They left in the same way they came: abruptly and with little explanation.
Just two days out from its first anniversary on the streets of Melbourne, the dockless and distinctive yellow bicycles operated by Singaporean company oBike will soon disappear after a whirlwind 12 months in the city.
Melbourne is renowned for its bike-friendly nature. So the question is now being asked: why was the scheme so incompatible with the Victorian capital?
The company, one of many dockless bike share schemes that have proliferated across the globe, singled out the Melbourne market as its first Australian target last year.
After varied success in Asia, it promised to "change how transportation is viewed" and provide a convenient and environmentally friendly form of transport that would be a direct competitor to Melbourne's RACV blue bikes, which had been losing popularity.
A month before the rollout, then-lord mayor Robert Doyle met oBike representatives, who passionately outlined their vision for a radical shake up of the city's cycling opportunities.
Mr Doyle was sceptical, and told them he wasn't interested.
An oBike left on Spencer Street in June. Credit: Mark Fuller
It didn’t matter. The company didn't need a permit to operate and within several weeks Melburnians began to spot yellow bikes lining the pavements of the inner city.
By the June 14, the company had completed the full roll-out and hundreds of bikes flooded the streets of the CBD, South Yarra, St Kilda Road, Richmond, Carlton and Fitzroy.
Thousands of bikes sit in an empty lot in Nunawading. oBike launched in Melbourne in June, 2017.Credit: Jason South
In an empty field in Nunawading, in the city's outer east, the scale of the operation became clear. Photographs emerged of hundreds of new bikes wrapped in plastic and ready to be dropped off around the city.
An oBike was left on top of portable toilets in Prahran in August 2017.Credit: Reddit/Dr-PresidentDinosaur
There were about 1250 bikes in Melbourne by October, and 2500 by November.
It wasn’t long before people started to get creative.
People began posting images on social media showing bikes strewn across random locations in the city – perched on parking signs, lodged high in trees, on top of portaloos and public toilets.
In October, rainbow-coloured bikes were assembled in a sculpture-like structure in Argyle Place in Fitzroy.
An oBike mural in Fitzroy.Credit: Reddit/neonluxe
And in November, an oBike was strung up mid-air in a laneway, made to look like Elliott and E.T. riding off into the sky from the classic children’s flick.
The ET oBike.Credit: Eddie Jim
The distinctive yellow bikes continued to hit the headlines for bizarre reasons: in November, two passengers on a Melbourne train came to blows after arguing about the safety of bringing the bikes onto the carriage.
And when the Maritime Union of Australia staged a blockade at Melbourne’s Webb Dock in December, oBikes were used beside vehicles to block access to the containers stranded at the terminal.
In April this year, an oBike thrown onto a moving train caused $300,000 in damage and extensive delays for commuters.
Bikes were then found to be submerged in the Yarra River, with 42 fished out in September last year and another 76 in April this year, leading to a viral video outlining instructions for the new sport of oBike fishing.
Some found this amusing, but groups such as the Bicycle Network began to condemn the inappropriate behaviour and unexpected reaction to the dockless scheme and pleaded for people to do the right thing.
"I can’t understand why people think it’s terrible to vandalise a train but OK to throw a public bike in the river? Would they think it’s OK to take a car share or a bus and drive it into the water?" Bicycle Network chief executive Craig Richards said in October.
A bad sign for an oBike in Richmond.Credit: Goya Dmytryshchak
Spokespeople for oBike continued to stress bikeshare in Australia was still in its infancy and public education about cycling etiquette should continue. They insisted the company was happy with the rollout and numbers were doubling week-on-week.
But it was posing fresh problems for councils and environmental protection authorities who were struggling to police and regulate the industry.
On October 17, three frustrated Melbourne councils – Yarra, Port Phillip and Melbourne – signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the company that gave them power to confiscate bikes not parked properly and enforce fines on those that were impounded.
The company was required to pay $50 to release each bike, otherwise they would be crushed for scrap metal.
A similar agreement was drawn up in Sydney, where the company entered the market in August last year. Six Sydney councils imposed new guidelines in December giving the company three months to comply or face punitive action.
Bikes dumped around the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne led Victoria's Environment Protection Authority to contact oBike towards the end of last year and demand action, one of many steps it took to signal to the company that it needed to "lift its game".
In the end, the EPA's strict crackdown announced last week was seemingly one of the catalysts that drove the company away.
OBike faced hefty fines of $3000 for each dumped or damaged bike that it failed to collect within a certain timeframe.
City of Melbourne deputy mayor Arron Wood backed the tight restrictions, saying the dockless bike share industry continued to present issues in the city.
City of Melbourne deputy mayor Arron Wood standing with impounded oBikes. Credit: City of Melbourne
A fortnight later, the company briefed newly elected lord mayor Sally Capp and announced it would not be continuing to operate in the city.
With roughly 200 bikes still in Melbourne, 120 in the City of Port Phillip and between 60 and 100 in the City of Yarra, questions remain about whether the company will foot the bill for the collection.
It is also unclear whether users will have their deposits of $69 refunded.
Some would say the dockless bike share experiment may have failed in Melbourne. But other companies are still eyeing the market in Victoria, undeterred by oBike's failure.
Beijing-based company MoBike is planning on launching here later this year, after rolling out in Sydney and the Gold Coast.
MoBike bikes in Sydney.Credit: Peter Braig
"The way we engage with the community and councils is totally different – we make a point of not entering a city before we have existing partnerships with relevant government entities and we have engaged with communities," MoBike Australia general manager Mina Nada told The Age.
"Just because there are some challenges for some players doesn't mean the sector overall has challenges."
Time will tell. But for fans of the dockless bikes, perhaps orange is the new yellow.