OiS

Damn Thieves!!!!

Ok, so I have now had 2 bikes stolen in Singapore. The first was a top end, custom made road bike. Custom steel frame, DA parts, and although about 8 years old was an absolute dream to ride. The only thing I had needed to swap out, was the wheels, after having snapped the first spoke ever on the original DA wheels, for some new HED Bastogne's (only about 2 months prior to it being stolen!). I never used to leave it in places for very long, and the time it was stolen was no exception. I stopped at a mall for less than 30 mins, and, as I always did, locked my bike to something solid, with my TWO bike locks, a U-Bolt lock through front wheel and frame, and a cable lock through back wheel, frame and very thick metal pole. Nevertheless, stolen.

Ok, so I was peeved. Reported to the police of course, put up on local bike forums, but nothing. Anyway, eventually got another bike, this time, scaled it down in price, but still bought a nice MTB. A nice Scott Voltage.

So, had fun with that one for a couple of months before that one was stolen from the bike parking space in the basement of my condo! So much for 24 hour security and walls around the perimeter. (Not to mention a lock on that bike too of course.)

After that, I briefly contemplated not having a bike at all, but, no, I damn well wasn't going to let a bunch of thieves deprive me of one of the joys of my life. Quite the contrary actually, I bought a new road bike, full carbon and top end components including Di-2 shifters, and, NO lock at all. As for why NO lock at all, well, they just give a false sense of security, they make you think your bike is safe, when it really is not. So now, with no lock, I can't leave it anywhere. I go out for a ride, and I do not stop anywhere that my hand is going to be more than 1 foot from my bike, and never a door or window inbetweeen. I go out and ride and come back home and bring my bike inside with me, where there is ALWAYS someone at home.

What then is the dilema? Well, my work is moving offices soon, and the public transport is not great to the new location, and they also have bike racks and showers in the office, so, riding to work sounds a great option!

Thing is of course, I do not want to ride my top end bike to work and trust in the work security measures to protect my baby. So then, which bike to get?

I love good quality components on a bike, and I like my bike to look cool (to me anyway), but of course I am now thinking that combination is basically a thief magnet!

What can I do**********