ABUS Plus Core

[markcdn]

I bought the 20/70 ABUS Plus core diskus lock from Amazon, because LPL says he couldnt pick it. His, shows the shackle being black, the one pictured in the one I bought is shiny. He says the older ABUS Pro's are easier to pick.

How do I know if my ABUS Plus core is the newer style?

Is there a manufacture date stamped on them?

Side note question
I've been watching lots of video's on which lock to buy, diskus vs regular, I just did not want a Master Lock that can be raked in 1 second flat. That is why I've been watching and watching. I like the new U shaped key locks from Kickstarter, BOWLEY but gosh they are expensive. It got me wondering, why cant there be a different style key that is just the same as a regular key. Make it a steel key, bent 90 degrees at the right spot, and a key guard that covers the keyway except for what is needed. Would delay intruders even longer until they bent their picks plus the feel of picking would change. The downside is the keys in a pocket would be poking. Sure you could beef up the corner on the key.
Just a random thought I had.

[GWiens2001]

The older Abus Plus locks were (are) easier to pick. Used to tension the first disc to tension the lock. When people started making picks to open them, then Abus changed the lock so it is a random disc that has to be tensioned to pick the lock.

Have picked several of the older style ones. But have not succeeded in picking the new style. Then again, have not spent much time trying of late.

Gordon

[markcdn]

That is good to know Gordon, thanks for your input.

I received my Diskus lock today and it seems like a solid purchase.
Of course now, with my OCD I have to pick the perfect chain to accompany the Diskus lock.
I figure a standard #70 chain, hardened steel. Still would take a grinder no time to break open.

I got no fancy stuff I am locking up, people think who ever rides my bicycle is a bum. Had someone place a McBarf bag on my seat, they were thinking the pan handler at the drive through was riding my bike LOLOLOL I was going to flick it off in disgust, but figured I'd find the pan handler and even he refused the food. Asking if there was a receipt in there, I of course did not know. Perhaps he wanted cash back or perhaps a salad.

Just saying how I roll, the look of the bike is a deterrent but my ebikes wiring sticks out, next step is to hide it all under a rear pannier saddle bag. An old, crusty, filthy bag Also I got a few other tricks up my sleeve. Movement alarm, any movement. They are cheap on fleabay. Step up is movement detection system that texts my cell. Hide it somewhere.

The older Abus Plus locks were (are) easier to pick. Used to tension the first disc to tension the lock. When people started making picks to open them, then Abus changed the lock so it is a random disc that has to be tensioned to pick the lock.

Have picked several of the older style ones. But have not succeeded in picking the new style. Then again, have not spent much time trying of late.

Gordon

[cledry]

The older Abus Plus locks were (are) easier to pick. Used to tension the first disc to tension the lock. When people started making picks to open them, then Abus changed the lock so it is a random disc that has to be tensioned to pick the lock.

Have picked several of the older style ones. But have not succeeded in picking the new style. Then again, have not spent much time trying of late.

Gordon

Gordon was that Abus bicycle lock I sold you the new type or the old type?

[Squelchtone]

@OP your question is posted in Ask Beginner Hobby Lockpicking Questions.

This mechanism is not beginner lever wafer or pin tumbler, please select more appropriate sub forum going forward. I will move it Pick-Fu (Intermediate Level) for you.

Squelchtone
Forum Mismanagement

[GWiens2001]

The older Abus Plus locks were (are) easier to pick. Used to tension the first disc to tension the lock. When people started making picks to open them, then Abus changed the lock so it is a random disc that has to be tensioned to pick the lock.

Have picked several of the older style ones. But have not succeeded in picking the new style. Then again, have not spent much time trying of late.

Gordon

Gordon was that Abus bicycle lock I sold you the new type or the old type?

I don’t recall. I bought that one with the intent of using it, and didn’t want to risk messing it up learning to pick that type of lock. I have both old and new style padlock versions, and a pick made by a member from overseas.

Gordon

[cledry]

OK, I wasn't sure if the Bordo X Granit was the new style or not.

[huxleypig]

So Abus have made many revisions to the Granit/Plus. They first let you tension from the front. Then they put an anti-tension butterfly disc there. Then, when the rear tension tool emerged they put a butterfly at the rear too, with the actual driver disc being somewhere in the middle. They also recently added another anti-pick feature; the pack is under a little spring pressure and the washers wobble a little, meaning that when you move one disc, all the others in the stack move too. Theoretically this makes picking impossible but they did not account for tensioning the lock and the pressure from the sidebar on the discs. This makes this defence totally useless because the pressure from the sidebar is way more than the spring pressure on the pack, meaning that when a disc is binding, or in a gate the sidebar keeps it there despite the wobble from the(as yet) unset discs.

You can tell what version you Abus Plus is by looking at the front and rear discs. If they are butterfly discs they will be black in colour. The front is easy to see but the rear might need the other discs in front of it rotating out of the way before you can see the colour.

Picking the newest Abus Plus is definitely harder but luckily there are quite a few options: The most common trick is to tension using a butterfly anyway (either front or rear) and try to feel for the gates on the other discs. When you think everything is right you find the actual 0 with your picking tip and rotate the tensioner back round 1 position. I do not like this though because you are falling right into the trap Abus want you to and the feedback is crappy (by design). You can use no tensioner at all and use 2 picking tips - one tip tensions from a disc and the other picks the discs the other side of that disc. As the tension pick will be in the middle of the pack, the tips are swapped around when it is time to pick the discs the other side of the tension disc, so the original tension picking tip becomes the pick and vice versa. This method works well and I like it but it is very difficult to stop the tension tip from slipping off the disc, which gets very annoying and so takes a lot of skill to perform. So a third solution that I invented was the 3-in-1. It has its tensioner in the middle and a pick either side. It is good for tensioning the front disc, the rear disc, or any disc in the middle and always having a pick on the correct side(s) of the tensioner. This works the best IMO. I will pick a disc at the front and tension...if I get no feedback from picking the other discs then I just go down the stack a disc with the tensioner until I start getting good feedback. Then you have found the driver disc and it should be plain sailing from there.

I have since developed a few other solutions that bypass the butterfly discs. I call them the "Butterflypass" (see what I did there?) and they allow you to tension from the rear or front butterfly without the butterfly going too far, effectively turning it back into just a bog standard basic DD. I also have another couple of tricks that allow you to tension the lock in totally new ways, again, getting around the butterfly disc tensioning issue.

Bordo X Granit is different again, it is their Abus X-Plus mechanism. It has a disc blocking mechanism and a free-spinning rear section to stop tensioning. It also has a trap for the normal pick in it! But once you know the trick it is quite easy to pick.

My Silver Bullet tool picks Abus X-Plus without any issues at all, just plug and pick. It also picks Abus Plus too but requires utilising one of the solutions I outline above.