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Lorry load of Trek Bikes stolen from UK head office

Top end road and MTB bikes among those taken from a lorry outside Trek HQ in Milton Kenynes

If you're offered a cheap Trek bike in the next few weeks then be on your guard: a lorry carrying a shipment of 2013 Trek road and mountain bikes was broken into overnight on Friday night (October 26th) and a number of expensive bikes were among those taken.

The lorry was parked on the street outside of the Trek offices in Milton Keynes at the time of the theft. Over 100 bikes were stolen, and models taken include several sizes of the following:

Madone 3.5
Madone 4.7
Madone 5.9
Elite 8.8
Elite Carbon 9.6
Fuel EX 8
Remedy 9.8

"It's possible that stolen bikes will show up in stores for repair or build, or for sale on auction sites such as Ebay and Gumtree," Trek UK told us. "We have a list of serial numbers for verification."

Trek would like anyone with information regarding the stolen bikes, or who sees a stolen bike being offered for sale, to contact the office on 01908 360 160.

And before anyone posts a comment (too late - ed) about how Trek were asking for it by leaving a truck full of bikes outside the office: "it's in the contract with the shipper that trucks are not to be left on the street," they told us. "Drivers arriving early can park in an area covered by CCTV, or in a secure yard about 2 miles away."

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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27 comments

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PAULLY617 | 11 years ago
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hi all,
i am about to go and view a 2nd hand trek madone bike and my mate told me about this incident that happened.

How do i get a list of all the serial numbers stolen so i dont end up buying a hot potato of a bike??

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raboldi135 | 11 years ago
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russyparkin | 11 years ago
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i wouldnt touch a Trek if it was the last bike on earth, but agreed its a bit harsh to say they deserved the theft.

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RTB | 11 years ago
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Seriously pathetic from anyone making out this is some sort of karma on Trek and it's certainly not funny. Sadly some scumbags will probably make a few bob off the backs of others as it looks like a pro job.

Coincidentally just back from a spin on my Trek OCLV (original nude carbon not US Postal) which I now use for my winter bike and still a peach to ride. Ironically my other winter bike is a LeMond (GAN team colours)!!  3

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TrekBikesUK | 11 years ago
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No Project One bikes were on that truck, fortunately, but there were some bikes that had already been ordered. In fact, the vast majority of the bikes were already sold to local retailers, rather than being open stock.

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Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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Pure coincidence no doubt, but just seen a tweet about 26 Trek bikes stolen from a trailer in Canberra, Australia back in August:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-07/high-end-bicycles-stolen-from-fysh...

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themartincox | 11 years ago
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I am with Gkam on this one, does seem a little harsh to actually express joy in others misfortune!

sucks to be one of the customers waiting on their new dream bikes arrival only to have to wait for quite some time extra!

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TrekBikesUK | 11 years ago
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We don't expect to see them again, really. That being said, we did have someone return Tracy Moseley's stolen Session to us a year after it was taken. He remembered reading the press release about it, and bought it from someone else using PayPal so he could claim his money back.

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mattbibbings replied to TrekBikesUK | 11 years ago
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TrekBikesUK wrote:

We don't expect to see them again, really. That being said, we did have someone return Tracy Moseley's stolen Session to us a year after it was taken. He remembered reading the press release about it, and bought it from someone else using PayPal so he could claim his money back.

Was this a 'leap of faith' by the guy who bought it back for you or is this a recognised element of paypal? ie- if you 'know' it's stolen goods you will get your money back when it's reunited with the rightful owner?

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TrekBikesUK replied to mattbibbings | 11 years ago
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mattbibbings wrote:

Was this a 'leap of faith' by the guy who bought it back for you or is this a recognised element of paypal? ie- if you 'know' it's stolen goods you will get your money back when it's reunited with the rightful owner?

He said he specifically used PayPal because of the buyer protection it offered. I believe he filed a claim against the amount.

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Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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People actually took the time to email your and say you deserved it? Now thats harsh in anybody's book.

I don't think you deserved it at all. The lorry driver did for parking in the wrong place, as I said above, I do hope they have good insurance to cover it.

But you wont be seeing the bikes again i'm afraid.

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TrekBikesUK | 11 years ago
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I wouldnt' say we are ALL fed up about it, just me probably.

I fielded a lot of emails from people yesterday who expressed some satisfaction about the theft. This isn't the first comment from someone who has suggested we deserved it. I'm still shocked by all of them.

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Simon E replied to TrekBikesUK | 11 years ago
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TrekBikesUK wrote:

I fielded a lot of emails from people yesterday who expressed some satisfaction about the theft. This isn't the first comment from someone who has suggested we deserved it. I'm still shocked by all of them.

Just hit the 'Delete' button and make yourself another coffee. There are arseholes in all walks of life, I'd not give these pathetic morons the opportunity to think you might be the least bit bothered by their childish taunts.

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kitkat | 11 years ago
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I suspect it's the ports where they'll be passing through. I read somewhere that bikes stolen frum uk end up in eastern Europe & further abroad. Definitely sounds like a coincidence/inside information on the lorry contents

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georgee | 11 years ago
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I really hope this was Lemonds doing or some activists from over in the clinic.

Fingers crossed they find the theives and let the people who bought the bikes off them keep them as penance for Trek's behaviour

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TrekBikesUK replied to georgee | 11 years ago
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georgee wrote:

I really hope this was Lemonds doing or some activists from over in the clinic.

Fingers crossed they find the theives and let the people who bought the bikes off them keep them as penance for Trek's behaviour

So you are saying that our customers, who are British business owners working hard to get more people on bikes (as are we) deserve to have lost the income from the sales of the stolen bikes because we happened to sponsor a rider who turned out to have lied to all of us, and put us into an impossible position years ago?

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themartincox replied to TrekBikesUK | 11 years ago
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TrekBikesUK wrote:
georgee wrote:

I really hope this was Lemonds doing or some activists from over in the clinic.

Fingers crossed they find the theives and let the people who bought the bikes off them keep them as penance for Trek's behaviour

So you are saying that our customers, who are British business owners working hard to get more people on bikes (as are we) deserve to have lost the income from the sales of the stolen bikes because we happened to sponsor a rider who turned out to have lied to all of us, and put us into an impossible position years ago?

Sounds like TrekUK have been taking a beating from the Smelly Stick for a while and they are getting a tad bit fed up about it!

Just blame it on your cousins over the pond  7

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Barry Fry-up replied to georgee | 11 years ago
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georgee wrote:

I really hope this was Lemonds doing or some activists from over in the clinic.

Fingers crossed they find the theives and let the people who bought the bikes off them keep them as penance for Trek's behaviour

so, if you've had a relationship gone bad in your past i can come over and steal your stuff, can i? FFS. get a grip.

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notfastenough replied to georgee | 11 years ago
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georgee wrote:

I really hope this was Lemonds doing or some activists from over in the clinic.

Fingers crossed they find the theives and let the people who bought the bikes off them keep them as penance for Trek's behaviour

Can I have your bike as pennance for such a f*ckwit comment?

Really hope none of them were special orders like a project one or something, I'd be pretty miffed to receive this phone call and have to wait for it to be made again.

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Didonc replied to georgee | 11 years ago
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georgee wrote:

I really hope this was Lemonds doing or some activists from over in the clinic.

Fingers crossed they find the theives and let the people who bought the bikes off them keep them as penance for Trek's behaviour

As has been pointed out, this is a pretty phenomenal point of view. An interesting idea, though. Maybe, instead of imprisoning criminals, we could lock up their dogs instead? The kennelling costs would surely be cheaper than the usual prison service, and justice would be served. Better still, we could burn all of their trousers. The vindicated mob disperses.

Just a brief reminder, in case it's been overlooked, that Trek is a company, and like all companies, is run by people. One of them is clearly personally affected by this, and has taken the time to comment here on a number of occasions. He was unfortunate enough to be greeted on Saturday morning with a call to say that a whole load of stock which he had taken responsibility for had been stolen. That's not going to make you feel great, is it? And now he has to ring round all the stockists, handle a police investigation, open insurance claims, and deal with disappointed customers, all before he can get on with his job. And for that to be followed up with emails suggesting that it was deserved?

So before anyone else posts another wise comment like 'you'll never see them again', 'I'd never ride a trek', 'it's an inside job, mate' - spare a thought for whether you'd want to hear that, in the circumstances.

For what it's worth - I've had three bikes stolen over the years, from various bits of the country (and before any more hipshooters jump in, yes, they were locked up appropriately etc etc). Miraculously, two of them have been returned, several weeks later; one, thanks to incensed locals who went and found the culprit, the postman eventually chasing him down on his own bike; the other by a keen-eyed bobby who spotted a mismatch between rider and steed. They didn't think I deserved it. A little community goes a long way.

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antonio | 11 years ago
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Definite info, stands out a mile, either that or a gang have been hanging round the local burger bar just waiting for something to turn up, if that's so they were lucky not to have had their big getaway truck nicked.

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handlebarcam | 11 years ago
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Does Lance have an alibi? (Apart from not knowing where Milton Keynes is, or what it is like, and if he did, he would, like any sane person, not want to go there.) After all, he isn't getting free bikes anymore...

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Alan Tullett | 11 years ago
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Sounds like an inside job. Who knew about it? Insurance scam?? Karma for Armstrong and LeMond?

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Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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Ouch, thats a fair haul taken, hope its covered by insurance, because I don't see you getting that many back. although the frames might turn up.

That many being taken would suggest it was planned, so they will be stripped of parts and groupsets and wheels flogged with frames getting dumped as they have the serial numbers on them.

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chrisc | 11 years ago
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In that case it's a massive coincidence that a gang equipped to nick so many bikes just happened to be hanging around on the first day the lorry turns up early isn't it?

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notfastenough | 11 years ago
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Over 100 bikes. That's going to need a few guys, substantial transport space, equipment to open the wagon (if secured), some sort of plan regarding what to do with them all afterwards etc. Sounds like Trek have been using a fairly obvious routine and have been watched.

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TrekBikesUK replied to notfastenough | 11 years ago
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notfastenough wrote:

Over 100 bikes. That's going to need a few guys, substantial transport space, equipment to open the wagon (if secured), some sort of plan regarding what to do with them all afterwards etc. Sounds like Trek have been using a fairly obvious routine and have been watched.

As mentioned above, it isn't normal for trucks to park on the street. I believe this is the first time that we've had a lorry arrive early and not park on our property.

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