Hiplok D1000 Bike Lock Review

If you've been following the bike industry over the last few years, you've probably heard the word "graphene" pop up over and over again. From tires to frames to jerseys and shoes, just about every product now includes this wonder material. When Hiplok released the graphene-enhanced D1000 bike lock, claiming that it was designed to resist angle grinders, we were skeptical. They wouldn't be the first to promise a graphene revolution and deliver a dud. But after we tried to slice it open with our diamond-tipped grinder, we became believers. The Hiplok D1000 is ridiculously difficult to cut and is coated in thick rubber that protects your frame and the items in your bag when you're lugging it around.

Performance Comparison

Security

The Hiplok D1000 earned top ratings for security. It was so difficult to cut; we had to reset our scale to give it a position at the top. The 20-millimeters (~0.75 inches) thick, rectangular shackle is made from graphene-infused hardened steel and resisted our angle grinder like nothing we've ever cut before. Using an angle grinder equipped with a brand new blade, we did our best impersonation of a desperate thief. It took our grinder about four and a half minutes to slice through one side of this lock while it was locked in a vise, but that wasn't enough to free it. Because of the double lock design and rectangular shape, you have to cut this lock twice to get it free. We'd already used up one blade and a full battery, so we decided to call it a day on trying to slice this lock.

After disassembling the crossbar covering and cutting off the thick rubber coating on the shackle, we looked for new weak points. We tried attacking the crossbar through the keyhole. No dice. After that, we went after an area that looked thin on the edges of the lock. We were able to cut through it in about 30 seconds, but that only exposed the shackle more. The lock wouldn't budge. Eventually, this lock had three partial cuts and one all the way through, and we still hadn't discovered a weak point. Very impressive.

As far as picking goes, we're not the LockPickingLawyer; it's not our skill set. And very few bike locks are picked on the street. Most thieves prefer the smash-and-grab (or slice-and-grab, in this case) when it comes to bike locks. The D1000 does have a unique keyway and comes with three coded keys that can be registered and replaced if you lose them.

Ease of Transport

If you're going to make a lock that takes five minutes to cut, it's probably going to be heavy. That's the case with the D1000. We measured it at 4.2 pounds, one of the heaviest U-Locks we've tested. In addition to its weight, this lock doesn't come with any mounting apparatus. You have to purchase that as a costly add-on. Fortunately, the thick, soft rubber coating means it's not going to beat up things in your bag too much, nor will it rattle if you strap it to your rack, but it's still difficult to get around.

Something else we noticed, as we lugged this beast of a lock around town to meetings and classes, was the rubber coating is quite sticky. The material feels nice in your hand and is very nice to your bike, but if you plop this into your bag with a paperback book or notebook, the paper is going to stick to the rubber, bending up the cover and pages. It's a little thing, sure, but with no method provided to carry the lock other than chucking it into a bag, it's important to know you may be putting a book at risk. For the price you'll pay for this lock, we wish it came with anything to help carry it and protect your stuff.

Ease of Use

The Hiplok D1000 ran into some positives and negatives in this area. The key and keyhole are very nice to use. They're smooth, don't take a lot of force, and don't have to be jiggled to get them just right like you see with some other locks. Even after spending a few weeks out in the rain and dirt in our yard, we had no trouble fitting the key into the lock. This lock also performed very well in our freezing rain test. The two pieces came apart instantly, with no trouble at all.

So where did it suffer? The size of the lock and the keyhole protector both left a bit to be desired. We understand that Hiplok needed to find a compromise between usable size and weight, and they chose to make the D1000 a bit smaller than its competitors so it wasn't way too heavy. Unfortunately, this means you'll have to park your bike just right and probably do some fiddling in order to get it locked, especially if you have oversized tubes or an unwieldy locking place. The rubber keyhole protector was nice to use day to day when it stayed in place. It was easy to open and close and never got sticky or in our way. But it didn't like to stay attached to the lock body. After slipping around in our bags for a couple of hours, it would often start to disconnect from the lock and fall off, and it's a pain to fit back into its grooves. We weren't fans.

Versatility

The D1000 also suffered a bit in versatility ratings, largely due to its small shackle size and the thickness of the shackle. Combined, these two elements can make it difficult to use in some circumstances. One of our testers regularly rides their carbon-tubed mountain bike to work and tested this lock as their main method of security at the office. Due to its small shackle size, they couldn't use one of their office's bike racks, and they had to lock to a signpost nearby. On their round-tubed gravel bike, this wasn't a problem, but the semi-rectangular, oversized tubes of their mountain bike made it tougher to find a good place to lock.

The locking area is large enough for most bikes in most situations, but it's not universal, nor is it big enough to make locking a simple, easy process all the time. If the places you commonly lock your bike are large tubes or at awkward angles, the Hiplok D1000 may not work for you every day. And if you have to lock your bike to something thinner and weaker because your U-lock is small, you're compromising the security of your bike. Lockups are only as strong as their weakest link. As part of our testing, we cut through a road signpost (obtained legally, not out on the street). It took us about four minutes to slice it due to its awkward size and shape. But something smaller, like a line post on a chain link fence, only took about a minute to slice. So make sure you can still lock this smaller U-lock to posts that adequately protect your bike.

Should You Buy the Hiplok D1000?

If you want the ultimate in U-lock security and you're willing to compromise on convenience to have it, this is the lock for you. Keep in mind it costs more than twice as much as other top U-locks but is significantly more secure. If you're regularly locking in sketchy areas, have a bike you really want to protect or value the piece of mind of knowing that a potential thief will have to hack away at your lock for minute after minute, the D1000 is a great choice. If you don't like carrying extra pounds in your bag, regularly lock to larger posts or non-round bike tubes, or are willing to trade some security for versatility and ease of use, you may want to look at the other locks we've reviewed.

What Other Bike Locks Should You Consider?