Best E Bike Chain Lock: Thickness, Length and Security Rating

An e bike chain lock protects more value than an ordinary bicycle lock, around wider frame tubes and at anchors that a short loop rarely fits. The practical guide to bike chain locks gives the overview of the chain category; this list ranks chain setups for one job, the e-bike. The value gap is large: in Germany, the average e-bike sold for €2,650 in 2024, against €500 for a bicycle without a motor¹. Link thickness, usable length, weight and an independent rating decide which setup earns the job.

Key Takeaways

• German e-bikes sold for an average of €2,650 in 2024, more than five times the €500 average for bicycles without a motor¹.
• Sold Secure tests Powered Cycle Gold and Pedal Cycle Diamond with identical tools, attack methods and time limits, so the two grades are equivalent³.
• One wrap around an 8 inch fiberglass streetlight base uses approximately 64 cm of chain before the loop reaches the frame⁶.
• The common misconception is that the heaviest chain is the safest choice. A chain left behind on the ride protects nothing, so weight and carry belong in the decision.

1. Chain Plus Diamond U-Lock: Best Overall E Bike Chain Lock Setup

The strongest e-bike setup on this list pairs a thick hardened chain with a Sold Secure Diamond U-lock. The pair reaches Sold Secure's e-bike security level and holds each wheel with a different lock. Powered Cycle rating is the Sold Secure grade for motorcycles, mopeds and e-bikes, with Diamond as the top grade and Gold below it³.

Sold Secure recommends a Powered Cycle rated product for anyone who owns an e-bike. It adds that Powered Cycle Gold and Pedal Cycle Diamond offer the same level of security, tested with the exact same tools, attack methods and time limits³. A bicycle lock rated Pedal Cycle Diamond therefore carries the tested security of Powered Cycle Gold, the entry grade of that scheme.

The Mason 300 U-lock is listed in the Sold Secure product search at Pedal Cycle Diamond⁴. Its extra-long shackle leaves room for a thick frame tube and a rear wheel together. A thick chain then runs through the front wheel and the frame to the same rack, so a thief faces two different locks.

"For maximum security, cyclists are advised to use two locks of different types."

Shane D. Johnson, Aiden Sidebottom and Adam Thorpe, Problem-Oriented Guides for Police, US Department of Justice⁸

German insurers give the same advice: their federation, the GDV, lists two locks among its five theft tips so that frame and wheels can be secured separately². Its figures explain the urgency: approximately 135,000 insured bicycles were stolen in 2024, and thieves appear to target high-value bicycles and e-bikes in particular².

Best for: e-bikes left for a working day or overnight at public racks, and any e-bike insured above a policy's Gold line.

The trade-off is carried weight, and design decides whether it is bearable. The U-lock rides in a frame mount, sold separately, while the chain travels in a bag or a holder. The guide to carrying a chain quietly compares those carry options.

For an e-bike that spends hours away from home, the two-lock pair is the starting point rather than an upgrade.

2. Mid-Length Viking Gold: Best Single Chain for Daily E-Bike Parking

A single chain suits shorter stops in calmer places, and the mid-length Viking Gold is the pick for that job. It uses square hardened steel links in the thicker of the two Viking link classes, inside a textile sleeve that keeps the steel off the paint.

Link thickness refers to the cross-section of each chain link, and it sets the size of cutter a thief has to bring. A chain fails at its weakest single link or at its lock head, so both have to be strong. The guide to chain cut resistance explains how hardening and link shape add to thickness.

Length is where e-bikes differ from lighter bicycles, and rack tubes set the first limit: Portland's permit rules allow rack tubing up to a 3 inch outside diameter⁷. One wrap around a tube that size uses approximately 24 cm of chain. That leaves most of a mid-length loop free to pass through the frame and the rear wheel.

The design half matters just as much on a heavy e-bike. The integrated lock head means there's no separate padlock to carry or juggle. A lock that closes quickly at every stop is the one that gets used every day.

Best for: commuters who park for a few hours at standard hoop racks in medium-risk areas, and riders who want one lock that fits a frame bag.

The mid-length chain is the right single lock when the stop is short; once the stop runs long, it becomes half of a pair.

3. Longest Viking Gold: Best for Cargo E-Bikes and Wide Posts

Wide anchors and long cargo frames need reach, and the longest Viking Gold supplies it. Street furniture shows why: Montgomery County, Maryland, specifies aluminum streetlight poles with a 7 inch base diameter, and fiberglass poles with a base of at least 8 inches⁶.

Usable length means the chain left over once the anchor is wrapped, which still has to pass round a frame tube and a wheel. The chart sets the three nominal Viking lengths against three common anchors, using one wrap equal to the anchor's circumference.

The pattern is plain: one wrap around a 3 inch rack tube leaves most of any chain free⁷. Around an 8 inch fiberglass pole, the shortest Viking keeps only approximately 26 cm, too little for a frame tube and a wheel⁶. The longest keeps approximately 76 cm, which leaves room for the frame and the rear wheel.

Cargo and long-tail e-bikes add a second reason for reach: long frames, small wheels and a main tube that can sit far from the rack. The longest chain also locks two bicycles to one anchor, which suits households with more than one e-bike.

The cost is weight, as this chain is the heaviest of the three Viking Gold lengths. Riders who park at the same place every day can leave it locked to that anchor and carry a lighter lock in between.

Best for: cargo and long-tail e-bikes, poles and posts wider than a rack tube, and two e-bikes on one anchor.

Measure the widest anchor you use before choosing a length, because a pole can take most of a short chain before the loop reaches the bicycle.

4. Viking Gold 90: Best for Tight Racks and Front-End Locking

The shortest Viking Gold suits tight racks, where a long chain only adds slack. The Viking Gold 90 uses the same thick square links as the longer Gold chains in a shorter, lighter loop. On a hoop rack, it reaches round the head tube, the fork and the rack, which holds the front of the e-bike.

Striking refers to splitting a chain or lock with a hammer and chisel while it rests on the ground⁸. Thieves also push jacks or bars into the gap a loose lock leaves, then lever the lock apart⁸. Both attacks feed on slack, and a short chain leaves less of it.

Insecure locking is common: in a 2008 US police guide, observations of around 8,500 London locking events found just 20 percent of bicycles locked in a way judged secure⁸. A chain sized to the anchor helps avoid the loose fit that the same guide warns about.

The short loop has limits, because it won't take in the rear wheel and a thick post together. On an e-bike it works best as the front lock in a pair, or alone for a quick stop in plain view.

Best for: hoop racks and short stops, the front wheel and fork in a two-lock setup, and riders who want the thicker link class at the lowest carried weight.

Choose the short chain for fit, not for savings in weight alone; if it cannot reach the rear wheel at your usual rack, it needs a partner lock.

5. Viking Silver: Best Lighter Chain for the Second Wheel

The Viking Silver is the lighter chain for a second lock, and the Sold Secure product search lists the Viking Silver chain lock at Pedal Cycle Silver⁴. Its square hardened links are thinner than the Gold class, which saves weight on every ride.

A Pedal Cycle Silver grade on its own sits below the Powered Cycle grades that Sold Secure recommends for an e-bike³. That makes the Silver chain a supporting lock rather than a main one. Paired with a Diamond U-lock on the rear wheel, it holds the front wheel and adds a second tool to the thief's job.

One UK insurer draws a similar line by value: Sundays Insurance accepts a Silver-rated lock only for bicycles insured at £1,499 or less⁵. The 2024 German average e-bike price of €2,650 sits above that figure even after currency conversion¹.

Best for: the front wheel in a two-lock setup, lighter e-bikes at low-risk daytime stops, and riders who carry two locks every day.

Treat the Silver chain as the second lock on an e-bike, never as the only one.

6. A Stationary Chain at Home: Best for Garages and Shared Storage

A chain that never leaves home can be as long and heavy as the space allows, because nobody has to carry it. Sold Secure describes its Powered Cycle Gold grade as designed to protect an e-bike both at home and when out and about³. The same powered cycle scheme also certifies ground anchors³.

The longest Viking Gold is the natural choice here. Run it through the frame and the rear wheel to a wall or ground anchor, keep the loop tight and lift the lock head off the floor. Where the e-bike has a removable battery, the battery belongs indoors on the charger rather than on a bicycle in a shared space.

Shared garages and bike rooms deserve the same care as the street. Residents, visitors and contractors pass through them, and few of these rooms are watched at night.

Best for: home garages, shared bike rooms and sheds, and riders who want to keep the carried lock light.

A fixed home chain lets the carried lock stay light, which is how a heavy e-bike gets two strong locks without hauling both.

E Bike Chain Lock Comparison Table

The table puts the six picks side by side with the figures that drive the choice. Sizes and weights come from Seatylock's published technical drawings, and prices are US list prices checked on the product pages in October 2026.

Two figures frame the table: the average e-bike sold in Germany in 2024 cost €2,650¹. One UK insurer requires a Sold Secure Gold lock for any bicycle insured above £1,500⁵. The average e-bike therefore meets that insurer's Gold requirement on value alone, before place and parking time are counted.

Value is only one input, though, and the risk-tier framework for chain locks scores parking place and parking time alongside it. The U-lock and chain comparison sets out where each format wins when used alone.

Read the rating column first and the weight column second; a light lock that misses the e-bike level saves weight at the cost of the bicycle.

How These Picks Were Selected: Thickness, Length and Rating

The list draws on the six Viking chain models and the Mason U-lock range, all made by Seatylock, and ranks each pick on five criteria in order of weight.

• Independent rating: the grade shown in the Sold Secure product search, read against Sold Secure's advice for e-bike owners³⁴.
• Link thickness: the cross-section of the hardened links or shackle, taken from Seatylock's technical drawings.
• Usable length: the chain left after one wrap of a standard rack tube or streetlight base, from published municipal specifications⁶⁷.
• Weight and carry: the load a rider moves on every trip, and whether the lock has a quiet way to travel.
• Ease of use: how quickly the lock closes round a heavy e-bike at the rack.

The methodology is research only, with no hands-on cut testing carried out for this article. Attack resistance rests on independent ratings where a listing exists, rather than on in-house trials. Product dimensions and weights come from Seatylock's technical drawings, checked against the live product pages in October 2026.

The ranking puts the two-lock pair first for one reason. Among these six picks, it's the only setup whose rated part reaches the level Sold Secure ties to e-bikes, because the two grades share identical tests³. The chains then rank by how well their length fits the anchors an e-bike meets.

Disclosure: Seatylock makes every lock on this list, so the ranking compares options within one range rather than across brands. A lock from any maker that holds a Powered Cycle grade, or Pedal Cycle Diamond, meets the same bar.

Use the same order when judging any e-bike lock: the independent rating first, then thickness, length, weight and the daily ease of use.