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They cost as much as a small car and are more likely to be seen in the Tour de France peloton, than under the backside of all but the best paid weekend warriors. At least three $13,500 Trek Madone 7.9 model road bikes were among 26 bikes stolen from an enclosed trailer parked outside the Trek offices in Fyshwick at the weekend. In total an estimated $183,000 of high spec demonstrator models were stolen, leaving former Olympic triathlete and Trek marketing manager Simon Thompson mystified and gutted. "We're devastated to see this happen. We'd all love to own bikes like this ourselves," Thompson said. "It's a bit like losing some fine motorcars. It's really upsetting, but hopefully we can find out what happened to them." Trek staff arrived at their offices on Townsville Street on Saturday and were curious to discover a leather lounge sitting in the carpark next to the bike trailer, which had been parked loaded outside for several weeks during building renovations. Thompson guessed the thieves may have dumped the lounge to make room for the bikes, which he estimated would have taken up to an hour to remove from racks lining the inside of the trailer. He conceded the Trek livery on the outside of the trailer would have made it a target. "It's always a risk having something like this sitting out there. [But] everyone's going to keep their eyes and ears out for them," he said. "It's probably better for everybody if we can find the sort of person who would do something like this." Thompson said the scarcity of bikes like those stolen would make them difficult for the thieves to resell. "They're not going to be easy to get rid of. They're not in bike shops yet, no one is riding them," he said. "You're going to raise alarm bells when a $13,000 bike is going for $1500. And you'd think the sort of people who would buy these bikes normally isn't the sort of person who'd buy stolen property." The total value of the stolen bikes was initially estimated at about $300,000, but this figure has been revised down. ACT Policing have urged anyone who saw suspicious activity on Townsville Street at the weekend to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800333000.

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