Thieves steal bikes, new inventory from Kenton Cycle Repair

The shop is in the process of moving to a larger location.
(Photo: Kenton Cycle Repair)

Kenton Cycle Repair has had a very rough start to the week. Around 6:00 am Monday morning two men broke into the shop and stole nine bikes and a large amount of new inventory off the shelves.

The shop is located at 2020 N McClellan Street, just off Denver Avenue in downtown Kenton. According to @pdxalerts (not official) the suspects were driving a blue Chevrolet pickup.

The shop’s owner Rich Walker confirmed the details of eight of the stolen bikes with us yesterday. The total retail value of the bikes is around $4,750. Walker said the thieves also made out with “all our lights and locks and a large amount of repair parts.”

Walker said the thieves busted out the front door. When he arrived around 8:15 there was glass all over the floor. A witness from the Kenton Hotel Apartments across the street saw two men in a truck loaded with bikes and called 911; but they drove away before police arrived. The witness was able to share a description of the men and a partial license plate number.

The shop has an alarm system, but Walker discovered later that the thieves used bolt cutters to cut the exterior phone and internet lines to defeat it. Once inside the shop, the men used garbage cans to load parts and accessories into.

Accessories stolen include the shop’s entire stock of locks, chains, cassettes, about 30 inner tubes, lights from Portland Design Works, and some vintage Suntour, Shimano, and Campagnolo “new old stock” components.

Walker says the community has already responded. Nearly all the stolen inventory has already been replaced thanks to locally based Portland Design Works and parts distributor Cyclone Bicycle Supply. Walker’s insurance should cover “most if not all” of the stolen property.

Below is a list of the bikes’ serial numbers followed by photos (supplied by Walker). Please be on the lookout on the street and online in case any of these items pop up.

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1. Silver Raleigh Cadent 1, XL (21″): U15XK10046
2. Blue Raleigh Cadent 1, MD (17″): U162K06674
3. Red Raleigh Cadent 4, 19″: U166K20138
4. White Port Townsend, 55cm: U158U16875
5. Blue & Black Raleigh Redux II, LG (19″): U156K18301
6. Black Raleigh Alysa 1, 13″, with fenders and rack: U161K19094
7. Silver Raleigh Cadent 2, 19″: U15XK09279
8. Trek Excalibur 9: serial number not available

If you see these being sold, or have any information about the incident, please contact the Portland Police non-emergency line at (503) 823-3333 or drop us a line and we’ll make the connection for you.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a paying subscriber.

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Middle of the Road Guy
Middle of the Road Guy
7 years ago

Poor guy. It sucks that this continually happens to hard working, small business owners.

Brad Parker
Brad Parker
7 years ago

We will do what ever we can to help Rich get these bikes back. Thanks for posting the serial numbers.

Mike Quigley
Mike Quigley
7 years ago

This is America. The days of Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver are gone. Store windows need to have bars on them or those pull-down metal shutters you see in east coast inner cities.

Rich Walker
7 years ago
Reply to  Mike Quigley

Mike, thanks for your comment. However, while this may be America, but this is not indicative or in anyway normal for my neighborhood (or, for that matter, the America I choose to see). Bars on the window suggest the expectation/normalization of crime. I have, and will continue to assume and expect the best from my customers, my neighborhood, and anyone who passes thru it. While I will anticipate theft and take steps to deter it going forward, I will NOT let the choice of these particular robber/assholes hijack the manner in which I present the storefront of my business. Future potential robber/assholes should, however expect to be subjected to ear damaging noise and have their activities recorded by cameras which may or may not be visible… (and possibly a high velocity hail of broken crabon forks)

meh
meh
7 years ago
Reply to  Rich Walker

How many bike shops have had their windows busted out and robbed? Quite a few in Portland in the last couple of years. Reported regularly in this blog.

Bars on windows don’t have to make a store look like a prison. They can be decorative, appearing like mullions and creating a decorative effect.

Justin M
Justin M
7 years ago
Reply to  meh

True re: busted windows. We’ve had it happen here a few times just recently, with a couple expensive bikes getting stolen one of those times. Thank God we have an alarm here. A couple years ago, I remember riding by Joe bike and seeing a boarded up window there too. This is not at all uncommon. Alarm, lights, camera. Really it’s the best you can do. Or, can you put down glue traps? Those things are really sticky. My brother’s cat once sat on one and it took an hour of oil and soap in the tub before he was able to get all the glue off her butt, and even after that her next poop ended up sticking to her leg.

dan
dan
7 years ago

***Comment deleted***

Hi Dan,

Please don’t incite violence. We don’t allow that in any context. Hope you understand. — Jonathan

oliver
oliver
7 years ago

I thought that guy was grabbing a scrap bike frame from in front of the shop.

They drove by when I was a block away, would have been 5:45. Looked like a scrapper/junk truck.

Not that I’m supposed to profile the quasi homeless-looking middle-aged white guy downtown on a department store mountain bike riding the wrong way off the sidewalk into traffic against the light on his way to his next drug deal or anything.

Dammit.

rick
rick
7 years ago

very lame

Sam
Sam
7 years ago

Please go support Rich. Rich is an ace mechanic and so are the other folks working there. I’ve taking my bikes and my family’s bikes there since they opened. I love this shop. Rich has fostered a function over style, but style is cool too, non-elitist, everyday cyclist culture at his shop. It’s the best.

Rich Walker
7 years ago
Reply to  Sam

Thanks for the very kind words Sam. I have The. Best. Customers. Ever.

Sam
Sam
7 years ago
Reply to  Rich Walker

Can I help you build the new security system out of MacGuyvered broken bike parts?

k7ty
k7ty
7 years ago

FWIW – Last Sunday I noticed a junker pickup stacked with bikes and bike parts on the walk/bike path at the N Schmeer Rd underpass over N Interstate. After being cleaned out recently, the location has a whole new collections of tents. They seem to have a lot of bike parts scattered about.

Middle of the Road Guy
Middle of the Road Guy
7 years ago
Reply to  k7ty

It’s common knowledge there is a disproportionate number of bike aficionados and collectors among the transient population.

Shawn
Shawn
7 years ago

Yesterday afternoon at around 4pm I was riding south on the I-205 MUP, approaching the Springwater MUP, when I encountered one of the now-familiar tent encampments on both sides of the path. This one has grown significantly in the past few weeks. It stood out yesterday because I saw around 10 bikes on and around the path, many of which appeared to be in the process of being dismantled by a group of young men. My thought at the time was that it looked like quite an active bicycle chop shop. I was also struck by how new some of the bikes looked.

I wasn’t yet aware of the Kenton theft, so I didn’t look too carefully at the brands or models, and I don’t know if any of the bikes could have been those stolen earlier in the day. I considered stopping to look more closely, but I was alone and didn’t want to get my ass kicked and have my own bike added to the pile. Regardless, in my view, allowing encampments like this in the middle of town increases bike theft in and around Portland. Among many other negative impacts, of course.

m
m
7 years ago

There are bike chop shops all over town. Cops rarely do anything about it.
The area near St. Francis Park in SE looks like a third world country.

Todd Boulanger
7 years ago

Rich, sorry to hear about this for you and Kenton. I will share some suggestions offline.

Rich Walker
7 years ago

FYI, actually no tools were taken, just bikes and inventory.

granny gear
granny gear
7 years ago

Rich Walker
While I will anticipate theft and take steps to deter it going forward, I will NOT let the choice of these particular robber/assholes hijack the manner in which I present the storefront of my business. Future potential robber/assholes should, however expect to be subjected to ear damaging noise and have their activities recorded by cameras which may or may not be visible… (and possibly a high velocity hail of broken crabon forks)
Recommended 22

For your customer’s bikes sake, reconsider bars. Simply identifying who stole a customer’s bike is useless if theyve been sold, parted or tossed off a bridge.

Rich Walker
7 years ago

FYI, We believe a vehicle connected with robbery has been located. The police have been called but have yet to confirm any police action. Photo of vehicle here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1725451837481782&set=p.1725451837481782&type=3

Vanessa Renwick
7 years ago

I just got done taking a business class with Rich and a bunch of other people through Mercy Corps. Over the month I got to know about his business, his plans, and also feel the excitement grow for the big leap he is making by moving into the larger shop. It takes a lot of work to run your own business. He is really doing his research and wanting to serve his neighborhood in a big way. Please support his shop. He is a really good egg!