Hiplok 1000 series anti-angle grinder security kit - review

The freedom and flexibility of life on two wheels is very attractive, whether you go pedal-powered, electrically assisted or with an engine. Sadly, valuable bikes, e-bikes and motorcycles are just as attractive to a criminal element who see them as easy and profitable pickings, and keeping your pride and joy safe and secure is a daily reality any rider needs to deal with. And one crowd-funded British start-up Hiplok is addressing with a new range of security products for bikes of all types, specifically designed to shrug off the worst potential thieves can throw at them.

Based around an innovatively engineered D-type lock, the range includes the DX1000 shackle you can take with you where you go and two ground anchors you can combine it with back home for the ultimate peace of mind. All use Hiplok's in-house developed anti-angle grinder technology to resist attacks from the increasingly powerful portable power tools many thieves use to break through existing locks. In tests this innovative carbon composite material has proved incredibly resistant to even sustained attacks, earning it a Diamond rating from independent security organisation Sold Secure while the Dutch bike lock rating organisation ART has given it four stars out of five. Another test from Motorcycle insurance specialists Bennetts saw their reviewer eventually cut the shackle with a mains-powered angle grinder but only after burning through six specialist cutting discs in an attack taking way longer than any real thief would risk in the real world.

We’ll leave that level of destruction testing to the experts but in the first instance Hiplok sent us the larger of its two D-locks, the £299.99 DX1000, and the £349 AX1000 ground anchor with its nifty rotating arm. A smaller D-lock and simpler ground anchor are also available for a bit less money, but even with that option there’s no denying this is expensive kit and a hefty investment. But given even a mid-level e-bike can cost a couple of thousand pounds and motorcycle insurance costs can be steep (and dependent on suitable security measures) it could be money well worth paying.

Looking at the DX1000 lock in the first instance, it’s a chunky and reassuringly weighty piece of kit, the usable 205mm by 112mm space within the locking area enough to slip over the front wheel and tyre of most motorcycles (we tried it on a chunky Honda Transalp adventure bike) with room to spare for hooking it round the ground anchor at home or any convenient piece of street furniture around town.
The internal dimensions of the smaller D1000 are 155mm by 92mm for context, making it more suitable for bicycles and e-bikes. For both the rubberised coating on the solid core helps protect the frame, wheels or whatever other bit of your bike you’re locking from dents and scratches while the bigger lock’s 2.6kg makes it relatively portable for slinging in your riding bag, panniers or top box. Neat touches like a rubber cover to keep the rain out of the lock mechanism show attention to detail you’d hope for at this price. While out and about you can use the D-lock to attach your bicycle or e-bike frame to something secure, while motorcyclists can use it as a more secure alternative to a conventional disc lock and run it through the front wheel. Like that disc lock just remember to source yourself a ‘reminder’ cord to loop over the brake lever so you don’t try and ride away with it still attached…

The AX1000 ground anchor is, meanwhile, perfect for total reassurance whether you have to lock your bike outside or in your garage. The neat design can fix the arm vertically upright like a bollard, a quick-release switch on the side meaning you can set it to your preferred angle while it can also rotate through 360 degrees for the ultimate in flexibility. This makes it a lot easier to align your bike and lock than the simpler A1000, which is basically the same but without the arm and probably more easily combined with a traditional security chain.
Both need securing into a suitably hard surface via the eight bolts and their self-expanding fixings, Hiplok providing a 16mm drill bit for this purpose. Depending on where you want to lock your bike you can fix it flat to the floor or vertically on a suitable wall but, based on our experiences, we’d recommend a few ‘dry runs’ parking your bike for figuring out the best position before committing with the drill. If you’re really going the whole hog you can then tap in the supplied ball bearings into the top of the Allen-head bolts but think carefully before doing so because once you’ve done that the anchor really isn’t going anywhere! As ever, a security system is only ever as good as its weakest link so think carefully about what you’re planning to fix the ground anchor to – there’s no point drilling it into a paving slab if this could simply be smashed with a sledgehammer or lifted out of the ground, for instance.

If anyone wants to help us put the Hiplok kit to the ultimate test and lend us a spangly Ducati Panigale to lock up overnight in central Manchester we’ll gladly take you up on the offer but, in the meantime, the combination of lock and ground anchor are helping us sleep soundly, even when bikes and motorbikes need to live outside. No system can ever be 100 per cent guaranteed thief-proof, of course. But everything would suggest these innovative security products from Hiplok are as close to that dream as possible.