It has integrated locks and unlikely to be stolen. It can't be picked up and thrown in the back of a van.
Or just ridden off.
I come out and the seat isn't wet and the chain isn't rusty.
Everything is dry and ready to go.
As for the rest, I lube my chains rarely and they are rusty on extreme occasions only and stand in the rain often. Belt drives also require no lube at all. A bike can be dried up in 5 seconds or you can use a seat cover which costs around 50 cents on average unless you get it for free. You take it off and the seat is dry and ready to go.
And you don't have to drive around three blocks for 10 minutes looking for a parking space. Or longer if you don't find it and drive home and ride a bike instead. So cars are a compromise with mental health and bikes are a breeze. I haven't had to worry about anything or make any compromise with them in so 12 years I've been riding daily. Because even a rusty chain can be replaced for 10-20$. They are basically worry free and almost maintenance free. To call them a compromise is an insult to common sense.
I don’t disagree with your experience regarding maintenance. Mine has been with a bike in Florida rain, where the streets run yellow with pine pollen in spring, and where the fog is of the Pacific’s salt air.
With my folding bike, I just find a place to park the car and peddle the last mile or don’t and just walk. A car doesn’t require me to park close.
Car or bike or foot, I tend to maintain my chill about the same frequency. I stopped competing for parking a few years ago. Cannabis helped. YMMV, but it helped on the internet too.
