Nearly $100,000 worth of Santa Cruz demo bikes, like this Bronson C from our upcoming Enduro Compare-O bike shootout, were stolen from a locked trailer behind the company’s headquarters last week. Photo by Tyler Frasca.

Thieves cut through a chain link fence, dispatched with padlocks on a demo trailer, and stole nearly $100,000 worth of high-end carbon demo bikes from behind Santa Cruz Bicycles’ west side Santa Cruz, Calif. headquarters between 9 am and 2 pm a week ago Monday.

Santa Cruz demo program driver Eric Highlander posted this photo of the compromised trailer to his Instagram account last week.

The haul included 11 bikes–four Bronson Cs, two 5010 Cs, two Tallboy Cs, and two Blur TRCs, as well as a Juliana Furtado Carbon from the company’s women’s brand, according to Santa Cruz Media and Communications Manager Scott Turner.

All of the bikes are equipped with front and rear Fox Float CTD Kashima suspension, Shimano XT and XTR drivetrains, and Easton carbon handlebars. Most have Enve carbon wheels and Rock Shox Reverb adjustable seatposts.

Turner says that with the exception of a single bike stolen from in front of the building last year, it’s the first time they’ve been hit by thieves. While the building does have security cameras, the theft happened outside of the camera’s view.

A Juliana Furtado Primeiro similar to the one pictured here was one of 11 bikes stolen from Santa Cruz Bicycles last week. Photo courtesy of Santa Cruz Bicycles.

Though the beach town of Santa Cruz is known for good weather, great trails, and is home to several manufacturers and frame builders, it’s also got a well-earned reputation for bike thefts, and the entire Bay Area has seen an uptick in bicycle thefts lately. In nearby San Francisco, for instance, bike advocates have uncovered a chop-shop-style theft ring, and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition reports that bike thefts outnumber mobile phone thefts three-to-one, according to police department statistics.

The company has alerted local shops to be on the lookout for the stolen bikes and are monitoring Craigslist and other online sites for the stolen merchandise.

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