Good news

Manon Carpenter has taken to social media to thank her fans after her collection of mountain bikes was recovered.

In a Facebook post she said: “Thank you everyone for sharing posts on the stolen bikes, it made it very hard for the thieves to move them on. No sign of the motorbikes but we now have the mountain bikes back safe and sound

Make sure your garages are secure and as difficult as possible for anyone to take your property. We’d never had a break in in the 20 years we’d lived here until last week.”

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Manon’s original Facebook post announcing the bikes had been stolen was shared 700 times and liked nearly 900 times by her fans.

The stolen bikes included:

  1. A 2016 prototype Saracen Myst Downhill mountain bike – black and red in colour with “Saracen” written on frame
  2. A 2015 Saracen Myst Downhill race bike – black, white and red in colour
  3. A 2015 Saracen Aerial 150 – black and silver in colour with black and orange Fox Forks
  4. A 2015 Saracen Kili Flyer full carbon fibre – silver and black in colour with “Saracen” written on frame
  5. A 2014 Saracen Aerial 150  – silver, red and black in colour
  6. A 2013 Saracen Kili Flyer – black and bright green in colour
  7. A Dartmoor dirt jump bike – Phantom model – with gears and Fox 831 forks – black in colour with white lettering

A 2013 Saracen AVLX Dirtjump mountain bike with gears and Fox 831 Forks – all black in colour


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There were also two motocross bikes stolen by the thieves, these are yet to be recovered.

Bike thefts seem to be becoming more common in South Wales with thieves targeting houses that are known to have expensive mountain bikes.

Carpenter told BBC Wales: “You just feel that you work for something and people think they can just walk in and take stuff.

“Luckily it isn’t mid-season or it would have been a disaster, but I’m going away at the end of December so I’ll have to sort out something for that.”

Manon is the 2014 downhill World Champion and will be looking to have a strong season in 2016, hopefully this hasn’t disrupted her training too much.

Manon also shared information to Gwent police’s website about how to secure sheds and garages.