A week ago, I would have responded that bike theft is not as significant as it was 30 years ago, although this is an admittedly biased comparision between a large urban college campus (UCLA) and a quiet beach town. However, last week, my son's 24"-wheeled mountain bike was stolen while he was shooting baskets at a local school playground. The thief left a new-looking Magna hybrid (overweight piece of merde from *-Mart) with a flat tyre and took off on William's Giant-built Peugeot "US Express." He dragged the Magna home, and I replaced the tyre, tube, and rim strip, and I told him to use it as a beater. Interestingly, he would rather walk than ride the thing, so he may have learned a valuable lesson. (It's also gratifying that a 12-year-old can distinguish so easily between an older mid-quality bike and a much newer, flashier-looking no-quality bike.) He is almost big enough to ride the Ross Rock Machine I fixed up for him, but I told him he will have to wait until he demonstrates that he can take security issues seriously.