7 minutes and a $1 hacksaw blade vs $16 padlock

I cycled to one of my work places today and locked up my bike out front. 3 hours later I came pack to find… my bike was still there.

But I couldn’t open my lock, a simple 4-digital Master Lock combination padlock.

I suspect when I locked up I accidentally trigger the combination change and didn’t realise it.

So, need to get back on my bike I went to Big W and bought a 3-pack of replacement hacksaw blades.

7 minutes after getting back to my bike I’d sawed through the lock and was on my way (sorry, I forgot to take an after photo of the lock). And 7 minutes was slow – I could have done it in 5 if I did it properly.

Interestingly, only 2 people on a busy footpath were curious about what I was doing.

But this is a good lesson in how poor padlocks can be as a security mechanism.