The ultimate guide to London’s hire bike schemes – which are the best bike shares and how much do they cost?
Hire bikes have become an incredibly useful way of getting around a city, especially one with as much traffic as London.
Many bike hire companies have come and gone over the years, however the current rental schemes have seen huge growth in popularity and become as familiar a sight in the capital as a black cab or a red London bus.
These bikes have come a long way from their initial offering with many now including training modes, reaction testing late at night, and a ring option if you can’t find them.
Most bikes include a basket, lights, adjustable seat post, a bell and a phone holder.
However, not all hire bikes were created equal, with differences in price, features, zones and ride comfort.
This guide breaks down each of the rental bikes on offer, including cost, user-friendliness and availability.
To use a hire bike, you will need to download the company’s app, sign up and then scan the QR code on the bike to activate it through the app. These apps can be quite glitchy and use up a fair bit of phone battery, but companies are continuously improving them.
Word of warning
It is worth bearing in mind that as these are mass use bikes there can be issues with them such as missing saddles, broken pedals, poor brakes or the electrical assistance not working. A user should report this and often a company will offer some sort of discount depending on the severity of the issue.
Moreover, most hire bikes have zones where they must be parked, such as specific bays or docks, which the company’s app will show. Users who do not park in these zones, or do not park properly, will incur fees.
Another consideration is that the hire schemes use a GPS signal to locate the bikes, but sometimes – despite the app’s assurances – a bike might not be where you think it is, or be there at all.
Now that that’s over with, get ready to download some apps.
Bike hire schemes in this guide
- Lime
- HumanForest
- Santander Cycles
- Dott
- Tier
Lime
Cost: £1 to unlock, 23p per minute
Areas covered: London, Manchester, Milton Keynes
Since Lime bought Uber’s Jump bikes in May 2020, the company has painted them green and helped them become arguably the most popular hire bikes in London, despite being the most expensive.
This is because the Lime bike is speedy. The electrical assistance is obvious from the get-go and the bike offers the best acceleration out of the current range of hire e-bikes.
The saddle is comfortable, and the seat post can be raised nice and high for taller riders, making this bike the most user-friendly.
A useful feature of Lime is that it allows you to reserve a bike for 10 minutes. This means that if you know you are going to need a bike soon, you can save the hassle of searching for one by booking one nearby and knowing (hoping) it will be waiting for you.
For people who aren’t as confident riding a Lime bike, the company also allows users to put the bike in training mode via the app, limiting the max speed to 8mph.
When you are hiring a bike late at night the app will also ask you to test your reactions to ensure you are safe to use the bike. This is a good safety feature, although not fool-proof.
Lime bikes can be parked anywhere, but must be parked safely, out of the way of pedestrians and without obstructing anything.
After your ride you can rate your experience and if it isn’t good Lime will often offer a discount on your next ride(s). Lime sometimes offers a 25% discount on rides if you can prove you have worn a helmet.
Other than the pay-as-you-go option, users can buy a monthly LimePrime subscription for £8.99 per month which removes unlocking fees, or a ride pass which offers discounts for buying ride time in advance.
HumanForest
Cost: 10 minutes free daily, then 19p per minute + 50p parking fee
Area covered: London (central and southwest)
The cheapest out of the hire e-bikes, HumanForest bikes will get you from A to B for a smaller price without an unlocking fee and offers 10 minutes of free riding.
The bikes are less sturdy than competitors and the electrical assistance is slightly slower to kick in than that of the Lime bikes but there is a display to show your speed, which is a nice touch.
HumanForest bikes can only be used inside the ‘forest’ zone which is clearly marked on the app. Once you exit this zone, the bike’s speed is limited.
The seat post length is restricting as the height does not go up adequately to make it a comfortable ride for a six-foot rider. HumanForest have yet to respond as to whether they will change this at some point.
In terms of parking, riders must end their ride in a green parking bay in order to avoid any parking fees (£2) but HumanForest also charges a parking fee regardless. When parking in green bay, the rider will be charged 50p.
HumanForest offers minutes deals (such as 60-minute daily plan for £4, which works out to just under 7p a minute) and regular promotions as well as a TreeCoin loyalty scheme – every five miles earns one TreeCoin, and these can be exchanged for free minutes or merchandise.
Santander Cycles
Cost: £1.65 for 30 minutes, £3.30 for e-bike; £2 for 24-hour access, first 30 minutes free
Area covered: London
The OG in hire bikes, Santander Cycles have been around for a long time, having previously been known as ‘Boris Bikes’. The bike’s trademark laser front light in the shape of a bicycle is a regular sighting as are the military-esque docking stations.
The fleet was upgraded in September 2022 to include e-bikes (along with a price increase). The update has meant improved bikes, with better saddles, easier to adjust seat posts, wider tyres and an overall smoother ride.
The Santander bike has three gears making it good for exploring the city at whatever pace suits. The docking station system also helps minimise the littering of hire bikes across the city. However, it is worth noting that these stations are located mostly within central London.
As mentioned, the company has introduced e-bikes. E-bikes costs £3.30 for rides up to 30 minutes however riders must become a Santander Cycle member in order to use an e-bike.
Monthly subscription costs £20 whilst annual membership costs £120. There are also surcharges of £1 for using an e-bike for over 30 minutes.
There are discounts available for students, those who use the bike to cycle to work and for NHS workers.
Despite the price rise, Santander bikes still offer a reliable and easy way to get around the city especially if you prefer to put some effort in.
Dott
Cost: £1 to unlock, 19p per minute
Areas covered: West and South London
The same style as the HumanForest bike, Dott provides a fleet of e-bikes in South and West London. These are more rickety than Lime bikes and offer less acceleration but for a cheaper price. The bikes do not have a bell.
Dott bikes have a useful option of letting riders pause their ride which locks the bike so that no one else can use it.
The same rules apply for when parking the bike, so it has to be in the right zone so as not to incur a fee and users will still be charged for the time during that pause.
Another notable feature about Dott is that if you can’t find the bike, the app has a ‘Ring’ option which will ring the bike’s bell (only between 6am-10pm).
Dott bikes are not as prevalent around London as other hire bikes in this guide as the permitted zones are more limited, which makes them harder to locate and limits their usefulness depending on where you are going. They are predominantly in west London and south of the river.
Tier
Cost: £1 to unlock, 19p per minute
Areas covered: London, Basildon, Chelmsford, Colchester, York
Tier is predominantly known for its scooters but also offers e-bikes. The company started with 500 bikes in Islington in November 2021 and went on to launch in boroughs such as Hammersmith and Fulham in 2022 and is now available all over London.
Although Tier e-bikes are harder to come by than the scooters, they are very similar to the others in this guide – robust and fast enough to make your journey usually faster than by using other means of transport.
Like Lime, Tier allows you to reserve a bike for up to 10 minutes which is a really useful feature.
A slight difference is that older Tier models have cable locks which riders need to pull out in order to be able to ride the bike and or re-insert to end the ride.
As with most hire bikes, Tier bikes must be parked in a parking zone as shown on the app otherwise fees will apply.
Riders can choose to go pay-as-you-go and Tier also offers day and monthly passes available such as unlimited unlocks for 30 days for £4.99 per month and 150 minutes for £19.99 per month.
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