kind of anchor level. |
| Portability | 9/10 | Easy bracket design and compact dimension make it straightforward to mount or stow in a pannier or backpack. |
| Worth | 10/10 | For sub-£55, you get lots of safety, some versatility, and spectacular portability. |
| Total | 44/50 | Row 5 – Cell 2 |
