What’s worse than having your bicycles stolen? When those bicycles include one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable displays from your museum. That’s exactly what has happened to Specialized recently, as thieves broke into their headquarters in Morgan Hill, California and made off with some incredible rides.
While a number of employee bikes were also stolen, there were some very notable (and recognizable) bikes in the bunch like Fabian Cancellara’s Yellow Jersey S-Works Tarmac.
Also stolen was Philippe Gilbert’s 2019 Paris-Roubaix-winning S-Works Roubaix.
When we last toured the Specialized Museum in 2019, this bike was one of the most recent additions – it was even still covered in dust from the famed cobble sectors. Left unwashed, the bike was destined for the museum – the Roubaix winning Roubaix, covered in dirt from Roubaix.
Hopefully, this bike isn’t damaged and can be recovered, but chances are good that it won’t be quite the same ever again.
Sadly, that wasn’t the only notable Roubaix stolen. Sagan’s S-works roubaix in black and gold was also stolen…
As well as Sagan’s S-Works Venge in Bora team livery.
Not shown, an orange S-Works Shiv ridden by Tony Martin in the Olympics as well as a yellow S-Works Tarmac ridden by Olympic Triathlon Champion Gwen Jorgensen.
On the mountain bike side, stolen bikes include the S-Works Epic of both Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy.
Not to mention the theft of Ned Overend’s Fat Bike National Championship winning Fat Boy.
And it wasn’t just race winning bikes that are irreplaceable – Robert Egger’s Scambled Egger concept bike was among those hit.
This one is a true one-of-a-kind concept full suspension gravel bike so it should be instantly recognizable.
On top of all that, a number of employee’s personal bikes got ripped off including this custom Rainbow OZ Trails Stumpjumper EVO that belonged to Sam Benedict. Specialized’ own in-house painter, Tyler Marchesano, also had two of his personal bikes taken including an S-Works Stumpjumper and S-Works Crux. Even the founder of Specialized, Mike Sinyard, had two personal Stumpjumpers taken.
Even assigning just a stock retail figure of $10k to these bikes, you’re looking at more than $160,000 worth of stolen bicycles. But it’s not the monetary value that has led Specialized to offer a $25,000 reward. Their hope is that the reward may lead to the return of many of these bikes that mean more than the sum of their parts. If you have information that could lead to the return of these bikes or the arrest and conviction of those responsible, reach out to Specialized or contact the Morgan Hill Police Department.
