A club champion cyclist from Lancashire is appealing to fellow bike riders to keep an eye out for two high-spec bikes stolen from his home, worth a combined £10,000. The bikes were stolen from the home in Earby, Lancashire of Jason Bateman, a member of Pendle Forest Cycling Club and current holder of the North Lancashire Time Trial Association Speed Bar Title.

The thieves broke into the 39-year-old’s home through the patio doors, he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“The bikes are set up for my positioning and one is specifically a racing bike,” Jason continued. “It isn’t comfortable so you couldn’t just go out for a ride on the road. It’s designed to take you out of the wind, so it’s a pretty specialist piece of kit.”

“At first I thought they had targeted my property just for the bikes, but the police think it might have been a gang who steal high-powered cars because I have an Audi S3.
“People in the cycling community will know how important the bikes are, so I would ask them to keep their eyes open and if they see or hear anything, to let me or the police know.”

The bikes in question are a blue and white Pinarello FP2 time trial frame, sized small, equipped with a 10-speed Shimano Dura Ace groupset, and finished with Missile tri-bars, a black Pinarello black seat pin and rotor elliptical main chainring, together with blue Speedplay pedals.

The other bike, which again has 10-speed Dura Ace componentry, is a Pinarello Dogma coloured red and black, with white saddle, bars and Speedplay pedals and Mavic R-Sys wheels.

Also taken was a Zipp 808 wheelset – that alone retails for around £2,000 the pair – complete with Dura Ace cassette and Michelin Pro Race tyres.

Anyone with information regarding the bikes and parts is asked to call police on 0845 125 3545, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.