Thieves steal custom bikes from local bike parts manufacture

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A longtime Portland Business is asking for the public’s help in finding a one-of-a-kind bike that was stolen out of their warehouse in Northwest Portland early Friday morning.

Kris Bedsaul, General Manager of Chris King Precision Components said two people broke into his business in Northwest Portland around 3:45 Friday morning and took a forest green, ENVE bike with custom parts on it. Security camera footage captures two people, wearing all orange, walking out the back door with the bike. Bedsaul said it all happened within a matter of minutes.

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“If you leave something out and it gets taken, you’re kind of like ‘ah that’s really stupid on my part,’” Bedsaul said. “When someone breaks into your place, that’s a massive violation.”

The morning after the break-in, Bedsaul directed his employees to remove all of the bikes on display inside his business. The wooden stands throughout the building, including the entry hallway, now sit empty with the bikes locked away in a room.

Bedsaul said crime issues have been ongoing since the start of the pandemic. Less than a month ago, Bedsaul believes the same two people broke into his business and stole two other bikes. Between the two incidents, he said about $45,000 was lost. However, the bike stolen on Friday he said is priceless.

“The value of a one-off bike, what is the value of that?” Bedsaul said. “For us that is everything.”

Bedsaul said since Chris King Precision Components moved to their current location in 2004, they never had any problems with crime. But now he said crime has gotten so bad, he can’t even have any of his bikes on display.

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“If you look down the hallway we’re taking all of our bikes out and storing them somewhere in the building because we’re not confident we can have them out in our building,” Bedsaul said.

Bedsaul said it’s crossed his mind about moving his business out of Portland but he doesn’t have any plans to do so in the near future. But he does understand why some businesses are choosing to leave.

“You are seeing people that love Oregon but they can’t tolerate this,” Bedsaul said. “They’re like, ‘where do I go now that has what I appreciate about the state but I can’t be in the middle of that anymore?’”

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