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Your approach requires a large up-front investment, especially for a student. Lugging a heavy frame around isn't practical, and many would find it hard to justify $2,700 for a carbon-fibre bike; I struggled to scrape together £280 for a bike this Christmas (the cheapest aluminium one I found).

Whilst it's sensible to keep them indoors at home, that's no guarantee; I've had a bike stolen from inside my house.

My bikes seem to last ~1.5 years, so I chose new bike under that assumption. For your bike's $2,700 I can get ~6 of my current bike, or about 9 years worth.

I recommend buying second-hand bikes instead of cheap new ones. If you (or a friend) know a bit about bikes you easily get better quality for lower prices.

Thus the circle continues.

Because the whole used bike market is theft? Please, that's just an irresponsible assertion...

> It sat quite nicely next to me at my desk, even in lecture halls & was never really a problem.

How many people in a lecture hall? How many of them tKing their frames with them becomes a problem?

This is an impressive pain in the ass. I race too and the only lock its ever trusted behind is a deadbolt. I bought a very nice mid 80s road bike for my commuter because its about as light as an entry level race bike but looks like nothing special.

I always get tenaciously grimey hands whenever I put my wheels on and off.

I was a freak about keeping my bike clean & always used wax instead of oil on the chain. Sometimes grime was unavoidable like when it was raining so I carried a moist towel in a ziplock bag in my backpack. I also had a chain clip on the rear stay so it wouldn't flop around and brush into things. When removing a wheel the key is to hold the spokes, not the tire and rim. Spokes should mostly always be clean with a bit of maintenance - they don't need oiled after all. On my set of Mavic wheels that was somewhat dangerous since they had oval spokes which were a bit sharp. I did cut myself on them a few times.

you're telling me that you can't imagine any sort of situation where locking your bike would be necessary?

"Only once in four years did a university security guard ask me to take it outside and lock it up. I asked why and he said: "university policy doesn't allow bikes in the building." I responded that it wasn't a bike. It was a frame and would only be a bike when assembled with wheels which it wasn't when in the building."

wow.

Yes, pretty much, for a bike you care about that is. In my case it was key to my profession. I made money bike racing & being without my bike was simply not an option, so it was always with me or in my apartment. Yes, if you live in a dorm maybe my model would be an issue, but then again if you live in a dorm it might not be a good idea to have a bike you care about. And yeah, when I'd go to a nightclub or somewhere I couldn't take my bike I'd get a ride from someone and leave it in my apartment. The key here is that if you care about a bike that you don't want stolen, don't leave it somewhere to get stolen.

there exist people who don't race professionally who care about their bikes (but not to the same extent that you do)

> And yeah, when I'd go to a nightclub or somewhere I couldn't take my bike I'd get a ride from someone and leave it in my apartment.

There you have it. Your "I've never had to lock my bike up up outside" system is really "I can only cycle to places where I know I can take my bike inside". That doesn't sound like much of a way to live a life to me.

This is my take away as well.

Like your bike? Only ride it during the day, store it in your apartment next to your purse and credit card. Don't use it to meet with friends for a night out. Don't take it to get to the movies. Think hard if you plan to stroll through the city for an hour.

Ideally, you drive around in a circle, get back home and .. carry it N floors, storing it safely in your apartment again.

I really believe that this is the only way to keep a bike. Which is the reason why I don't keep a bike anymore. It's just not feasible to have (a decent) one.