• Kryptonite Kryptogrip
• £22.50
• Ultimate Pursuits

Most of the Kryptonite products we’ve seen have been super-heavy-duty affairs intended for at-home security. But it’s handy to have something you can carry about, particularly if you often ride alone and find an urgent need to pop in to a handy shop for pies. We know from experience that having to always face the window and constantly jumping up to see over the shelves isn’t conducive to efficient pastry shopping.

There are of course plenty of cable locks and things around, but most of them are pretty bulky. The Kryptogrip, though, takes as its design cue the humble yo-yo – the cable is stored inside the palm-sized puck of the lock body. It’s very quick to use – just pull out the cable, pass it around your bike and a fixed object and push it through one of the holes in the body. It locks automatically by means of some devious one-way cam magic inside. There are actually two holes, so if you like you can take one loop around a post and lock that and then form another loop around your bike and lock that one too. Unlocking is as simple as putting the key in, turning it and pulling the cable out before winding it all back in.

It’s all very neat and tidy, and compact enough to drop in a pocket or become one of those things that just lives in your pack along with the tubes with holes in, empty energy bar wrappers and crumbs. Downsides? It’s only a 4mm cable so don’t expect bomber security. But that’s not what the Kryptogrip is about…

Positives: Compact, convenient, easy to use.

Negatives: Really only pop-into-a-shop security

Verdict: Clearly this isn’t going to stop the determined thief, but for those emergency corner-shop pitstops it’s a million times better than fastening your helmet around the top tube.