Charlotte Barnes returned home from winning a silver medal in a penny farthing race in Tasmania to find the locks smashed, door kicked and eight bikes co-owned with her partner were gone.
The Ealing garage was bolted shut with two sets of padlocks for extra security.
The thieves are understood to have tried to sell the bikes on eBay.
After calling the police - whose speedy detective work Ms Barnes today praised - she posted details of the thefts online.
It took just eight days from reporting the allegations to being reunited with the bicycles.
Ms Barnes, an engineer, said: "Eight quite unique and irreplaceable bikes were taken, along with my archery equipment.
"I posted about the burglary on my blog and the link went out to thousands of cyclists via Facebook, Twitter and cycling online forums.
"My blog went wild with comments and thanks to my friends and readers on the internet, within a couple of days, five of the eight bikes had been found on eBay."
Ms Barnes and her partner Julian Norman, 29, a magistrate, own more than 20 bicycles, which they photographed meticulously to ensure there were good records of them.
They include a tandem, speed track bikes, special load-bearing bikes and Brompton folding bicycles.
Neither Ms Barnes or Ms Norman own a car.
Ms Barnes said: "These are bicycles we have built up by hand and are worth thousands of pounds. They are not the sort of bikes you can buy in Halfords."
The police recovered the couple's bicycles, which were among a haul of 14 found, from a house in Sutton on Wednesday.
The person suspected of trying to sell them on eBay is believed to have spent more than £150 on repairs in a local bike shop on one model. It was returned to them in better condition than before it disappeared.
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