Thief rates on bikes have been sky rocketing lately. They are stealing everything, even the plastic kids trikes. The family down the block are in the process of buying all new bikes for their kids. Wouldn't be surprised if 'Bike Jacking' is next.
Been using the old 3-speed lately with it's odd sized tires and steel rims (26x1-3/8"), but caught a few people checking it out when I came out of the grocery store, so even that isn't safe from thief.
The local box stores are almost out of bike locks of types, so that hints of the bigger problem regardless of what we think is a quality lock. Bike sales seem to be up too. The local Wal*Mart sold out most of their bikes, the racks were empty of bikes on Sunday.
Be careful out there.