It seems that number of recent bike shop break-ins at mountain bike trail centres has had some shop owners on the verge of packing it all in. Most recently, Afan Valley Bike Shed near Port Talbot had a(nother) break-in for the second time in a month (this time breaking in through the floor!), adding to a previous break-in over New Year.
In a widely shared post on Facebook, Afan Valley Bike Shed owners, Ben and Vicki said:
It is with a heavy heart and incredibly angry head that we have to let you know we have been robbed, yet again! This time, at least for now, we are taking some time out to reassess if it’s worth continuing with the shop. All those customers who have ordered bikes from us, we absolutely 100% will honour your orders. We just need some time off. It’s hard enough to make a living right now with Covid, but when the scum of the earth are roaming round taking our livelihood from us it beggars belief. It seems there are those of us doing our best to get by and those who don’t feel it necessary to do a fair days work for a fair days pay, they just take what they want and screw the consequences. We understand it’s just stuff and there are people losing family members and even family pets at this time. But these people are literally taking the food from our kids mouths. I truly hope Karma comes along and takes everything they hold dear from them.
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While there was room for humour “I’m pretty sure there were 2 of them, 1 was a size large and 1 was medium because, bless them, they must {have} got cold while robbing me due to the fact we found they had put on on base layers and merino buffs.” the couple admitted that the latest break in had them on the verge of packing things in. Luckily, the outpouring of local support has helped them put those thoughts to one side. And while there have been suggestions of a GoFundMe page being set up, instead, all the Bike Shed owners is ask that people ‘buy some stuff at retail price’.
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Afan Valley Bike Shed isn’t the only trail centre to have had a break-in recently, as earlier in January, Laggan Wolftrax had eight Polygon Siskiu mountain bikes stolen while nearby Basecamp Bikes in Granton on Spey had £40,000 of bikes stolen.
As always, keep an eye out for any suspicious bikes cropping up on your idle eBay searches and contact the Police or the shops in question if you spot anything untoward. We’d perhaps not quite go as far as one of the owners who recommended any would-be vigilantes ‘Steal it back and kick ’em in the nuts‘…
We have a few home security tips here for you. And here’s a link to Crimestoppers for good measure.
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Meanwhile, in the forum..
Nothing found.
Was there a list of nicked bikes to watch out for ?