Bicycles

Litelok brings the bendiness with Flexi-U lock

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Unlike the hard shackle of a traditional U-lock, the Litelok Flexi-U Silver's strap can bend to make its way around bike-locking obstacles
Litelok
Litelok is offering the Flexi-U Silver in two sizes
Litelok
Unlike the hard shackle of a traditional U-lock, the Litelok Flexi-U Silver's strap can bend to make its way around bike-locking obstacles
Litelok
The Litelok Flexi-U Silver features a new locking mechanism
Litelok
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When it comes to locking your bike securely, a U-lock is pretty much the best way to go. The things are heavy, though, plus their rigid shackles can't be bent to pass around thick poles or other obstacles. That's where the Litelok Flexi-U Silver is designed to come in.

Like its predecessor, now being called the Litelok Gold, the Flexi-U incorporates a hardened aerospace-grade steel lock casing, along with a shackle-like strap made of a patented material known as Boaflexicore.

The latter consists of layers of high-tensile steel strands and a proprietary polymer composite. What results is a strap that is lightweight and flexible, yet reportedly still very resistant to damage by tools such as bolt cutters or hack saws.

One of the main things that sets the Flexi-U apart from the Gold is the fact that instead of its strap being completely circular in shape, it's U-shaped like the shackle of a U-lock. This feature makes it better suited to locking the frame and wheel of a bike to a nearby immovable object, such as a sign post.

Litelok is offering the Flexi-U Silver in two sizes
Litelok

The Flexi-U's strap is also lighter and more flexible than the Gold's, although this is due to the fact that it's narrower, and thus doesn't offer quite the same amount of security. British lock-testing organization Sold Secure thus gave the Flexi-U Silver a (still pretty good) Silver rating instead of a Gold, hence the lock's full name.

Additionally, we're told that the Flexi-U incorporates a new vertically-aligned locking mechanism, which is easier to operate than that of the Gold.

The Litelok Flexi-U Silver is available now in Regular and Large sizes, weighing a claimed 640 and 730 g (1.4 and 1.6 lb) respectively. They're priced at US$100 and $120, and can be ordered via the link below.

Source: Litelok

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3 comments
bobobo1618
It's a nice idea but it doesn't work. These can be cut easily: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-On0DGcDlc

Maybe better than a cheap cable lock but not by any means high security.
David V
I have a couple of Liteloks. The first thing to say about the video cutting the lock is that it doesn't show the lock being cut in a situation anything like similar to an everyday locked bike situation. So the guy has already lost any credibility for me. You can open any lock in a garage out of sight with the right tools and under no stress. If your bike is locked with 2 locks in a row of classic bike street furniture tubes with other bikes, there is just no room to use a 3 foot cutter. Add to that if it's daylight and in a public place, it's just not going to happen.
If you value your bike, you should use 2 locks anyway. A U and another. I would go for a different type too so why not a Litelok. They have the advantage of being very light. If you're just tying up your bike to a post the time to have a coffee or a beer, it's ideal. If you're leaving it overnight somewhere then you will need 2 locks anyway and a different mindset. These locks are far better than the cheaper coiled ones whatever the video shows.
Trylon
@David V, You're dead wrong. First of all, a lot of bikes aren't locked to bike racks in "everyday locked bike situations," but rather sign posts, parking meters, etc. Even in bike racks, there obviously has to be enough room to reach the lock to lock and unlock it. You're forgetting that the way the lock is normally used is horizontally, so the cable cutter would be held vertically. Plenty of room to hold the cutters up, brace it against your shoulder and pull hard with both hands. And if you think people are going to stop a thief, you really haven't watched the demonstration videos where a fake "thief" uses an angle grinder on a U-lock in plain sight in broad daylight and nobody even questions him. By the time the police arrive, a thief would be long gone after snipping through the Litelok in 30 seconds and riding away.