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news
Michal Kwiatkowski (picture Fabio Ferrari - LaPresse - RCS Sport)Police recover Kwiatkowski's world champs winning bike - which thieves were selling for $1,000
Police in California have recovered two irreplaceable bikes stolen in a burglary at Specialized’s headquarters in California last weekend – one the S-Works that Michal Kwiatkowski rode to win the world championship in Ponferrada last September, the other a limited edition McLaren Tarmac, numbered 001, belonging to the company’s founder, Mike Sinyard.
Staff discovered the theft on Monday when they arrived for work to find the front door smashed, and had identified a getaway vehicle caught on CCTV when they received a tip-off that two bikes were being offered for a quick sale in the town of Morgan Hill, where Specialized is based.
According to KTVU news, an officer phoned would-be vendor Kannadi Ridenour and after obtaining details of the bikes – each worth $20,000, but for sale at $1,000 apiece, with the alleged thieves apparently unaware of their value – arranged to meet her at a local shopping mall.
She took the officer to the nearby home of Ryan Balestrini to complete the deal – but instead the pair found themselves in custody and are now facing charges as a result of the theft.
“These are probably two of the most easily identifiable bikes,” said Katie Sue Gruener of Specialized.
“I don’t think they had any idea when they took them exactly what they had gotten, but they got some pretty amazing products, sadly for us – but in the end we got them back and thank you to the police for doing that,” she added.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- hawkinspeter 7 min 49 sec ago
I think you'll find that you'll only go to jail if rich people are losing money from it.
- Paul J 13 min 21 sec ago
He's not there to fill air-time (that's Kirby and the other one), he's there to use his expertise to give good insight into the racing. And he's...
- pockstone 29 min 44 sec ago
Since when was 'split public opinion' any concern of the police? Unless it is the public's opinion of the police themselves.
- JohnnyEnglish 44 min 21 sec ago
Thanks for the review. I like that Orbea have included aero extras and wish more manufacturers would stick two fingers up at the UCI - at least in...
- hawkinspeter 20 min 42 sec ago
Excellent - I think I'll replace my emergency tube that is a real squeeze to get into the little Topeak bottle cage bag thingy....
- arckuk 1 hour 24 min ago
I enjoyed this guy I captured with his hound on New Oxford Street a few years ago.
- Bungle_52 1 hour 26 min ago
I know this is a bit late but one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the extra wear and possible damage to the cycle lane surface due to being...
- Patrick9-32 2 hours 10 min ago
*bursts back into the room hours after the conversation has moved on*...
- notMyRealName 2 hours 10 min ago
Damn, that sucks. I generally feel pretty relaxed with my bike on Avanti trains because the compartment is locked and I don't have to worry about...
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14 comments
I think my Specialized bikes are worth the money I paid for them. I have 3.
To be honest they are prices competitively with their peers. Should they all drop their prices? Yes. But the top-end one... what a ride. Hills (up and down) are incredible.
Not sure why people pick on Specialized. The one company that seems to be above market rates is Pinarello.
Because it was the one he won the world champs on? gives it a certain unique characteristic so higher value?
I don't understand how Kwiatkowski's S-Works can carry a value of $20,000? What's it made from, gold?! I could build an identical one for a fraction of the cost!
It's the same with all sporting equipment/apparel. Win something big/well known with it and the value increases.
Its a sad indicaton of the times but success means you can charge more for things to the right buyer.
Football shirts are a good example. Only cost 50p to manufacture in a far east sweat shop, retail for €90. Win a world cup, sign it and you just trippled/ quadrupled the value of it.
And once again, we have to introduce to the forum Module 1 of Basic Economics. Supply / Demand.
The bike isn't much, just any top end bike but once it's got some history and heritage behind it, it becomes a unique example and it's worth what someone will pay for it which might be 10x it's material value.
A genuine World Championship jersey is peanuts in terms of actual cost of material & manufacture. But it's value is priceless cos you can't buy them, you can only win them.
"Kannadi Ridenour" Is that name for real? "Can 'ardly ride an hour"
This is great policing. Get on with it. Make the arrest.
Its not a totally unreasonable assumption, they certainly didnt nick them because they had overwhelming bike love.
They tried to sell the bikes to a Specialized dealer. Doh. Don't do meth, kids
They tried to sell the bikes to a Specialized dealer. Doh. Don't do meth, kids
Where did it say they tried to sell them to a dealer?
Here (+ the meth possession charges)
http://www.morganhilltimes.com/news/updated-specialized-founder-s-bicycl...
Specialized just can't stop picking on small businesses can they
Specialized just can't stop picking on small businesses can they