Meet Auckland's New Rogue Dockless Bike Sharing Service

Thousands of black and yellow bicycles popped up at public racks around the city this week with no explanation online but empty social media channels under the name OnzO and an environmental video shaming greenhouse gases. The Spinoff investigated and discovered that the mysterious bikes belong to a west Auckland company who only asked the council for permission the day after unloading its 3000-strong inventory around the city.

Either way, Auckland now has its own dockless bike sharing service.

On trial until the end of November, the rogue bikes can be found by downloading the OnzO app. New users need to make a refundable deposit of NZ$9.99 before the first rental, which is reimbursed in the form of $10 credit for signing up. The bikes are unlocked by scanning a QR code, and are charged at 25 cents per 15 minutes of riding time. Once you're finished, simply lock the bike in an appropriate location (note: not up a tree or the bottom of the harbour).

The bikes are fairly straightforward and come equipped with a helmet and basket. One obviously flaw, given that Auckland is built on an undulating volcanic field, is the lack of gears — something that may potentially result in a pile-up at the bottom of Queen Street.