Poor you! So this also happens in the middle of Sweden? What a desillusion! I hope you've got a good bike-insurance... X Moniq
 

Like they'd pay anything for a bike from 1946. They'd look in their tables and tell me my bike was worth exactly nothing. Which is nonsense of course, it's worth much more than any new bike. Bikes today are all shiny paint and fancy gears but without substance. My old bike was massive enough (27 kilos or so) to plow through snow drifts with ease. I shall miss it.
 

Damn, that's bit of a kick in the nuts.

Your comment about the age / weight / snow-plow capability of your bike reminded me of a conversation I had with a Dutch friend of my father who we were staying with, about bicycles and the differences between North American and Europena (Dutch?) models. The reason the description of your bike reminds me of this is that Frank then proceeded to show me the new bike he'd acquired for commuting, and it was a solid piece of work - flat blue, heavy, and utterly without pretension. It was fairly pricey, but was of very good quality, and I wouldn't be suprised if it lasts as long as yours has. The point of this rambling story being, I've seen solid bikes like you describe, sold new, in relative geographic proximity to you, so if you poke around, hopefully you can find a decent bike that's not a shiny aluminum fence post with wheels. Better yet, hopefully you find who took your bike, and have a suitable bludgeon handy.
 

Thanks. Yes, I do believe there are some modern bikes with some substance. But usually they're quite a bit more expensive than I feel like paying for a bike. And most of them still seem to have such useless and breakable details as gears and V-brakes. Since I have a working bike now, if not one I really like, I can take my time to find a good used one. I suspect there'll be a good selection to pick from in spring when the students are moving out.

Oh, on the topic of bike theft. The wire lock on my bike in Stockholm was cut open this weekend. Whoever did it probably didn't see until afterwards that I had another, much sturdier, lock on it as well.