You may have already seen them on your way to work.

Shiny yellow bicycles scattered around the city with inviting signs that read "Please ride me away" and not a chain in sight.

Ranks of the orange bikes have been seen on Melbourne streets. Credit:Wayne Taylor

But far from being a random act of charity, these humble pushies are part of a hi-tech new bike-sharing platform.

Singaporean company oBike has released several hundred of them onto city streets as a direct competitor to Melbourne's RACV blue bikes.