Originally Posted by
conspiratemus1
... And you'll sleep better, knowing that loss to theft is a major inconvenience but is not financially ruinous, nor is it the loss of a one-of-a-kind collection of bicycle and gear that you have so much of your soul wrapped up in that you would grieve its loss. For that kind of a loss, the monetary "making whole" will still leave you feeling cheated and angry, by and at somebody.
I really like that sentiment. Of course I would cry a little (and swear a lot) if my bike got stolen but ultimately it would be the loss of tour and inconvenience more than just the money. I am sure that my wife, after some good-natured ribbing, would say "go buy another bike" and I would.
Currently I have two pretty decent touring bikes at my disposal, depending on conditions. Both can get me wherever I want to go in speed or comfort yet both cost less than $1500 each - all in (including bags and racks) because I am not above buying used or new old stock at discount. Sure there are lots of doo dads I might like (such as custom frames, carbon wheels, generator or Rohloff hubs...) but those things have never limited my ability to travel and I would not not tour because I didn't have them.
I think about the high cost of bikes these days, especially road bikes, but do note that they are used in a very different way than touring bikes. The typical roadie around here keeps the bike inside the house, transports it from A to B, rides, has coffee within eyesight of it, and transports it back home. The 5-10K bike really never has a chance to get stolen. You can't live like that on an extended tour.
Far more than gear I envy and covet time. I often say I need two lives for all the things I want to do. I can't complain but being able to just leave without worrying about commitments is way to precious too squander worrying about how fancy your horse is going to be. I like my life but if the stars aligned so that I could take off a summer to travel I would even stoop so low as to do it on a LHT ( inside joke
)