- 11 Dec, 2025 *
I got a new u-lock holster for my bike. I got it custom made and everything! It cost A Lot Of Money. I regret nothing.
Two years ago (almost to the day now, actually) my bike was stolen from a streetside lock in Santa Monica. I got it back, because thank god for GPS trackers, but it was a hell of a day. I had to go on a whole adventure about it.
Yes, it was marginally scary and stressful, but I hate cops and I am a reasonably sized man, so I figured it would be easiest to handle it myself. I found where the thief was and told him to give it back and he did. I even met some locals. It was all about as cordial as a counter-thievery action could be, I suppose.
But t…
- 11 Dec, 2025 *
I got a new u-lock holster for my bike. I got it custom made and everything! It cost A Lot Of Money. I regret nothing.
Two years ago (almost to the day now, actually) my bike was stolen from a streetside lock in Santa Monica. I got it back, because thank god for GPS trackers, but it was a hell of a day. I had to go on a whole adventure about it.
Yes, it was marginally scary and stressful, but I hate cops and I am a reasonably sized man, so I figured it would be easiest to handle it myself. I found where the thief was and told him to give it back and he did. I even met some locals. It was all about as cordial as a counter-thievery action could be, I suppose.
But the reason the thief was able to take the bike in the first place is that he had an angle grinder and I just had a standard Kryptonite lock. Those locks are not angle-grinder proof. Granted, very few locks are!
So I did some research and got a real fucking monster of a lock, the Hiplok D1000. I do not recommend this lock to anyone. It is very expensive and very heavy. But I use my bike almost daily, so this is, all things considered, not that much of a cost to tack on.
It is also "mostly" angle-grinder proof. According to A Number Of Youtube Videos, It will take you upwards of about 15 minutes with a grinder by most estimates, and no one is going to do that unless they are crazy desperate. It’s just not worth it.
I’ve loved the Hiplok insofar as you can love a lock, I guess. I have almost zero concern about leaving my bike places if I can secure it with that lock. It’s not completely foolproof — there are plenty of ways to piecemeal steal a bike or to just be an asshole to a locked bike, but it’ll pretty neatly stop anyone who wants to take at least the central frame of the bike.
HOWEVER! The Hiplok being so monster big means that I could not find a single holster that would fit it. Hiplok finally started offering one, but I’m not gonna lie… it’s ugly. I am sure it works for some people. But I am loathe to add any additional Tactical Black shit to my chrome-and-blue-and-leather bike.
So I reached out to Walnut Studiolo, a small leathercrafting outfit out of Portland that I’ve bought a bunch of things from before — I really recommend their leather handlebar wraps! — and asked for a custom commission.
After about a month of back and forth (measuring, emailing, figuring out plans, labor cost and time), I got a holster! It fits the lock, it does the job, and it looks great. It’s also leather, so it folds flat enough that I can hang a pannier bag on top of it when it’s empty.
Can’t recommend Walnut enough honestly. In total cost it ended up about as much as the lock itself, but even then… I ride my bike almost daily, and having to strap the lock on with a bungee cord just was getting annoying. This is so much better. Get a nice bike lock if you can! It’s worth it.
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