RockyMounts Lester Combination Cable Lock - Programmable - Braided Steel - 5' Long

Video Transcript for RockyMounts Lester Combination Cable Lock Review

AJ: What's up everybody It's AJ with etrailer.com. Today, we're going to check out the RockyMounts Lester. This is a nice cable lock to help lock up your bike when you're not around, and it's got a combination lock, so you don't have to carry a key with you. Let's take a closer look at it.Fully extended, you got five feet to work with with this cable lock. So that should be plenty to get it through your front tire and through the frame of your bike. The other cool thing is you see it coils in on itself, so that takes up way less space than a normal cable lock.

You know, those can be kind of bulky and you can't really roll them up like this for very long. They just pop back out. So I think that's really handy. Let's go ahead and install it on our bike.We've got our mountain bike and our aluminum road bike set up today. We're going to take a look at how we could lock these down.

My goal is to run it through the front tire here and the frame. I could easily just do the frame, but then somebody could take the front tire off, and I just want to keep my front tire with my bike. So we'll come up here and around. You can kind of see the coil is nice when you're going to put it away, but it does kind of fight you a little bit when you're going to attach it. It's not a big deal, just kind of.

Now you can see it comes through the stand, through the front tire and the frame. That way they can't be separated.The dial on the lock for the numbers is really easy to turn too. You can just set it to something that's easy for you to remember and make the code your own. Coming over to the frame, I want to show the vinyl-coated steel cable. You can see the steel cable through the vinyl, but it's got this nice protection on it, so you don't have to worry about it damaging the frame of your bike.

It's not going to hurt it or scratch.We're going to try it on our road bike here now. Do it the same way we did with the mountain bike. We tested some different locks today and it seems like a lot of them work better on the road bike because the frame is closer to the tire. But this cable lock gives us plenty of room and it's flexible enough so it worked with our mountain bike and our road bike here.Overall, I like the bike lock. It seemed like it was more versatile as to some of the other ones we used. The cable gives you a bunch of room to run it through the tires, through the frame, and get it attached around the rails. And if you don't have a bike stand, this might be even more helpful out in the wild. You can find something else to lock it down to if you need to. But the one thing, I thought the coiling was going to be really cool, and it is to keep it compact, but it did fight me a little bit while I was trying to run it through the spokes of the bike and around the frame. You had to kind of pull and be careful that it doesn't put too much pressure on the spokes. You don't want to damage your bike.Now, if this has you on the fence about if you want this bike lock or you're thinking about another one, check out the discussion I had with a rider earlier today.Today, I'm going to be taking a look at some of these RockyMounts locks with Aiden behind the camera and Brian, the rider, to join us, too. Brian: What we're looking at here is you're going to have the curly, which is the smaller version, and then the Lester is the bigger version there you have in your hands. This is really a kind of a step up from your basic steel braided cable. You're going to see it has the nice four-digit programmable lock on there. Little bit easier than a key system. Definitely saves you the hassle of having to worry where you left the keys or making sure you have them on you at the time. It's cool that they actually have a self-coiling design, so they're going to fold up nicely on their own. You're not going to have to help them a lot, which can help remove some of the hassle of handling them and getting them in position. And again, that's going to be cut-resistant, much like the braided steel previous version. AJ: Yeah, I mean, it seems like they get compact. That way, you can just throw in your backpack way easier than these here. Seems like they're a little cumbersome if you we're taking it with you. You'd have to, I guess, you could coil it up yourself, but it's not going to stay like that when you throw it in your backpack or whatever. Brian: Yup. AJ: This one is probably a better example of talking about that because that's a bunch of cable you're going to have to jam in your backpack. Brian: Yeah, that one, you're really looking at some maybe outdoor patio furniture. Secure your grill, maybe use it at a camping site to just bring some extra security to your setup. AJ: Yeah. Okay. I guess we'll talk about the Hooligan next, since we have that on the table. We've got two more installed. We'll go over and talk about those in a second, but- Brian: Yeah, so the Hooligan Max here is actually a pretty cool design. We're going to see a step up in security on this one. It's made with a plated steel, so not braided. It's actually going to be whole pieces of steel in there, much better in terms of providing that cut resistance. Another interesting kind of fact on this one is the sheath that covers it is a nylon braid or a weave. So what you're really going to get there is it protects the metal, so you don't have to worry about it rusting or weakening over time. Also protects your equipment from rubbing, dings, any kind of abrasions.Some other nice features we have here on this one is it's got the spring-loaded lock, so it's going to come together, unlock really easily. Going to have that nice tactile response, and you're also going to have, of course, a nice little dust mold cap there. Just keeps the lock clean, prevents any kind of debris from entering the system. Just keeps you safe down the line there. AJ: Yeah, this one seems pretty heavy duty. Like I said, it's a legit chain on the inside of that seat. So unlike a braided cable, which there's nothing wrong with that, but I don't know. That puts my mind at ease a little bit, that it's a legit chain, kind of like I said. Brian: Yeah, you're going to have a tough time getting to whatever's holding that in place. AJ: Yeah. The only thing I guess I worry about is just the nylon is nice, but it's kind of thin. So if it does it hit a soft frame of your bike, it's probably going to dent it or something like that if you're not careful with it yourself. It seems like these had a little bit of more of a cushion around them, but I guess that's what you get when you get the higher security. You've got to be more careful with it. Brian: Yeah, it's going to be a bit of a trade-off there. I think the covering will mitigate a lot of the damage, but you're going to want to be mindful, of course. AJ: Cool. And it's not too cumbersome, either. You can get it nice and thrown up there. Throw it in your backpack like I keep saying. I know, but that's what you're going to do when you're carrying an extra lock.All right, I guess we'll check out the ones we have locked to our bike rack here. First, we have the U-bolt, or I think they call it a D-Lock, too, as I heard it was called. Brian: Yeah, right here, we're looking at the Maddox. Pretty cool design for a U-lock. Works a little different than some standard U-locks that'll have the pivot shackle, where only one end will come loose. Here on the Maddox, you get a clamp style, so just like that, it'll fully detach. Comes out real easy. Just makes the process of locking and securing the gear that much easier. Sometimes, when the shackle pivots, you can have accessibility issues in tight spaces or with odd designs. This really limits those.Again, you're going to have the rubber coating on it, on both the lock and the shackle. That's just, again, going to protect your equipment, make sure everything stays nice and protected. And really, it's a good, I think, general-purpose lock. Great design. It's got the spring-loaded lock again, so you get that real tactile response. You know when you're secure. You know when it's going to come apart. Yeah, very dependable, great day-to-day lock. AJ: Yeah, it's also got the part of the middle you can turn to kind of protect your lock in there, so it's not exposed all the time either. I like that. We're seeing that a lot of people have their bikes in the city. They might not have the bike racks like that. Sometimes you've kind of just got to use what's around, so the fact that it doesn't pivot, like the other ones you said, that it kind of detaches, gives you more options of attaching it to random spots, like a stop sign or something like that. Rather than, I guess, you said the pivot ones, who would just do this. They wouldn't actually come- crosstalk 00:08:21. Brian: That's right. AJ: Okay. Yeah, so that's definitely way better than pivoting it. Brian: Yeah, just a cool little take on the design. It's nothing groundbreaking, but just when it comes to usability, it's nice to have. AJ: Yeah, sure. Okay, let's step over and talk about this one, then. Robert: And on that last one, does it have a mount to attach to the bike frame AJ: Yes, it's over on the table. Sorry. Robert: That's okay. AJ: Yeah, so it looks like you could mount it to where you'd have a water bottle. This one doesn't have one. Or on the down tube here, too, if the holes lined up. Looks like the holes don't line up on this one. Brian: Oh, it opens up. AJ: Or wait. It sits at around here. Brian: Yeah. AJ: Okay. Brian: So loosen those screws and that'll open up that to wrap around the tube. AJ: Oh, okay. Brian: And then it'll hold the- Robert: Makes sense, yes. Brian: . the lock in that opening. That'll just clamp it into position there. AJ: So it kind goes there. You could put it there and then it would. Oh, this part slides in here. Brian: Yeah. So that's how it secures to the actual mount there. AJ: Okay. Brian: Yup. And so it stores right in there if it'll fit. On this particular bike, it looks like it'd be kind of a squeeze. AJ: Yeah. You're about to hit your leg on that. Brian: Yeah, but- Robert: Yeah, I think on a road bike you're going to have a lot more room. Brian: Yeah. Like over there on- AJ: Okay. I'm going to try it on the other one. There's nice push button to release. I like that. Brian: Yeah. AJ: Slide it right out. Brian: So you can easily take it off, lock it up. AJ: Maybe start on this other one here. Yeah, it looks like you've got way more room. It would be in the center too if it was actually mounted. Well, it looks like it's going to hit that. Brian: So yeah. Robert: Put in on your- Brian: I could definitely propose a few clearance issues like with the water bottle holder and stuff, but it is nice that it gives you at least some way to store it on your bike so you're not having to carry around a backpack with a lock or something like that. AJ: Any of you got questions on that one Brian: No, I think, yeah, that's definitely going to be good in terms of having it easily accessible around town. It's not unusual for RockyMount to include some type of mounting bracket with some of these more day-to-day kind of style locks where you would want to transport with you. Generally, these would be the kind of seat post variety when we saw. Or there is one that's also designed more for a water bottle mount, which I think we have here. Yeah. That's the one we're actually. AJ's got the mount for it right now. AJ: This is the Hendrix, right Brian: Yes, sir. We are looking at the Hendrix folding lock here. Probably one of the nicer ones from the lineup. What you're going to see, it's got the really defined hardened steel plates and we'll be able to see those a little better here once we get this popped off, but it does come apart really easily, as you can see there. One end just disengages, goes into kind of just a rope style, that's cable lock look almost. But you can see there that each plate is essentially just a hardened steel plate bound together.Interesting collapsible design there folds down really small, can fit in your pocket. Easy to carry in your hand. You got the spring-loaded lock, pretty consistent with a lot of the RockyMounts products, so stays together, comes apart when you need it to real easily. Good tactile response there. One of the nice things I thought of this one was the rubberized coating and just the way it was done. I think the lock overall feels really good in your hands, feel strong and this is one of the locks that comes with a higher rating in terms of security from RockyMounts. So great block for urban areas. AJ: Yeah, it does feel like a sturdy, heavy lock. I'm impressed at how much it folds down into itself easily. It wasn't complex to do that and then folds up in its own mount too. That way, if you didn't want to throw it in the backpack, you could actually attach it like we're talking about here and it looks like this would have no problem fitting on there with the water bottle. You wouldn't have to sacrifice water or a lot. Brian: Yeah. Just a really nice one of those add-on features. Just there to make it easier to keep on you. Keep security a priority, really. Yeah. This one was probably our favorite just for how well it folded up and it's really easy to keep on you, but just overall, it felt like it was just built really well. AJ: I agree. Brian: Yeah. I know. When we first got these in, RockyMounts makes great racks, so I was excited to see what they could bring to the security aspect of the industry. I think the quality's there. It's definitely got some great features across the line. I think no matter what you're really looking to secure, there's going to be an option there for you. And it just kind of depends on your location, what your sensitivity towards locking your stuff up is and how heavy duty you want to go. AJ: Cool. That's all the locks we had today. Was there anything else, any other ones or any other questions Brian: I didn't have anything off the top of my head, really. I think you guys pretty much walked us through them and yeah, I think you really can't go wrong. AJ: Awesome. Well, thanks for help. Brian: All right. Always a pleasure to drop in and see you guys. AJ: Have a good one. Brian: Yup. Take care guys. AJ: Hope that gave you a better idea of all the different kind of locks you can get for your bike, but that does it for our look at the RockyMounts Lester. I hope this helped.