And don't buy a bike without knowing the full history and paperwork, otherwise you are shooting yourself in the foot by supporting criminals and raising your chance of having your bike stolen in the future.
That works well as long as you only want to ride between places with secured parking locations with gated access and cameras.
In the US I have noticed a bit of a disconnect between bike hobbyists (put your bike in your car and drive to the place you want to ride) and people whose bike is their primary mode of transportation. I'm sure it's different in the Netherlands, but a lot of places here you're lucky to find a single bike rack near your destination. "Secured parking locations" don't exist outside of the occasional upscale apartment complex.
This (obviously) precludes you from cycling anywhere you might want to go (home, the shops, your friends houses, a restaurant, a bar, a cafe).
If you restrict yourself to parking in locations with cameras (e.g. stations), your bike will still probably get stolen, especially if it is expensive (I know people who have had their bikes stolen from station bike parks with cameras). I myself had the front wheel stolen from my bike that was parked between 3 CCTV cameras, next to a busy metro station, next to a shop with a security guard, and across the street from the main police station in the city.
I can sadly say from experience that this does not help when you live in student housing.
Also, one lock? You've been lucky. Two locks of different brands is a better bet (junkies tend to specialize in unlocking one particular type quickly)
On the other hand I find it incomprehensible how someone would spent more than 10K for a car that for me seems to offer only very marginal advantages day-to-day. For vacations cars are nice, but then I can just rent one or go by train/plane too.
Still, I either go on a 50 mile type ride where I'll not be stopping until I return to base, a local training ride (similar), a cafe tour - where I'll be able to sit either where I can see the bike or right next to it, or I just leave it at home and take my 'rough bike' (the comedy but that the rough bike is actually also worth a whack - but I've just made it look terrible).
Moving to riding a £1500 from a £200 is like night and day - the first time I rode a full carbon it was amazing, even though the gains were marginal, and comfort and ride were outstanding.
I'd not tried them, but seeing friends with £9k or more bikes, I can imagine that yes they do offer marginal gains, and other things that make the ride better - is it 'worth it? Who knows - but if you have the money and a passion for your hobby, then why not? I'm sure to my parents they couldn't understand why someone would want a £1k phone or ipad when theirs work perfectly for their needs.
And with a good lock, I don't really worry about theft.
On a related note, I see Renovo Hardwood Bicycles shut down earlier this year.
I have had several bikes stolen from me - its such a horrible feeling when that happens.
For everything else, there's Citibike.
Perhaps you mean status signal? I don’t think having a bike is rare enough in Europe to be considered virtue signaling anymore.