When I was a teenager, I was in a store and saw someone outside grab my bike and go. I was maybe 20 feet away, I chased but I had left the bike in an ideal gear for him to accelerate away from me. It took me about half of a year of earnings on my paper route to buy that bike, thus I will never forget the thief's laughter as I ran after him. On the rare occasion when I leave my bike unattended while in a restaurant or something like that, I always leave it in the highest gear.

I carry two locks:
- One cheap little thin cable one like skiers use. This is only intended to slow someone down while I am in a store for a few minutes. But it makes me a lot more comfortable to use when I am in a fast food store or using a rest room.
- One six foot long steel cable with good padlock for longer periods of time. I have three cables, the thickness of the cable I carry with me is based largely on where I am going.

I use the type of skewers that require an allen wrench to remove. Not the the ones that require a special tool, I might lose the tool, just the ones that take a 5mm hex wrench. With these I do not bother to lock my wheels to the frame.

If I was in an area where I was unusually concerned about theft, such as a campground where I might be a bit nervous about other campers or observe cars driving around that look like they are staking the place out, I would pull my front wheel and put it under my tent vestibule for overnights. I think an incomplete bike is less likely to be stolen.

I tour on a bike that is licensed in my home community. If it becomes an issue of the police trying to decide who really owns the bike (me or teh other guy), I feel better being able to tell them to call the police in my home town to verify the information on the bike license sticker on the frame.