Milenco Dundrod U-lock disc lock review

Date reviewed: August 2020 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: £37.33 | www.milenco.com

The Milenco Dundrod is the company’s smallest lock, yet it works as a standalone disc-lock, or for securing a chain.

While a relatively new name to the motorcycle security market, Milenco is a well-established engineering company that’s been producing chains and locks for some respected big brands for a long time.

The Dundrod is tested to Sold Secure Motorcycle Gold and comes with three stainless-steel keys (duplicates of which can be made by Milenco). These keys are of high quality and unlikely to deform like some cheaper brand’s disc-detainer keys.
The lock has a plastic-covered body and a rubber-coated shackle that passes through most chains, though on some smaller links (like the Milenco Coleraine 9mm), the rubber coating is a little too thick for the shackle to pass through, so you need to trim some back with a sharp knife.

Size and weight

The shackle is 14mm thick without the rubber coating, so check that this will fit through your chain if you intend to use it that way. Weighing just 0.6kg, it’s an easy lock to carry and takes up little space under your bike or scooter’s seat, in luggage or in a rucksack. Note that you should always wear a back-protector with a rucksack, and while this lock will fit in a pocket, I’d not recommended it as it could cause injury if you fell on it.

Ease of use

Disc detainer locks always require care when inserting the key – make sure it’s all the way in before turning fully. If one of the discs is out of line, it can stop the key entering completely, so if it hasn’t seated fully, just give it a little jiggle to get it right in. This is no chore, but it’s always important to understand the difference between this very common design, and more traditional keyways.

The keyhole is covered by a neat sliding door that clicks positively open and closed to offer some useful protection from the elements.

Fitting the lock is as easy as any other of this design, slipping the shackle around the motorcycle’s brake disc then popping the body on the end. The plastic and rubber coatings do a good job of preventing damage to the paint on your bike’s wheels.

Note that most scooters have smaller brake discs than motorcycles, so this might not be suitable.

To see the best disc locks for bikes and scooters, click here.

Resistance to attack

In use as a disc-lock, the Milenco Dundrod U-lock disc lock offers a good solution. It’s important to understand that a disc lock can’t prevent a machine being picked up and put in a van, but a more common theft method in cities is to use a scooter to push the stolen bike away after snapping the steering lock; a disc lock is a great deterrent to this.

Thieves have been known to cut the brake disc itself to remove a lock, but using any security greatly reduces the chances of your motorcycle or scooter being stolen, as our data shows here.

The 14mm shackle and tough body (under the plastic case) cannot be defeated with 42” bolt-croppers, while the very noisy and difficult attack of a sledge-hammer and anvil only resulted in a shattered plastic case and dents in the lock body.

An angle-grinder is the only real viable attack, and while the 14mm shackle offers good resistance, unfortunately only one cut is required as there’s too much free rotation in the locking pins; this means that the shackle can be swung out of the way to allow the chain to pass through, or to slide the lock off the brake disc. While not an issue on light-weight chains that would take a similar time to cut both sides of a link, on larger chains – like 12-14mm – the Dundrod disc lock quickly becomes the easier point of attack.

Picking will be achieved using specialist tools and plenty of skill, but it’s irrelevant in real motorcycle theft.

To see how this compares with the other locks we’ve tested, check out our best motorcycle and scooter locks for home and away.

Milenco Dundrod U-lock disc lock review: Verdict

The Milenco Dundrod is a small, lightweight lock, very good value device that can be easily carried and has the versatility of being able to work as disc-lock, or in securing a chain. It’s a shame to see the quality construction let down by excessive rotation in the shackle after it’s been cut once, though this isn’t uncommon.

The Dundrod offers a very good deterrent and is a useful piece of kit, though there are other options available that might better suit your needs. To see our reviews of the best motorcycle and scooter security, click here.

BikeSocial members can save an additional 10% on Milenco security

Big thanks to Piaggio and repair/claims specialist 4th Dimension for supplying parts that allowed us to carry out real-world testing. Both are companies passionate about reducing crime.