I'm a little late to this thread (took some time off from the site to work on other personal goals/interests), but I had a negative reaction to this MMM post. I had my bike stolen around the same time that this was published and it was a bit frustrating that MMM didn't actually handle the very real risk of bike theft. I live in a dense urban area with a fair amount of petty crime and burglary occurring. In my old apartment building, apartments in the building had been broken into several times in the last few years. So burglary and theft was a very real risk.
I use a bike to commute during the warm months and for exercise, running errands, etc. I've had pieces of my bikes stolen before, over the years, but until recently none of them has had much of an effect. I could always replace the stolen saddle or wheel for under $100. Recently, my saddle, saddle post, AND rear wheel with hub were all stolen. Altogether, the cost came out to $225-$250 to get the bike back to its previous condition. The bike itself was worth less than $300. It was a four year old bike and the brand-new model only goes for $425. So I ended up just buying a new bike that would be a better deal since it didn't seem worth $250 for an old bike (with other problems, no doubt, aside from the missing components).
I try to think of my bike as a business. Where I live, unlimited public transit is $100/month. If I ride my bike even two months out of the year, my bike will pay for itself within a few years. I just have to factor in the cost of maintenance AND the not-insignificant risk of it being stolen. I was hoping that MMM would cover how to account for things like theft when planning your personal finances. Instead I got an article about NOT having your bike stolen. Lame.