General Road and Highway Discussion

[dtkvictim]

I have had two bikes stolen. One was locked with a poor cable lock under the stairs of the townhouse I was living in. The other was taken from the shed of the house I was living in because a housemate left it open and unlocked. I have never had a bike stolen while shopping, as I don't leave them unattended for more than 10 minutes. These days I mostly ride my ebike which has a wheel lock with accessory chain. If I need to leave it unattended for longer, I have a second heavy-duty lock and chain. My bike is my main transportation. I use it almost every day for shopping, visiting and recreation. I don't worry too much about theft because the places I lock it are relatively safe and have lots of people around (e.g. the strip malls on Highland, the Kitchener Market). I keep my bikes in my apartment when I am home. I use the bus sometimes if I know that I would have to leave the bike unattended for a few hours. If you have a good lock that will take longer to defeat than the time you will be leaving it unattended, then I don't think you have to worry too much. I see lots of bikes locked up with flimsy locks, and the owners don't seem to worry too much about it. Of course, if I had a $10,000 bike I would certainly have one or more diamond rated locks on it.  Bike theft is a serious problem, but 99% of people are not bike thieves.

This matches my experience. I've had many bikes stolen. Not one has been while it was locked while I was shopping. Overnight, from my house is the most common example.

I figure it's pretty safe, I know lots of people do lock their expensive bikes while shopping, and few have had thefts happen. With a good enough lock (i.e., requiring an angle grinder) most thieves are not going to make an attempt in front of a store....at least in KW.

I'm curious though...for dtkvictim, is your concern about your bike financial or sentimental? If it's financial, my solution to that has been to get insurance. My home insurance covered all my bikes that were stolen (as they were stolen from my home) but I only made a claim when I had many bikes stolen making the deductible worth it. But when I moved here and bought an expensive (relatively...3500 is a lot for a bike for me) ebike I paid for insurance for it.

I'd say it's 50/50 financial and sentimental. I would be emotionally bummed out, and though I could luckily afford to replace them, a sudden expense in the thousands of dollars still hurts. Are you saying you have separate insurance specifically for your bike? I didn't realize that was an option, unless you mean this is something in the Netherlands.

But those anecdotes are reassuring. I store my bikes indoors, and I do have a reasonable Kryptonite u-lock and cable combo for locking in public, so maybe I shouldn't worry so much for quick stops. I think a dedicated bike whose purpose is to get stolen would put my mind completely at ease, though.