Bicycle Blues

I came out of the office yesterday afternoon to find that someone had tried to steal my bike. It was locked up with a U-lock through the frame. They bent the U-lock but it still held. However, in the process they damaged the frame badly. Surprisingly, they didn't trash the bike - everything else seemed ok. I could even ride it home.

It's quite a sickening feeling when something like this happens. It's just a bike, and I have insurance, and it can be replaced, but it still hurts. You get quite attached to things like bicycles. It's almost like they're an extension of your body, part of you. Maybe some people feel that way about their cars, but to me a car is a lot less "personal".

I'm assuming it won't be worthwhile to replace the frame. Maybe I can get something for the wheels and components - they're in pretty good shape.

This bike was a Cannondale F600. Before that I had an M400. I wonder what I should buy this time? I was happy with the F600, or I could move up to an F800 or F1000 (although I'd have to get use to the Lefty shock!) Or should I be going to full suspension, like a Scalpel? And that's just staying with a Cannondale. I'm used to them, but there's lots of other good bikes out there.

Normally, buying a new bike is exciting, but being forced to do it like this takes some of the pleasure out of it.