Bikes aren't stolen more often than goods in stores.

Think about it this way... for every 3 people we know, 1 or 2 of them have had a bike stolen from them at some point in their lives.

Most of us don't know any store owners on a personal level, but let's pretend that we do. For every 3 store owners we know, 3 of them have had goods shoplifted from their store, not only at some point in the past, but probably within the last few months.

Why do people steal bikes... probably because of the low security. YOU are the only one on patrol. Bystanders couldn't do anything even if they wanted to. On the otherhand, stores have an entire "loss prevention" team on duty all day, every day.