Everyone's locale has different crime risk profiles and everyone's bikes vary in cost, everyone's risk aversion is different, but I'm wondering how much effort people invest in locking/security.
Me? Given the small [~100,000 pop.] city with a relatively low crime rate other than Univ. student-party rowdy-ism I live in, I feel safe leaving my bike locked either Ulock to front wheel and frame. Or cable lock through front and rear and frame. for reasonable lengths of time.
Though with the latest on circular keys I'm reconsidering my trust in the Ulock.
And I have no problem leaving my bike unlocked for a quick run into a store, say for a water refill if the foot traffic around the area isn't too high and the layout of the store is such that I can keep the bike in sight.
I usually keep one lock at home and the other at work. I don't have to lock it at work but having one there means that I don't have to lug a lock on my commute if I decide spontaneously to go somewhere else rather than home afterwards.
I have two bikes, a Giant OCR3 and a beat-up mountain bike of indeterminate origin. I use the latter for commuting purposes, locking it with a cable lock. The OCR3 is strictly for pleasure rides - I never leave it unattended outside my garage.
I ride only for fun and never lock my bike. At home it stays in a locked garage. When out I never leave unattended.
Last time I locked a bike (~10 years ago) it was stolen. To my mind locks arepretty much worthless. At least locks light enough to go on a bike. I spent a fortune to get a nice light bike and have no intention of loading it down with a heavy lock.
Interestingly (in a former situation) I worked at an inner city Medical Center and lots of folks commuted by bike and locked them up. The theft problem was exceeded only by the vandalism problem. I saw lots of instances in which if a kid couldn't defeat the lock and take the bike they simply kicked in the wheels and DR's. Pretty sad but it convinced me that leaving anything of value in the open is a bad decision.
