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Now that pragmasis have sadly closed down, what and where do I need to look?
I just need a 1.5m 13mm chain (comparing to old pragmasis spec) but 11mm would probably be fine also.
I've always used Almax in the past but not sure if they're still going
Security for bikes website is still up & running
No stock though
Might be worth shopping around, Pragmasis themselves are running out of stock but it looks like you can still find their products at other retailers? Unless they're all dropshipping? Squire make some good stuff (and a lot of utter crap) but they only do 10mm and 14mm, nothing between- it's worth shopping around for them as you're relatively likely to find discounts.
I have an Onguard Beast 12mm personally for a light duty job where a big chain would be pointless, Onguard stuff definitely is never the <best> but it's usually really good value especially as it's always available with discounts. Just had a wee look and it looks like you can get the 180cm 12mm for £49 off Amazon inc padlock, that's going to be hard to beat. The padlock is almost definitely the weak spot there but, well, you can't really get a good padlock for £49 with or without a chain so it's all relative!
(I also looked at Milenco, their 12mm scores surprisingly well at grinder tests and it's cheap, but the inbuilt lock is apparently crap and shortlived. TBH Milenco also just look cheap and nasty which I reckon is a real downside, a crap thief's definitely more likely to be deterred by a good looking lock (and a good or determined thief will break any 12mm lock pretty quick regardless so a big part of this is going to be deterring crap thieves and opportunists not good thieves)
TBF 12mm is always a bit of a weird place, they're fundamentally a weak security option so there's a good argument for going with something that's decent but cheap and looks the part, rather than going for a gucci option which will still ultimately be easy to break. Sizing up to 14mm is maybe going to be worth it if you can deal with the heavier chain, it can still be cheap (because you're still not looking at real max protection, more bulk) and it can be usefully more protective just because it's up one size on boltcutter jaws basically and like for like it's about 30% slower to grind. Mr Big Boltcropper is still going to bust it faster than you can find the keys in your pocket and undo the lock, but you're basically just hoping that's not who comes to nick it.
Not sure what's going on with Almax these days, their store is down and I saw some pretty unhappy reviews about super slow delivery/nondelivery.
Almax seems to be in trouble - I ordered from them but even after 3 phone calls no lock arrived so I got a refund via paypal
Thanks @bikesandboots. I'll give pragmasis a call next week and see what they've got.
Pragmasis were as helpful as always and they do have some limited stock as mentioned above. So grab them while you can.... assuming you need one, of course 😉
I got some Pewag chain cut to length from Brindleychains that I was happy with for the price...
https://www.brindleychains.co.uk/collections/pewag-security-chains
Avoid Almax, I ordered a pricey padlock from them, it didn’t arrive and despite repeated calls and emails they never got back to me. Similar to the poster above I had to get refund via PayPal. As an alternative to Pragmasis, you could check Milenco?
Toolstation have a 12mm x 1.5m chain for £26
I'm sure it isn't as secure as one from Pragmasis, but if not too fussed about security it may fit the bill.
*edit* I've just measured mine and the links are actually 11.3mm at their thinnest - so not quite a 12mm chain. It weighs 4kg.
That’s a shame to hear the stories about Almax. My Almax chain is 19mm, and weighs a ton, but as I now store bikes vertically in Steady Racks I was going to downgrade to one of their 16mm chains. I will contact Pragmasis if they still have some stock
Anyone know anything about the Burg-Wächter brand of chains?
I'm after another 2m or 3m chain and they keep showing in searches.