Hundreds of Ari bikes were stolen in California shipping fraud case

Yesterday, the bike brand Ari announced on Instagram that hundreds of bikes were stolen from a truck en route from California to the company’s Utah warehouse. The shipment containing 337 bikes, valued at $1.7M, was supposed to arrive in Utah on Friday, but the company was told the shipment was delayed due to a flat tire. On Monday morning, Tyler Cloward, Director of Product Development at Ari Bicycles, learned the shipment never left the Los Angeles area.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ari Bikes (@ari.bikes)

“We know the truck was driven up to Santa Clarita,” he told Singletracks. “We suspect it was unloaded somewhere in the area.” Cloward went on to say the truck was later found, but it already had someone else’s cargo inside. The crime is being characterized as fraud and impersonation.

Various Ari bike models were in the shipment, including the brand’s new Timp Peak eMTB. The shipment also included an unreleased dirt jump bike, the 801, which is currently only available for pre-order. Cloward says someone brought one of the 801 DJ bikes from the shipment into a local bike shop in the Santa Clarita area, asking for help with assembly.

“At least there’s one in the area,” he said. “We suspect there’s more in the area. […] We’re already five days in, so who knows how far they’ve made it.”

The man who brought the bike into the shop was captured on surveillance video. When questioned, he fled the shop, leaving the bike behind.

There have been occasional reports of bikes being stolen from brands while in transport, though most cases have involved less than a dozen bikes. The Ari shipment, which included parts and supplies as well, filled an entire semi-truck.

Though police have no way of tracking the bikes directly, it may be possible to pinpoint the location of the e-bikes if/when they are connected to a smartphone app. “If anybody ever hooks into any of the apps, it’ll register that it’s been activated,” Cloward said. The company has already put the word out to local bike shops and has a record of the serial numbers for each bike, which should help.

“If we can’t recover these, very worst case scenario, we’re doing our best to make it so they can’t sell them. Nobody will touch them.”

For smaller brands, losing hundreds of bikes would be a major setback, and could represent almost a year’s worth of inventory. Cloward tells me Ari brings in container shipments several times a month.

“From a company standpoint, we will be fine,” he said. “I mean, it hurts, obviously, and it’s a pain, it’s a hassle.”

“Our number one priority is those bikes that were pre-sold. We’re doing our best to reach out to customers, to give an updated timeline, and work with them.”

Priority number two?

“Recover the bikes, if we can.”