These are the Garda's new weapon in the fight against thieves stealing thousands of bikes each year.
The Garda has begun bikes painted blue and decked out in the livery of the force in a bid to warn cyclists and deter thieves at theft black spots.
The painted bikes will be placed at the hotspots in the hope cyclists will be extra careful when locking their mounts and will be vigilant against other's having their bikes robbed.
And when thieves see the warning bikes in the areas where they operate they may not be so confident to go ahead with their brazen planned thefts. Well, that's the theory anyway.
The launch of the new tactic has been timed to coincide with Bike Week, which began on Saturday.
The bikes are being placed around Bray in Co Wicklow, but the scheme will be rolled out to other places after a localised pilot project ran in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
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As well as acting as a warning that the area has had a bike theft problem, the bikes also contain contact details for the nearest Garda station and tips to prevent thefts.
Approximately 6,000 bikes are reported stolen nationwide each year; around 75 per cent in Dublin. But the true figure is believed to be much higher.
Gardai say if you have your bike stolen, you absolutely must report it. Many cyclists fail to do so because they believe the chances of getting the bike back are nonexistent. But their failure to report the crime is leading to a huge under estimation of the problem.
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Sgt John Fitzpatrick said the new campaign was primarily aimed at theft prevention, saying once a bike was stolen the crime was hard to solve.
Many of the offences were not reported and when stolen bikes were recovered it was impossible to determine who the owners were, Sgt Fitzpatrick added.
“Bike theft is on the rise in Wicklow and nationally and we want to address this issue,” he said.
“Something we would really like to emphasise to cyclists is the importance of reporting a stolen bike.
“We have countless stolen bikes that have been recovered but if they are not reported to us then we have no way to reunite them with their owners.
“Another point is that when we catch a person with a stolen bike, it is extremely difficult for us to prosecute if we have no complainant.”
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