Second major bike theft in Scottish Highlands in a fortnight sees thieves steal bicycles worth £50,000

People travel a considerable distance when they live in the country

I'm sure they do but if I was looking for a bike shop I would be looking in Inverness, Elgin or Aviemore before I looked in Grantown.

in a part of the country where adventure sports are a major part of the economy, and top end mountain bikes are in regular use then the market is most definetly there

My mother lived in Forres and I cycled that area many times and I didn't see any other cyclists apart from up near the Moray coast. The last time I cycled from Forres to Aviemore to catch the train I didn't see another cyclist but I guess it could have changed in the last 5 years.

It's a significant part of the tourist economy, the kind of folk that are prepared to travel to Scotland for MTB are likely to have a few quid and require decent bikes too. I'm suprised that there isn't better CCTV, I'd be suprised if a local gang have the loaf to conduct this sort of raid. In which case they either travelled from a nearby city (passing ANPR) or they have been residing locally between jobs. Either way you'd have to spend quite a while planning this including the stealing of relevant vehicles.

"they either travelled from a nearby city (passing ANPR) or they have been residing locally between jobs."

May I refer you to the bit about the Stolen LR and high sided trailer. Its obviously been well planned and the chances of finding the bikes or the thieves will be slim. Bikes end up on ebay as individual components and frames.

I noticed that too SmoggySteve, execute the robbery using stolen LR and trailer, if anything goes wrong abandon the lot and nothing is too linkable back to the culprits, whats the betting the LR and trailer are either never found or totally burnt out when they are

The trailer might be destroyed or dumped but the Landy is worth a bit too and also a vehicle regularly stolen. They're often stripped for parts so it's more likely the chasis with the VIN would be dumped and all the valuable body panels, inerior fittings, engine, gearbox and axles sold on. The way a Landy is made lends itself to being stripped for parts sadly.

It's possible an investigation into the stealing of the vehicle and the trailer will reveale an ANPR link to the people involved, who probably came from a city like Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee or Aberdeen.

MTBing might be a significant thing around there,but how does that translate into sales of top end MTBs ?

Id understand hiring of the bikes for a period,which might translate into occasional sales. But people buying bikes just to go riding on holiday, if they were that keen why didnt they already have a bike with them? How do they get the bike home etc ?

It's like saying you go on holiday to the Norfolk broads and end up buying a new boat, raises far more questions than answers imo.

How many surf shops are in Newquay, general outdoor shops in the lake district, etc
When like minded folk get together they like to look in like minded shops, even if the sale isn't made to the holiday makers there and then they will still do on line business, have oders waiting for customers when they arrive on a trip as well.
Add to that, if you are a keen enough expert on a topic like MTBs and you are starting a business selling them, then you would also want to live in an area where you can get out after work. Additionally most of these businesses are complimenary to the bike hire/repair/coffee shops that tend to partner them

Awavey wrote:

MTBing might be a significant thing around there,but how does that translate into sales of top end MTBs ? Id understand hiring of the bikes for a period,which might translate into occasional sales. But people buying bikes just to go riding on holiday, if they were that keen why didnt they already have a bike with them? How do they get the bike home etc ? It's like saying you go on holiday to the Norfolk broads and end up buying a new boat, raises far more questions than answers imo.

1) Some people do just have more money than sense. I haven't especially noticed this regarding mountain bikes, but in general a significant proportion of visitors to the Highlands are wealthy and probably wouldn't sniff at dropping £3k on a new bike. Shouldn't have much trouble fitting it in the giant SUV they normally drive.

2) If you were in the market for a new MTB, there is something to be said for going to somewhere like the highlands, hiring the bike for a couple of days and if you like it then buying it. Given that the correct number of bikes to own is n+1, every cyclist who visits is a potential customer.

3) Bike sales aren't necessarily a large proportion of their business. Bike hire and servicing might be much more significant. But it would be a strange bike shop that didn't sell bikes!

Or possibly it's just the stock they sell via their online store... https://www.basecampbikes.co.uk/mountain-bikes/male/adult 

They're one of only two Evil bikes dealers in Scotland.