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Thieves hit Renovo bike factory; reward offered

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One of four frames taken.
(Photos: Renovo)

Renovo Hardwood Bicycles, a bike manufacturing company located in inner southeast Portland, was broken into over the weekend. Four of their high-end frames with a total retail value of $13,900 were stolen. Now the company is offering $2,000 in rewards for information on the thieves and the return of the frames.

Employee Drew Nasto says the thieves were pretty clumsy. First they attempted to scramble up over a roll-up door via a ladder, table, and two stacked garbage bins — only to realize there was no ladder on the other side. After they aborted that attempt, Nasto says they used a shovel to pry off a door handle to enter the building. The alarm sounded immediately, “which gave them only enough time to grab four finished frames from a rack by the door and run,” he shared.

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Silver Trek 1st District 2011

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Year: 2011
Brand: Trek
Model: 1st District
Color:Silver
Size:54cm
Serial: WTU239T1039F
Stolen in Portland, OR 97201
Stolen:2012-09-11
Stolen From: Portland State Campus
Neighborhood: PSU Campus
Owner: Jeff Brittain
OwnerEmail: jtbrittain@gmail.com
Description: Straight Bar road bike, single speed, belt drive, red wheelset w/ matching saddle & grips
Police record with: PSU Public Safety
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Fir, wenge and burbinga Renovo Elwood 2012

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Year: 2012
Brand: Renovo
Model: Elwood
Color:Fir, wenge and burbinga
Serial:EW130
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2012-09-08
Stolen From: Renovo Hardwood Bicycles 2005 SE 8th Ave. Portland, OR 97214
Owner: Renovo Bicycles –
OwnerEmail: drew@renovobikes.com
Reward: $1000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the perps and another $1000 for the return of the frames.
Description: All-wood rear end with aluminum dropouts and derailleur hanger. Arched, laminated top tube.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-79228
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Purple heart and curly maple Renovo R3 2012

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Year: 2012
Brand: Renovo
Model: R3
Color:Purple heart and curly maple
Serial:R3138
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2012-09-08
Stolen From: Renovo Hardwood Bicycles 2005 SE 8th Ave. Portland, OR 97214
Owner: Renovo Bicycles –
OwnerEmail: drew@renovobikes.com
Reward: $1000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the perps and another $1000 for the return of the frames.
Description: All-wood rear end with aluminum dropouts and derailleur hanger. Arched, laminated top tube.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-79228
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Curly maple, wenge and padauk Renovo R4 2012

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Year: 2012
Brand: Renovo
Model: R4
Color:Curly maple, wenge and padauk
Serial:R4212
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2012-09-08
Stolen From: Renovo Hardwood Bicycles 2005 SE 8th Ave. Portland, OR 97214
Owner: Renovo Bicycles –
OwnerEmail: drew@renovobikes.com
Reward: $1000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the perps and another $1000 for the return of the frames.
Description: All-wood rear end with aluminum dropouts and derailleur hanger. Arched, laminated top tube.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-79228
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Wood: Puprleheart, Port orford cedar Renovo R4 2012

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Year: 2012
Brand: Renovo
Model: R4
Color:Wood: Puprleheart, Port orford cedar
Serial:R4210
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2012-09-08
Stolen From: Renovo Hardwood Bicycles 2005 SE 8th Ave. Portland, OR 97214
Owner: Renovo Bicycles –
OwnerEmail: drew@renovobikes.com
Reward: $1000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the perps and another $1000 for the return of the frames.
Description: All-wood rear end with aluminum dropouts and derailleur hanger. Arched, laminated top tube.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-79228
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

pewter, lue, white Raleigh Alysa FT2 2011

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Year: 2011
Brand: Raleigh
Model: Alysa FT2
Color:pewter, lue, white
Size:52
Serial:U07K13874
Stolen in Portland, OR 97202
Stolen:2012-09-12
Stolen From: garage of 8402 SE 9th Avenue, Portland, OR 97202
Neighborhood: Sellwood
Owner: Ute Kongsbak
OwnerEmail: utekongsbak@comcast.net
Description: women’s touring bike, newly bought in April this year with front and rear fenders and rear rack (all in black).
Frame is 52 and pewer with light blue and whte accent lines. Some scratches on one side of the main stem, otherwise in near new condition.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-155593
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Silver/blueish Gary Fisher Kaitai 2010

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Year: 2010
Brand: Gary Fisher
Model: Kaitai
Color:Silver/blueish
Size:17.5
Serial: WTU261C0423E
Photo: http://bikereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/gary-fisher-kaitai-2010-city-bike.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97232
Stolen:2012-09-10
Stolen From: Bike rack behind the Circuit rock climbing gym, 410 North East 17th Avenue.
Neighborhood: Northeast Portland, Kerns
Owner: Ekaterina Staroseltseva
OwnerEmail: staroseltseva@gmail.com
Description: Silver hybrid(KAITAI model by Gary Fisher), suspension fork, black seat, traction tires, disk brakes, back fender, Kryptonite lock mount. Stolen with a Kryptonite lock still locked to the frame.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-155581
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Slick Beaverton bike patrol van and trailer gets national award

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(Photos: Beaverton Police Dept.)

The City of Beaverton Police Department is proud of their bike patrol unit and they’re not afraid to show it off. The BPD announced last week that the van and trailer that houses their Bicycle Patrol Unit won second place in the 2012 Law and Order Magazine Police Vehicle Design Contest.

The Ford panel van and accompanying trailer (which carries 18-20 bikes) features a custom paint job with the words “Beaverton Police Mountain Bike Team” and a large silhouette of a rider on the side.

“The judges commented that the vehicle shows a strong community support with area businesses, vendors and sponsors. They especially liked the bike graphics on the side of the van,” reads a BPD press release.

Here are a few more photos…

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ODOT, Sandy Blvd, and the curse of outdated design manuals

“ODOT used the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan (1995) when designing this project, which does not… mention buffered bike lanes or cycle track and design criteria.”
— ODOT

It’s a shame that outdated engineering guidelines continue to prevent us from designing streets in a way that matches our goals — but that’s exactly what’s happening out on a segment of Sandy Blvd in east Portland.

Last month, we shared the news that the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is spending $3.6 million to rebuild a one-mile segment of Sandy between NE 122nd and 141st Avenues. The US 30 Bypass (Sandy Blvd) Safety Project comes with standard, six-foot bike lanes. That might sound good, but this type of bike lane is nothing but a continuation of a status quo that is inadequate for bicycle riders and that doesn’t match up our our city and statewide transportation planning goals.

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blue Specialized Rockhopper 2006

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Year: 2006
Brand: Specialized
Model: Rockhopper
Color:blue
Size:19″
Stolen in Portland, OR 97210
Stolen:2012-09-8
Stolen From: From the Goodwill on SE 22nd and W. Burnside. I had foolishly locked it to a tree branch outside (because in a hurry and there were no bike racks!), which the thief broke off.
Owner: Jonathan Jensen
OwnerEmail: khamzang@riseup.net
Reward: $50
Description: Blue Specialized Rockhopper mountain bike with silver Manitou shocks, shimano derailers, 19″ frame size. Had a small yellow ‘Power Past Coal’ sticker on the left side of the front of the frame. Unless the thief managed to remove it, should also have a Kryptonite U-lock hanging around the top frame tube.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-79024
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Three months after paralyzing crash, Mat Barton presses on

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Mat Barton working out at a
training center at Beaverton.
(Photos: Mat Barton)

Nearly two months since a freak crash in a local bike race left him paralyzed from the chest down, southeast Portland resident Mat Barton is pushing his body through physical therapy and coming to grips with his new way of life.

Mat is a married, 31-year-old graphic designer who works in the bike industry and for whom bicycling was an all-consuming passion (to an almost “unhealthy” extent he says). His crash and the severity of his injury has spurred widespread community support and the creation of the Mat Barton Recovery Fund. I recently heard from Mat about how his recovery is coming along and how he’s handling things.

“There’s good days and bad days.”

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