RCMP say thieves are targeting bicycle shops in greater Moncton.
Two retail stores have been broken into in the last week, with the latest one taking place Wednesday morning.
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“You know I am a little bit heart broken. I put my heart and soul into this business and when something like that happens, it’s tough” said Jim Goguen the owner of My Bike Shop in Moncton.
Goguen says just before 4 a.m. on Wednesday, thieves smashed through the front window of his shop on Edinburgh Drive and made off with nearly $8,000 worth of high-end bicycles.
Goguen says four bikes were stolen, some worth more than $2,000 each, and he believes the thieves knew exactly what they were after.
“You can tell when they went though our front window, they went directly to that spot,” he said.
Codiac RCMP Staff Stg. Jamie Melanson says this is the second break-in at a bike shop in Greater Moncton in the last week. He said Mike’s Bike shop was broken into last week.
“We can confirm that there was a break and enter in that business as well,” he said.
Owner Rick Snyder says he is beefing up security after a thief smashed through the front doors of his shop last week. He said the person took off and nothing was stolen, but he says there has been a rash of bike thefts among his customers this year – the likes of which he hasn’t seen in decades.
“Well certainly in the hundreds for sure,” he said.
He says the thieves will go to great lengths to steal any bike and prefer to get their hands on the more expensive models now flooding the market.
“Sometimes it’s worth more than your car,” he said.
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According to Snyder, bikes valued anywhere from $4,000 each, up to even $25,000, are becoming more popular for cyclists.
“People breaking into houses, breaking into garages. Bikes are a hot commodity right now,” he said.
RCMP are still investigating the thefts at both bike shops but Melanson says bike owners need to be vigilant and lock their rides up tight.
In the event their bike is stolen, there are some things owners can have on hand to be prepared.
“Have proper identification ready. If a police officer is coming to the door and you have actually taken a picture of your bicycle and you have the serial number, then that will go a long way to help us identify your bicycle when and if it is recovered,” he said.