"It's nice that he's finally shut down, but it should have happened years ago," said Keith MacDonald, 42, a mechanic at Cycle Solutions on Parliament St.

MacDonald said the value of modern bicycles qualifies the loss of one as a major theft, but several people he knows have only been frustrated when reporting the crime.

"To the police, a bike is a toy," he complained, "and regardless of the fact it's $7,000, it's not worth their time."