Ottawa man reunited with his stolen bike

An Ottawa man has been reunited with his bike after it was stolen from his Orléans garage at the end of July.

"I can't believe it I thought it would be stripped for parts, I thought it would be naked but no the drivetrain is great and it works perfect," said Will Wacklin.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

CTV News interviewed Wacklin earlier this month after he found an unfamiliar bike leaning against his townhouse.

He quickly realized someone had stolen his $1,000 bike, leaving an older one in its place.

But after our story aired and through a connection on social media, it was returned on Thursday.

"My wife said she saw something on the [Being Neighbourly Orléans] group and [a post] said that they saw a red Norco that they think was on the news and they were right," he said.

"It was the exact one so she reached out, got connected and brought it back to her house."

Wacklin says it was found on a bike path near his home and other than some stickers, a broken bell and missing water bottle holder, he says its in great shape.

"I'm so happy, so excited, I can't believe it worked," he said.

So far this year, more than 700 bikes have been reported stolen across the city. There were 1,320 reported bike thefts in all of last year. But that only includes what's been reported to police.

Many like Wacklin are turning to social media groups dedicated to recovering stolen bikes.

"The stolen bike Facebook page is a community to help out anyone who is missing, who lost their bike or is looking out for each other, seeing people who are actually stealing bikes like in the moment which is wild so its been very helpful that way," said Wacklin.

As for the bike left behind, Wacklin says he plans to post it to Facebook and if he can't find its owner, he plans to turn it over to police.