Maybe you can tell us how this bike was stolen so others can learn.
a. What kind of locks did you use? Did you even use a lock?
An AXA cable lock attached to a special bike rack (the thick iron bars)
b. Was it stolen at night or during the day?
It was getting dark. We arrived around 1800 shortly before dark and were leaving at 1900 hr or so shortly after dark.. I had not thought we'd stay so long, but we were lingering longer than I had expected.
c. Was it stolen near a university or college campus?
At REI (Gilman & San Pablo in Berkeley)
d. Where did you attach the bike to? (bike rack, pole)
See above
e. How long did you leave the bike unattended?
see above: 1 hr.
Just the day before I had shopped at REI as well, but wanted to buy one item more (cleaning tools for water bag) and my hosts said they needed to buy things as well.. this took much longer than I had foreseen. The day before I was inside for quite a while as well, but prob not longer than 30-40 mins. Furthermore I discovered to need a small item from Walgreen a couple of blocks down the road. As there was no bike rack outside, I took the bike inside.. I should have done the same with my bicycle.
The bicycle was worth 3200 USD! Not 1500 USD. The frame alone costs 1500 euro and all the parts together (plus the money for having it put together) added up to 3000 euro. Add 150 euro for Speedplay frogs and about 500 euro for all the tools and items in the rackpack and I start to think that I was raving mad to have left it outside.. that's what happens when you had had a too rosy and happy afternoon. Also, Berkeley is one of the few places in the USA where really a lot of people cycle and have an idea about how much a bike costs.. compare this to Medford wher the gestapo-women at Greyhound forced me to park the bike outside before i could get my money back for a ticket (they were adamant about having it in a cardboard box rather than the more easy to transport bike bag, so i decided to spend 5x more on a rental car).
Sigh...
Ivana, who has spent about 70 euro so far on replacement parts but will have to spend a lot more....