Eight suspects have been detained for allegedly stealing nine shared bikes from the street in suburban Qingpu District, police said on Wednesday.

The stolen bikes, parked outside a Metro station, belong to a shared bike company which uses street-side docks instead of each bike being equipped with its own lock.

Since the bikes require docks which are limited in number, the company often parks replacement bikes next to the 'stations,' which can be put in place by staff as bikes are taken by paying customers.

The replacement bikes were secured only with a thin wire.

An array ofreserved shared bikes secured only by a thin wire on the street in Qingpu District.

An employee of the bike company found out about the thefts on the morning of June 19 and called police.

Since the shared bikes are not traceable by GPS, police resorted to street surveillance cameras and soon located the bikes in a residential complex about 3 kilometers from where they were stolen.

The suspects are found to be riding the stolen bikes home on the day before the theft was discovered.

The suspects were caught on the morning of June 21 by police waiting at a gate of the residential complex while riding the stolen bikes to work.

The suspects, who came from out of town and work on construction sites in Shanghai, said that they stole nine bikes within two days “to commute,” and that the ninth bike was stolen for a friend who was coming to Shanghai to work.

The stolen bikes were worth about 9,000 yuan (US$1,360) in total, police said.