I also live in Los Angeles, my bike new is $800(bought about 1 year ago), but has well north of $1000 put into it. I am lucky enough to park it inside at my desk at work and it lives inside my house too. When I go places with it, I make sure to lock it securely and never leave it for too long. I don't regret making the purchase I did due to cost. If I could do it again I would have actually probably spent more. I spend 2 hrs+ hours a day riding, so getting what I wanted was more important then the risk of theft.