Bike shop robbed of £15k of bikes and cash within two weeks of opening

Benjamin Haworth

Gabriel Cycles of Waterlooville had only been open a fortnight when thieves struck

Thieving scumbags have broken into Gabriel Cycles of Waterlooville just two weeks after the bike shop opened its doors to the public.

>>> Watch €100,000 of bikes get stolen in three minutes

List of things stolen

  • Mondraker Vantage R 2018 (new)
  • Mondraker Carbon R 2018 (new)
  • Mondraker Dune 2018 (new)
  • DMR Sled (new)
  • Orange Five (customer bike)
  • Specialized Stumpjumper (customer bike)
  • Orange 324 DH (Gabriel Cycles owner’s personal bike)
  • Random parts and accessories
  • Cash from locked till

A post on Gabriel Cycles Facebook page reads: ” It was with real sadness that we found out Gabriel Cycles was broken into on Wednesday evening. The majority of valuable stock was taken including customers bikes which were in for repairs. The thieves took the hard drive for the camera which means we have no way of looking back at footage from the night.

“Items taken were of considerable value but what is even more painful is the work and effort put into making the independent shop what it was, in only its second week of trading, was ruined in just one night.

“Here are pictures of just some of the items taken from the night. We are not hopeful of getting them back but if anyone sees these items for sale locally please let us know.”

Police forensics have visited premises for evidence. Anyone with information about the robbery can call police on 101, quoting the crime reference number 44180097020. Cash reward has been offered for any information leading to arrests.

Speaking to BikeBiz, Sam Gabriel said: “It was a major setback which we really weren’t expecting so early on. We spent months preparing for the opening of the shop, fitting out the premises, opening our trade account and carefully choosing top class bikes and accessories. Things were just starting to pick up and we had actually had our best day of takings on the Wednesday, for the shop to then be ransacked on the Wednesday evening.

“The support of our customers and the biking community has been overwhelming and we are confident we will overcome this and go on to provide the top class service to our local community we set out to do from the start!”