CeramicSpeed Driven prototype bikes stolen in overnight burglary
CeramicSpeed Driven prototype bikes stolen in overnight burglary
Thieves broke into a CeramicSpeed office in Boulder, Colorado, Wednesday evening, making off with three bikes reportedly worth a total of US$80,000. The satellite office was the development center for the company’s Driven shaft-drive sister division, and two of the stolen bikes were irreplaceable one-off prototypes.
One was an all-black Cervelo P5 triathlon bike with a prototype shiftable drivetrain and Lightweight Fernweg carbon wheels. The other was a black Canyon Lux full-suspension cross-country mountain bike with Reynolds carbon wheels and blue accents, fitted with an earlier prototype Driven driveshaft drivetrain system.
The third bike was a dark blue Specialized Turbo Levo with white lettering. This bike was not Driven-equipped, but nevertheless, the value was still quite high with an original retail price of approximately US$12,000.
While this is yet another sign of an increase in thefts targeting the bike industry, there’s at least some hope in this case. The Levo was recovered last night, there’s a suspect in custody, and the Boulder Police Department may already have a lead on the two prototypes.
“First of all, we’re all shocked and in disbelief,” said Jason Smith, CEO of Driven. “We’ve all read about the increase in bike shop thefts, but Driven is a small company and really didn’t think it could happen to us. I strongly feel we were targeted as a bike company. The thieves only took the high-end bikes. They didn’t touch the laptops, expensive tools, or lab equipment; they just went straight for the bikes.”
“The good news is the thieves didn’t take any of our newer development and test bikes. I bet they focused in on the concept show bikes and grabbed those first. I have to say that Boulder PD did an outstanding job. They arrived on scene quickly and got photos of the bikes out to the community and bike shops immediately.
“The true hero of the story is Russ Chandler, owner of [local bike shop] Full Cycle. I believe he received the notification from BPD to be on the lookout for the bikes, and sure enough, he saw a guy on the Levo, and called BPD. This is a great example of spreading the word quickly and awareness of the issue. The cycling community can be stronger than the bike theft rings.”
Persons with any information pertinent to the thefts are asked to get in touch with the Boulder Police Department at the contacts here: www.bouldercolorado.gov.
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