[leoedin]

I've been commuting daily by bike in London for almost a decade. I use my bike to get around on the weekends too. Never had an issue.

Maybe this is because I've never had a job where I've had to leave it locked up on the street for hours on end. However, my bike is kind of crappy looking and I've left it locked up outside pubs and restaurants many times. I've never had an issue finding somewhere to lock it up anywhere in the city - there's always a bike rack, tall lamppost or solid railing near where I'm going.

You have to be confident riding in traffic. But once you accept that you need to be assertive - take the centre of the lane if there's no space to pass, use your positioning to control the traffic behind you, don't go into peoples blind spots etc, it's pretty safe. I think traffic in London is pretty accustomed to cyclists - we're everywhere. It's when you get further out the city into the suburbs that things start getting unpleasant.