The bicycle thief

In the 1980’s no matter what your tactics the half life of your bicycle ownership was about 6 months.

Then it was stolen.

Today you can’t get your bike stolen in Sydney even if you try.

Even the easily removable bits, like lights and front wheels, remain intact in even the most trying of situations

I can leave my bike tied up overnight outside of the ‘projects’ in Waterloo, and with my flimsy lock. And it’s still there in its entirety in the morning.

My suspicion is that thievery is a victim of the rise of cheap Chinese manufacturing and the internet, cutting out all the middle men.

As goods have got relatively cheaper the risk/return merits of theft have become much lower. The same risks with much lower financial returns.

Also the honest and increasingly affluent recipients of stolen goods down the pub have less to gain from the dodgy cheap purchases. Why bother when you have eBay or Kmart?

I am almost tempted to ride sans lock. Not really. But just look at the thing, a child could bust it.