Ever since Parker pens worth pennies have proved capable of defeating expensive, steel bike locks, campus cyclists have worried about the safety of their bikes.

$80 to $100 locks are rendered useless by the barrel of a pen. On a campus where the average student is already a victim of bike theft at least once in their four years, this news has many worried.

The lock sabotage method was posted on a San Francisco cycling Web site, BikeForums, two weeks ago and has since prompted a full recall by the leading maker of U-locks with circular keys, Kryptonite. The company plans to give costumers new locks at no charge.

“I just got a brand new bike that I paid $200 for,” freshman Marina Scannell complained. “I bought the lock, which guaranteed that your bike wouldn’t be stolen and now I feel like it could be stolen right away.”

Christian Parker of the Campus Bike Shop affirmed this fear, saying that he has seen a student break a U-lock in about 20 seconds using the pen method.

“It’s crazy that you can break the unbreakable lock with a bit of plastic,” freshman Amy Briggs said.

Parker claims that the bike shop hopes to be able to replace all U-locks on campus, regardless of where the lock was bought. However, they have not yet negotiated a deal with Kryptonite. Also, anyone hoping to exchange their lock needs to register on the Kryptonite Web site.

It will take several weeks until new, alternative locks are manufactured and distributed, and PARKER-resistant brands of locks — including On Guard — are sold out at the campus bike shop.