But a leading Auckland cycle advocate believes there is something more sinister at play.
The spate of thefts has bike shop owners like Chris Hoff-Neilson taking time away from their businesses to chase down suspected thieves themselves.
"Today, I'm going to look at a bike in the CBD, a stolen bike that was stolen two weeks ago," he said, when
Checkpoint visited his shop.
Hoff-Neilson planned to leave his Bikes and Beyond store on Wednesday afternoon to visit a man he suspected is selling one of his e-bikes for a bargain via Facebook. "It's got 200km on the clock at present and it's a $2500 bike, and it's for sale for $1000.