Bike Lock Security Ratings Explained: Sold Secure, ART & More

Bike lock security rating systems can look like alphabet soup: Sold Secure Gold, ART 3 stars, FUB 2 Roues, Varefakta approved. Each label is issued by an independent testing body and means something specific. The overview at bike lock certifications maps the full landscape of what these labels are and where they come from. This article goes deeper. It compares six widely recognized certification systems, explains what each level requires to earn, and gives riders a plain-language framework to match a rating to their bike, parking habits, and insurer's policy. An estimated 2.4 million adult bicycles are stolen in the US every year.²

Key Takeaways

• Independent certifications (Sold Secure, ART, FUB, Varefakta, Velo SRA) create verifiable cross-brand benchmarks. A brand's internal security scale cannot be compared with another brand's internal scale.
• Sold Secure Gold requires a minimum of five minutes of resistance against hand tools. Diamond adds a mandatory 1.5-minute angle grinder test.³
• The ART Foundation rates locks 1-5 stars. Dutch bicycle insurers require a minimum of 2 ART stars for coverage.⁴
• FUB (France), Varefakta (Denmark), and Velo SRA (France, launched September 2025) cover European markets where Sold Secure and ART carry less weight.
• Seatylock's internal color scale (Silver, Gold, Diamond, Armored) maps directly to Sold Secure levels - unlike other brands whose internal scales are proprietary and non-comparable.

What Is a Bike Lock Security Rating?

A bike lock security rating is the result of an independent, lab-conducted test in which a lock is subjected to the same attack methods a determined thief would use - sawing, cutting, prying, picking, and in higher tiers, angle grinding - and must survive those attacks for a defined minimum duration to earn the certification mark. The rating body sets the protocol, selects the tools, times the attack, and issues the result. No brand can simply self-declare it.

This matters because the alternative is a brand's internal security scale: a numeric or graphic tier (say, 1 to 15, or 1 to 10) that the brand itself defines and applies to its own products. There is no shared standard between brands. A "level 8" from one manufacturer has no relationship to a "level 8" from another. Riders who compare these internal scores across brands are comparing incommensurable numbers.

Independent ratings solve this. When two locks both hold Sold Secure Gold, or both carry ART 3 stars, they have survived the same test conditions administered by the same body using the same tool list. The certification is the shared axis. The brand's name does not change what the label means.

The scale of the underlying problem illustrates why the standard matters. In England and Wales, 66,960 bicycle thefts were reported in the year ending March 2024 - and the ONS Crime Survey estimates that 56 to 71 percent of thefts go unreported, meaning the true number is substantially higher.¹ In the US, while around 127,646 bicycles were reported stolen in 2023 per FBI data, a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Findings estimates the actual annual toll at approximately 2.4 million bicycles.² At that scale, the difference between a certified and an uncertified lock is not marginal.

There is also a secondary problem: most stolen bikes that were locked had a lock on them. Independent surveys suggest that the majority of bikes stolen on the street were secured at the time of theft - meaning the lock was present but inadequate for the threat it faced. A security rating is the shortest path to knowing whether a lock is adequate before the theft happens, not after.

Six certification systems now cover most of the world's major cycling markets: Sold Secure (UK), ART Foundation (Netherlands), FUB (France), Varefakta (Denmark and Scandinavia), Velo SRA (France, 2025), and the brand-specific internal scales that exist alongside them. Understanding what each one requires is the first step toward choosing a lock that actually matches its rating.

Sold Secure Ratings: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond

Sold Secure is the UK's primary independent bicycle lock certification body. It tests locks at four tiers and publishes an approved products list that insurers, police, and retailers reference. The four tiers are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond, each one requiring resistance to progressively more severe attack tools and techniques.

Gold is the tier most often cited by UK insurers as a minimum requirement. Gold-rated locks must withstand attacks for a minimum of five minutes using a tool list that includes TCT hacksaws, large bolt croppers, crowbars, and lump hammers.³ Five minutes may not sound like much, but in a real theft scenario, speed and noise are a thief's primary constraints. A lock that takes five minutes to defeat with large, conspicuous tools defeats most opportunist attacks.

Diamond adds a requirement that Bronze, Silver, and Gold do not include: a mandatory angle grinder test. Diamond-rated locks must withstand at minimum five minutes of attack that includes a 1.5-minute attack with an angle grinder.³ Angle grinders are the tool of choice for organized, professional bike theft. Diamond certification is the meaningful threshold for high-value bikes, e-bikes, and any bike parked in a location where professional theft is a documented risk.

Bronze and Silver cover entry-level and mid-range security respectively. Bronze applies List A tools (the least aggressive); Silver applies Lists A and B. Both are appropriate for short-duration, lower-risk parking. Neither should be treated as adequate for overnight urban parking of a bike worth more than a few hundred dollars.

Sold Secure tests are conducted annually. A lock must be resubmitted for testing each year to maintain its certification. This means that a Sold Secure Gold label on a lock represents a current, active approval - not a one-time historical result.

For a focused explanation of how Gold testing works and what it means for everyday urban riders, see Sold Secure Gold rating - the dedicated breakdown of that certification level.

The Foldylock Forever holds Sold Secure Gold alongside ART 3 Star, FUB Recommandé, and Varefakta certification - one of the few folding locks to accumulate that combination of independent approvals.

ART Foundation Ratings: 1 to 5 Stars

The ART Foundation (Stichting ART) is based in the Netherlands and operates the most widely recognized certification system for bicycle locks across mainland Europe. ART rates locks on a 1 to 5 star scale, with each tier defined by the attack methods tested and the duration of resistance required.

The ART attack tests escalate across three levels. Attack Test 1 (covering 1 and 2 star locks) requires the lock to withstand lock-picking attempts with simple tools for what the foundation describes as "a couple of minutes."⁴ Attack Test 2 (3 and 4 stars) requires resistance to lock-picking with specialized tools for a similar duration, with brute force often added to the protocol. Attack Test 3 (5 stars) demands that the lock withstand lock-picking, hacking, and forcing for a longer time and using heavier tools.

"For a lock to receive 5 stars it must withstand lock-picking, hacking and forcing for a longer time and using heavier tools."

ART Foundation (Stichting ART), Netherlands-based bicycle lock testing and certification body⁴

Beyond the three attack tests, ART subjects locks to over twenty additional tests covering corrosion resistance, freeze resistance, tensile strength, dust protection, and long-term endurance. A lock that passes the attack test but fails a material durability test does not earn the mark. The star rating reflects overall quality, not just attack resistance.

The practical insurance implication is direct: Dutch bicycle insurance policies typically require a minimum of 2 ART stars for theft coverage.⁴ A lock below that threshold may mean a denied claim, regardless of the bike's value or the circumstances of the theft. ART 3 and 4 stars cover most high-value bikes and e-bikes in the Dutch and Belgian markets. ART 5 is largely a motorcycle security standard.

For a deeper look at what ART 3 specifically means for folding locks - and why it's considered the folding-lock security ceiling in European markets - see ART 3 certification for folding locks.

FUB, Varefakta, and Velo SRA: European Certifications

"Danish insurance companies usually require that you use a Varefakta approved bicycle lock, otherwise they can deny paying any compensation if your bicycle has been stolen."

Varefakta Foundation, Danish bicycle lock certification body⁶

Why Internal Brand Scales Cannot Be Compared Cross-Brand

Every major bike lock brand publishes its own internal security scale. One brand might rate locks 1 to 15. Another might use 1 to 10. A third might use descriptive tiers. The problem is that these scales are proprietary. Each brand sets its own test criteria, its own thresholds, and its own labels. There is no shared definition of what "level 8" or "maximum security" means across different manufacturers.

A rider who sees an 8/10 security rating from one brand and an 8/10 from another has no basis for comparison. The two 8s might represent radically different levels of physical resistance. One may correspond to Sold Secure Gold. The other may correspond to Sold Secure Bronze. Or neither one has been independently tested at all. Without an independent certification listed alongside the internal score, the internal score communicates nothing beyond the brand's own assessment of its own product.

This is one of the most persistent misconceptions in the bike lock category: that internal brand scales are comparable benchmarks. They are not. The only comparable benchmarks are the independent ones: Sold Secure, ART, FUB, Varefakta, Velo SRA. Two locks that share the same independent certification have been held to the same external standard by the same external body.

Seatylock takes a different approach to its internal scale. The Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Armored color labels used on Seatylock products are not proprietary scores - they map directly to Sold Secure certification levels. A Seatylock Gold badge means the lock holds Sold Secure Pedal Cycle Gold. A Diamond badge corresponds to Sold Secure Diamond. The internal label is a shorthand for the independent certification, not a replacement for it. This means a rider seeing a Seatylock color badge can translate it directly to the published Sold Secure standard without requiring any additional research.

Most brands do not operate this way. Their internal scales are self-referential. Seatylock's color scale is self-declaring in the most useful sense: it names an external, verifiable standard and holds itself to it.

Certification Systems at a Glance

The table below compares the six main systems by geography, tier structure, test basis, and insurance connection.

Which Bike Lock Security Rating Do Insurers Require?

Insurance requirements vary by country and insurer, but the pattern is consistent: specialist cycle insurers and national insurers in markets with established certification bodies align their policies to those certifications. Knowing the requirement before buying a lock is far easier than discovering the gap after a theft.