Magnum cable bike lock

by **jimmythelock** » 28 Jan 2004 10:35

I am having trouble picking my Magnum bike lock. I have had several attempts with no sucess. I have tried to vary the tension but to no avail. Can any one shed any light on this please?

by **Nose_Picker** » 28 Jan 2004 10:59

Is it a tubular lock?

And are you trying to work on it outside?

The cold may be having a negative effect on your fingers dexterity, and you may not be able to feel the tension.

Assuming you have the key, bring it inside, and sit down and try it. start by raking it a fet times, just to count the pins, and get a feel for it.

Then pit a very small amount of tension on, untill you feel the plug hit a pin.

Then rake it very lightly. and dontinue till you feel the plug move a bit (I finally felt this a few days ago, its a very small movement, but when you feel it, you will know) then rake again very lightly, you have set at least one pin now. continue like this, and you should have success... unlesss theres a mushroom/spindle/serrated pin...

let us know how it goes.

by **jimmythelock** » 29 Jan 2004 8:34

Thank you Nose_Picker.
I am working on it indoors and it is not a tubular lock. It is one of those with a stretchy cable. It has 4pins and the tension needed to move the plug seems to be quite alot to me. Also the plug moves quite a bit before coming to a stop (I'm assuming this is where the first pin binds). I have even raked all the pins so they all are set and eased off the tension to see what the picking order is as they drop one by one. It has even been oiled (no WD-40!) to help me. I can feel the setting of the pins (or at least I think I do), but it still will not open. Does anyone know if there are any extra tricks used in this lock e.g. spool or mushroom pins?

by **marso** » 29 Jan 2004 8:44

I suggest you wait for an answer until after you post pictures or links showing the lock. Also it would help if you post your previous experience and what locks you have picked. Have you read MIT etc.. ?

by **CitySpider** » 29 Jan 2004 9:13

I'd need to see a picture, but I don't think the one (maybe two, am not sure) I've picked had any tricks. I don't remember them being particularly difficult, really. Like someone above said, what have you already done?

by **jimmythelock** » 29 Jan 2004 9:19

http://www.bikesnbits.com/products.php?show=226
Here is a picture of a similar lock. The one shown on this link has 7-pins whereas mine has only 4 (I know as I have counted them by site and also counted the number of indents on the correct key).
As regards to my previous experience, yes I have read the MIT guide as well as others scattered on the WEB. I have had great sucess in picking 3-pin tumblers, waffer locks and ward type locks. I thought I could graduated to 4-pins now but obviously I'm having trouble. This weekend I'm going to try 5-pin yales to see if it is just this lock being awkward.
Thank for any insights.

by **marso** » 29 Jan 2004 9:58

Do a search for practice locks and you should get one of them. Like a kwicklock or whatever the american one is.

by **lockpickroy** » 29 Jan 2004 10:48

Jimmythelock quote â€œ(I know as I have counted them by site and also counted the number of indents on the correct key).â€

Great check out the cuts on the key and it should help you figure out about where each pin needs to be moved to open the lock

by **jimmythelock** » 29 Jan 2004 11:32

Great check out the cuts on the key and it should help you figure out about where each pin needs to be moved to open the lock

You would think I could work backwards like that but no luck

. I think I have the pins set about the right height in regards to the feel of the lock and in line with the key heights, but it just won't open. :cry:

by **jimmythelock** » 2 Feb 2004 6:54

Hi, thank you all for your tips. I had a little time this weekend to try and crack this lock and have made some progress

I have changed my tension tool to a longer one which gives me more control over the tension/torque I can use. This helped a great deal as there was more of a clean click as the pins were being set. However, as I set pins one and two, when it comes to setting the third, the first two unset themselves!!

This is needless to say very annoying and also beyond my understanding of why it should do so. Any explainations would be greatful. (again I know the setting order as I put a large tension on while all the pins were very high up and released very carefully to see which dropped).

Thank you.

Jimmy

by **CitySpider** » 2 Feb 2004 10:17

jimmythelock wrote:(again I know the setting order as I put a large tension on while all the pins were very high up and released very carefully to see which dropped).

Are you sure that this works?

Try starting with the third pin. See what happens.

by **Chucklz** » 2 Feb 2004 11:47

Don't trust the setting order you get with excessive tension. Elastic deformation may screw up the results.