Hit for the second time in two months, the family-run business says it was only with help from others in the bike game that it kept going last time and that this time its future is threatened.
Just four weeks after being hit by a gang of thieves that stole its fleet of hire bikes, a well known Irish cycling business has been targeted again.
And this time the 14 bikes purchased new to replace those taken last month were stolen; barely used and valued at £20,000, or €24,000.
The latest theft at the Rostrevor Mountain Bike Centre in Co Down occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning.
BBC Newsline – see video below – reports the CCTV captured during the time of the robbery suggests up to six people were involved.
They made light of the new security measures installed since last month’s robbery, simply using large wooden polls to force open the shutters.
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Those involved then got into the premises by crawling under the prised open shutters and slid the new bikes out to their accomplices.
During the first robbery last month about 20 bikes were stolen, along with a specialist wheelchair owned by British Paralympian John Smith valued at £5,000, or €6,000.
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The weekend robbery comes not only four weeks after the first incident but also just weeks after trails at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor, which the business services, were sabotaged by people placing logs and string across.
Business owner Ian Cumming said the theft was threatening the future of the company he runs with his brother, adding it was only the help of Chainreactioncycles that saw them recover from last month’s theft.
"The last time we were hit if it wasn't for the help of Chain Reaction we definitely would be closed now,” he said.
“And it's the same again this time; we'll need to sit down with the council and our insurers and see where we need to go from here.
"These bikes aren't the kind of things you can pick up in a shop, so they're hard to replace.
“But it also means the bikes which were stolen will be impossible to sell in the public domain because they are highly customised."
BBC report on robbery
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