Hiplok Home Gold review | Lightweight chain and lock tested
By John Milbank
Consumer Editor of Bennetts BikeSocial
15.01.2025
Date reviewed: January 2025 | Tested by: John Milbank | RRP: £119.99| Weight: 3.86kg | hiplok.com
The Hiplok Home Gold on review here is a lightweight chain that comes with a basic padlock. Certified to Sold Secure Pedal Cycle Gold, it’s not got the performance of heavier duty kit, but it can make for a useful deterrent…
Pros & Cons
Lightweight
Easy to carry
Good length
Thinner chains are easier to defeat
Padlock a bit weaker than I’d prefer
Size and weight
Weighing 3.86kg in total (the padlock makes up for 510g of that), the Hiplok Home Gold chain measures 1.5 meters, so is long enough to easily loop through your motorcycle’s wheel and around something else. A neatly-designed hook is also supplied that can be screwed into a wall to keep the chain and lock tidily stored.
The chain’s links have a diameter of 9.60mm, with an internal width of 15.56mm. This is just big enough to pass the shackle of the Hiplok DX1000 or D1000 through, if you trim back the silicone outer sleeve. A Litelok X3 won’t fit.
The padlock’s shackle is 12.17mm in diameter, with an internal width of 21.63mm. Both ends of the chain pass through the shackle.
Three keys are supplied, and the chain is protected by a very tough nylon sleeve, secured at the ends with hex-head set-screws.
Resistance to attack: lock picking
Lock picking really isn’t a concern in motorcycle theft, despite what some YouTubers would like you to believe (especially when trying to sell their own tools); real-world attacks typically involve brute force and angle-grinders.
To see how this compares with the other locks we’ve tested, check out our best motorcycle locks for home and away.
Resistance to attack: bolt-croppers
A 10mm link chain like this can be defeated with large bolt croppers, but it isn’t a very common attack method, especially on the street. It is fairly quiet though, so it’s worth noting that, using 42” croppers, I was able to defeat the Hiplok Home Gold chain, though it did take a significant amount of effort.
To see how this compares with the other locks we’ve tested, check out our best motorcycle locks for home and away.
Resistance to attack: lump / sledge hammer
Getting the right balance between case hardening and through hardening is important in a security chain, and the Home Gold is clearly produced in a factory that knows what it’s doing. Repeated blows with plenty of space, using a piece of old railway track as an anvil resulted in just the weld cracking on a link, and some distortion. Inferior chains can shatter if too brittle, so this is a good result.
Attacking the padlock with a lump hammer didn’t cause anything more than cosmetic damage.
To see how this compares with the other locks we’ve tested, check out our best motorcycle locks for home and away.
Resistance to attack: angle-grinder
Unsurprisingly, if using a decent angle-grinder and suitable cutting discs, the Hiplok Home Gold chain can be defeated fairly quickly. It’s not a bad performer by any stretch, but the relatively small diameter of the chain links makes them easier to cut.
Despite a thicker shackle on the padlock, I did find that the design meant it was a little faster to beat, which is a shame.
To see how this compares with the other locks we’ve tested, check out our best motorcycle locks for home and away.
Product: Hiplok Home Gold chain & lock
Weight as tested: 3.86kg
Bolt cropper attack: ACCEPTABLE
Sledge hammer attack: PASS
Angle grinder attack: POOR
To see the other chains and locks tested by Bennetts BikeSocial, click here and be sure to regularly check for the discounts available through BikeSocial membership.
Hiplok Home Gold lock & chain review: Verdict
The Hiplok Home Gold is a lightweight chain that offers a reasonable level of protection and could provide useful additional security; paired with a disc-lock or similar, it adds more time to an attack, and being fairly lightweight you’re more likely to carry it.
It’s a shame the padlock lets it down a bit, and it’s not suitable for home motorcycle use, but as a lightweight option it has some benefits.
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