Originally Posted by
greatscott
I've used nothing but a cable lock for more than 40 years, in fact the same cable and lock that long, which means no one has ever stolen my bike. Of course I don't live in NY City, but if I did live there I surely wouldn't lock up a nice bike, I would take a $200 or so used bike and lock it up instead because any lock, no matter what you paid for it, can be broken within 30 seconds, which makes all locks these days not that much better than my stupid cable lock!
So your best defense against getting a bike stolen is simply getting a beater bike and lock it up outside.
For decades I had a cable lock and padlock that just went around my waist twice with enough slack to be completely unnoticeable riding. Very, very convenient! I loved that it could lock frame and both wheels to a tree. Combined with a fix gear beater bike that no one wanted, easy and secure. (The '90s changed that a little. Fix gears became popular. Still, mine with fenders, rack and brakes was pretty far off the radar, Before that I almost wanted to watch the bike get stolen just to watch the thief try to ride it.)
I also liked locking to trees because that was far from other bikes and nobody was going to be near it except to unlock it or steal it. Ie, might be more of an attention magnet than simply another person at the bike rack. Also no rack or other bikes to make the boltcutters less noticeable.
Ben
And yes, to not have your bike get stolen, park it next to a more desirable one. The old bear attack secret, You don't have to be able to run faster than the bear, just your companion.
Ben