Ari Bikes was dealt a tough blow last month when an entire semi-truck of bikes went missing in a well-choreographed trucking fraud scheme. It was pretty wild. According to Ari’s Tyler Cloward, a total of 337 frames and build kits were stolen, with a value of just over $1.7M. That’s a major financial hit for any bike brand at any time, but particularly in these uncertain times.
Which is why – through the magic of social media – we were delighted to find out that the majority of the stolen bikes have since been recovered. On May 13, 2025, Ari Bikes posted a theft update on Instagram, reporting that 288 of the stolen bikes had been located and returned to the brand’s Utah facility.
Almost all of the stolen Ari bikes have been recovered
In the post, Ari’s Tyler Cloward credits media outreach with helping to spread the word about the actual theft and the fate of so many missing bikes. Ultimately, Ari got dozens of leads from informed and concerned citizens about people attempting to sell the stolen bikes online. By working with the LA County Sheriff’s Department Cargo Cats Division, they were eventually able to track down the majority of the stolen bikes.
Perhaps stealing a full truckload of brand-new, many unreleased, and easily identifiable bikes, including the brand-new Timp Peak eMTB, from a consumer-direct brand might not have been the best idea. Particularly when every bike media outlet gets the word out to its audience.
And in what sounds like an incredible stroke of good luck, all of the recovered bikes are reportedly still in their packaging and in great shape. Now at Ari’s Utah facility, they are being inspected and will hopefully be heading off to new owners, just a few weeks behind schedule.
While the majority of the stolen bikes have been recovered, 49 still remain unaccounted for. The search for the remaining stolen bikes is ongoing, so if you still see or hear of any suspicious too-good-to-be-true Ari bikes for sale, reach out to the brand and let them know.
Hopefully, they can recover them all.
