Originally Posted by
mickey85
Ya know, the way people talk, it seems like there are roving bands of bike thieves looking around, cable cutters in hand, just waiting for people to leave their bike for a second...
Even in the "bad" neighborhoods of Chicago and Indianapolis when I lived there, a cable lock through both wheels and frame, a U lock for the back wheel and a small chain lock on the saddle was good enough to keep most any bike safe. If that doesn't do the trick for you, perhaps your commuter is a bit too high-visibility.
It only takes one. Really, it seems to me that to make any bike theft-proof to a huge extent would be so much trouble as to make using a bicycle futile in the first place.
What we're really talking about is deterence--making it too much trouble to steal. Even a pretty stout cable lock essentially presents "low-hanging fruit" to a thief properly equipped with bolt-cutters. To my mind, a good U lock with a few easy accessories provides a LOT of deterrence for very little extra effort (aside from initially sorting out your own system).
I ride a lot, and I like to ride a fairly nice bike. I also like to have a fair amount of confidence that it will still be there when I return to it.