[alexjplant]

> For that reason I think the happiest I've been is with a dirt cheap bike in Japan. Didn't even lock it properly (just a key built into the frame) and could park it outside any old shop or restaurant for hours.

I didn't see a single bike locked up when I visited Japan. I was told that this is because of the high conviction rate and mandatory bike registration process that they have. Was I just in especially low-crime areas? Do most Japanese cyclists lock theirs up?

[rjh29]

If the bikes had baskets they were very cheap and not worth stealing. Obliviously theft is lower in general in Japan and the police will pursue it. Police have been known to arrest someone ordering a small coffee cup and using it to fill a medium coffee, or stealing satsumas from an unmanned vegetable stall.