Rare imported bikes stolen in Christchurch ram-raid

Two sought-after and hard-to-find bikes have been stolen in an early morning ram-raid in Christchurch.

Scotty Browns NZ, on Wordsworth St in Sydenham, was broken into about 4am today.

Owner Scott Brown said he was woken to a call from the security company saying there had been a break-in at the store.

"They've forced open what is a very heavy sliding door which is only accessible from the inside and they've taken the store van and driven it into the glass front doors.

"They've then opened the doors up and collected as much stuff as they could under what was a wreck of broken glass and aluminum," he said.

Brown said they were very curious to know how the van was started, as the keys were locked in a drawer.

Amongst the haul were two Cervélo carbon gravel bikes.

Brown said they were worth about $25,000 each.

It also appeared the thieves had stolen up to 1000 pieces of branded clothing.

"In some respects it looks like an order to get what they needed and in other respects it's like 'why would they take that'?"

The bikes have an electrical component, meaning they need a charger.

"There is no charger on them so it's gonna be a bit unnecessary.

"Those bikes are very exclusive, they are very hard to get at the moment especially because of the way the world is with the pandemic."

Brown said they were preparing to move the store in the next few months so did not have CCTV cameras in place.

"It's come at a pretty sh***y time, we didn't really need this."

But the store's van was captured on police CCTV driving through the central city after the incident, he said.

"The police did an amazing job this morning. They were absolutely terrific."

Brown said the incident was not really a big deal to him.

"Nobody is hurt but it's just an inconvenience for the guys who work for me and do a good job every day."