Cycling in Waterloo Region

[Chris]

What boggles my mind is the theft of (usually front) wheels. Yes, they come off easily, and have no serial numbers, but is there really that much of a market for stolen wheels? Fairly regularly I see dodgy-looking characters riding bikes downtown with an extra wheel in one hand, and I figure it's rather unlikely that they are just carrying spare wheels around. 

So many of the crappy bike racks around town encourage people to just lock up a front or back wheel unless you have a long cable or multiple u-locks (and a proper locking strategy).

For every person rolling around with a front wheel there is someone with an entire bike minus the front wheel. Get enough of each and you can reassemble many bikes. If you have ever witnessed the bike traffic at Bridgeport and Regina you've seen this in action. People with bike trailers filled with all sorts of odds and ends.