The Guardian's bike blog

Yeah, but there's obviously an issue. Look at the threads on this forum, and the comments on the post.

I'm sorry Sparky but your piece really does not add anything to our understanding of this issue. I know you did not write the headline or standfirst but it was predictable what they would be.
*"The number of cyclists who lose their rides in brazen robberies has increased alarmingly"
*That claim is not substantiated by the article. The only statistics are provided by an insurance firm and you took them at face value and didn't even mention the potential self-interest. The rest is anecdote and as has been pointed out a great many of the stories are incidents that happened years ago. It is possible that bike muggings have always been a problem but have never been recognised as such but that was not your angle.
Strip out the comments that are years old, or are about non-violent bike theft and you are left with pitifully little on which to base such a dramatic article. Further strip out the muggings that took place in De Beauvoir, which were specific to one location and which appear to have been committed by the same few people, and the evidence for a growing problem is even weaker.
*"The last thing we want at the Bike blog is to scaremonger or make cyclists paranoid"
Unfortunately that is exactly what you appear to have done. You do not have anything that could be called reliable evidence.* Ending with a 'Don't have nightmares, do sleep well' style sign off* "bicycle mugging is still very rare*" won't undo the impression the article has created that there is yet one more reason for people not to ride bikes.