LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. -- More than $16,000 worth of bicycles were stolen from a rack at the back of a bike shop Friday night.

Police said a thief stole the bicycles, which were waiting to be serviced, from a rack at the back of the Lakeside Bicycles Shop.

One of the bikes was a $6,000 carbon fiber Bianchi. But the shop owner said the loss is more than the price for a new bicycle. Another customer said his stolen bike was an irreplaceable gift from his late father.

"I suspect someone just drove into the parking lot, just reached over, grabbed the bikes and took 'em," bike shop owner Gordon Harber said.

The work benches are just a few steps away from the rack where the bikes were stolen, but an alley running behind the store on North State Street apparently provided access for a crime of opportunity.

"First thing we did was make a list of all the bikes and serial numbers and e-mailed or faxed them to all the bike shops. Then we got online to all the bike blogs and stolen bike Web sites. We've been checking e-Bay and Craigslist," Harber said.

One of the stolen bikes was an ordinary mountain bike worth several hundred dollars. But another was a carbon fiber model valued at $10,000. A third stolen bike was the 30-year-old Bianchi Super, which the owner said is irreplaceable.

"The real tragedy was a bike one gentleman had purchased with the assistance of his father 30 years ago. That's the one that kind of grieves us the most," Harber said.

Three of the bikes had been bought at the shop and they all were brought in last week for service or evaluation.

"This is the first time in 12 years in business that something like this has happened. Obviously we're taking steps to see that it doesn't happen again," Harber said.

Those steps include trying to make up the loss, as much as possible, for some of the extraordinary bicycles.

More Than $16,000 In Bikes Stolen From Shop