A Christchurch workshop that is practically giving bikes away is seeing record high demand.

Volunteer organisation Aranui Bike Fix-up repairs or refurbishes hundreds of bikes every year, with a team of 10 volunteers getting the donated bicycles ready for their new riders.

Demand is high right now, despite winter usually being a quieter time.

Aranui Bike Fixup founder Steven Muir told Checkpoint that the workshop was "quite steady" at the moment.

"With higher petrol prices, people have been more motivated to switch to more active transport, which has a lot of wins for their health and their pocket and for the whole roading network, really."

He said it was very rewarding to see people of all ages get on to a bike that had been given a second life.

"We get people who come in and have just got a job and they start at three in the morning or something and can't get a bus there - it's just life-changing for some people, being able to bike somewhere.

"A lot of people go out the gate with smiles all over their faces and it's very satisfying role to be playing in the community."

He said when someone came in their gate, they were pointed to a container where there was a stockpile of bikes that had been donated, and the new rider would choose one that suited their size and need, and the workshop team would fix it up for them, and off they went.

Muir said sometimes these new riders would give the workshop a donation - and sometimes they did not.

"Often it's just a few loose coins in the bottom of their pocket, because they don't have much to spare, but other people can afford to be a bit more generous. And that's really helpful, it helps us buy the parts we can't get second hand from other bikes like brakes and hand grips."

Many of the donated bicycles were old bikes that had been sitting in the garage for years, while others came from similar organisations.

Muir said the crew working on the bikes were largely "enthusiastic amateurs".

"Some have working in the bike industry for many years and others like myself just like tinkering on bikes. Most repairs are oiling chains, fixing punctures and the odd cable replacement, that's 90 percent of the repairs that need doing on the bikes, you don't need extensive skills to help out.

"We have one guy who just strips bikes and takes the useful parts off them, and that's a really useful role that we need more of as well."

The Aranui Bike Fix-up can be found at 118 Shortland Street on Thursday afternoons.