Maybe a year ago I was parking my bike at a local market when I spotted an Edelux light mounted to the bike next to mine. They're not too common around here so I took another look at the bike. It was copy-paste from my Christmas wish list. SON front hub, Rohloff rear hub, top-of-line lights, disk brakes, Nokian studded tyres, Brooks saddle (covered with a plastic bag and yes, I did peek), good racks rear and front plus a Klickfix mount for the handlebar bag.

The owner had gone to great lengths to hide all that beauty. The frame was painted matte dark green, no decals anywhere, strips of electrical tape and dirt placed randomly here and there. It even looked like he had smeared something on the hub surfaces to hide SON and Rohloff logos. It looked really getto, absolutely fugly - and the rear wheel alone cost more than what I was parking next to it. I'd say most of our thieves would not understand its value.

--J