The classic Italian movie The Bicycle Thief (1948) tells the story of how a life can be changed when a bike is stolen. While most such thefts today don’t mean the difference between life and death (or at least in feeding one’s family), bike theft remains a problem. In fact, the FBI estimates that more than 1.5 million people fall victim to a bicycle theft each year, meaning that a bike is stolen about every 20 seconds! Fortunately some companies are starting to fight back. One such example is BaitBike, which provides specially monitored bikes that are meant to be stolen.
This is sort of a type of a trap to would-be thieves, leaving a bike in an area where similar thefts have occurred. In this case the BaitBike has electronic tracking gear, which in turn allows law enforcement to find said bike and arrest the thieves. While this technology isn’t yet available to the public, hopefully soon we can see a low-jack of sorts for bikes.
But the best advice is to lock your bike if you must leave it, but the better method is to avoid the locks and just never leave your bike out of your sight!