Bike sharing the old fashioned way

Bike theft.

I kept a nice Bianchi, well secured, commuter bike for a couple of years, wore it out with heavy loads. The net value was 100 to me, after an initial 450 purchase.

But there is a second tier bike market, bikes less than a hundred are routinely stolen and placed back on the market at steep discounts.  We get an informal flea market of stolen bikes, the separator is the total cost of managing security. 

Locking, unlocking isn't worth it unless your bike has special utility. I let my bike go into the flea market.  I will use the informal market to get my bike utility until I build my ideal bike again; then suffer the cost of security for another few years.