A campaign to rid Waiheke Island of OnzO bikes has been launched by concerned residents.

Waiheke's Robin Tucker and Charlotte Lockhart said the bikes available through a hire scheme are disposable junk and are creating an eyesore on the island.

The bikes can be borrowed and left anywhere, with users logging on with their smart phones.

"I don't think they're good quality bikes," Tucker said.

READ MORE:

* Missing links in Auckland cycle network 'dangerous'

* Auckland's new shared bikes thrown in trees and listed on TradeMe

* Climate change drives Waiheke Island grandmother to bike to Wellington

"They are just littering our streets. They become our rubbish and our problem."

ROSE DAVIS/STUFF Charlotte Lockhart says OnzO bikes have no place on Waiheke Island.

Auckland Council decided on March 1 to renew the three month trial period for the dockless bike share company.

OnzO initially released 660 bikes on Auckland streets, but now has an extra 1040 bikes and another three month licence, said council manager of street trading Peter Knight.

Tucker is urging people to contact the council and Auckland Transport to complain about the bikes, in the hope the scheme will be ended.

She is an experienced cyclist, who commuted to Auckland on an electric bike for two years, but said bike hire needs to be managed well.

Tucker said not enough is done to ensure the OnzO bikes are safe each time someone hires one.

"If they have been thrown in the sea or left in the rain, who is taking accountability for making sure these bikes are safe to ride every day, that the brakes are working," she said.

supplied OnzO bikes piled up in Oneroa on Waiheke Island.

Knight said the council and Auckland Transport worked closely with OnzO to make sure they are fully regulated and the bikes meet New Zealand safety standards.

Lockhart said she contacted OnzO on February 13 when a bike was abandoned along the private road where she lives in a gated community at Matiatia.

She said the company refused to remove the bike and suggested she could move it to a public place herself.

It has now sat there for five weeks with a lock on the tyres that makes it harder to shift, she said.

Helmets are supposed to be provided with the bikes, but often go missing, so riders are left to break the law by riding without a helmet, Lockhart said.

She is concerned that more and more of the "cheap and nasty" bikes are turning up on Waiheke and few are being returned to Auckland.

Lockhart would like to see the single-geared bikes banned from the island, which has enough hills to make it stiff cycling terrain.

"It's great for downtown Auckland but I see no place for it on Waiheke.

"We want them off the island because they're just creating visual pollution," Lockhart said.

Waiheke Local Board member Shirin Brown said she also has concerns about the way the bikes are abandoned anywhere and plans to contact Auckland Transport about the issue.

Knight said a few queries have been made to Auckland Transport about where the bikes can be parked.

"We are requiring the licence holder to have a more robust redistribution plan to circulate bikes around their licence area.

"We're also working alongside Auckland Transport to make sure the operators have safe bikes and they're not causing problems on footpaths or being left in inappropriate places," he said.

Damaged bikes must be collected within 12 hours of them being reported and OnzO must get permission from property owners before removing bikes from private land.

Helmets must be supplied with every bike and OnzO is replacing helmets when they are aware they are missing, Knight said.

OnzO provides data to the council and Auckland Transport about where bikes are and their movements around the city, the numbers of bikes, users and trips, and the duration of rides.

The council is also working with another bike share operator, which has applied for a licence to operate in Auckland.

OnzO did not respond to requests for comments.

The bikes cost 25 cents for 15 minutes and users pay a deposit to encourage "responsible use", the OnzO website states.