On the one hand, that was my clumsy way of making the point that, even if you lock up your bike frame with a nuke-proof lock, you still have a lot of stuff on the bike that can be pilfered. Even though losing these other things won't end your trip like losing your bike would, you don't necessarily want to spend time buying replacements when you're on vacation, so you need to keep an eye on your stuff. But then again, if you keep an eye on your stuff, you don't really need a nuke-proof lock with you.

On the other hand, if you have suitable cable locks, it's actually pretty easy to cable your panniers so that people can't just walk away with them. Prior to my latest trip, I didn't carry locks at all; I just kept a close eye on my stuff. This past trip, I decided to give these locks a try.

http://www.masterlock.com/product_de...eLocks/8127TRI

You get three 6' cable locks, keyed alike (the same key works for all three), and they weigh slightly more than 9 ounces each. I carried two with me on the trip. I locked the cables around a pannier handle for storage. When I wanted to lock up, I unlocked the lock, poked the lock through the rear triangle, around the fixed object, through the handle on the other pannier, and locked the lock. Do more or less the same for the front, and you're done. It won't hold up to bolt cutters, but it doesn't need to. The main thing is to deter the casual stuff.