As it turns out in my research there’s some pretty cool bicycle rental places in London. For a long time when a friend was visiting London I would simply direct them to one place I knew that had clunky, step over frame bicycles. However, it is actually possible to rent a fixie, a tandem or even a recumbent if you know where to look.
I did the research because I wanted to add these places to the London Bike Shop iPhone app. If you’ve already downloaded the app then make sure you go to the App Store on your iPhone and download the latest version which includes bike rental places. For those of us without an iPhone here are the locations I found where you can rent a bicycle for the day without paying the extortionate daily cycle hire bike rates.
Cloud 9 Cycles
Rental of fixies and Dutch style bikes. £25/rental day
http://www.cloud9cycles.com/ | WC1E 7DB | 0783 677 4422
London Bicycle Tour Company
Bicycle rental and tours. £20/day
http://www.londonbicycle.com/ | SE1 9PP | 0207 928 6838
Velorution
Brompton folding bicycles for rental. £20/day
http://www.velorution.biz/ | W1W 8BD | 0207 637 4004
On Your Bike
Hybrid bicycles and Trek road bikes for rental. £12/day
http://www.onyourbike.com | SE1 2SZ | 0207 378 6669
Foffa Bikes
Rental of single speed and fixed gear bicycles. £29/day
http://foffabikes.com/ | E1 1SA | 0207 481 2516
London Recumbents
Rent a recumbent bike. £15 per hour of rental
http://www.londonrecumbents.com/ | SE21 7BQ | 0208 299 6636
Smith Bros
Mountain bikes with full suspension for rental.
SW19 5DL | 0208 946 2270
City Bike Service
Hybrid bicycle, folding bikes and racing bikes available for rental. £15/day
http://www.citybikeservice.co.uk/ | EC2A 3EN | 0207 247 4151
Dutch bike hire
Not open in winter. Rental of Dutch style bicycles and tandems. £25/day
http://www.dutchbikehire.com/en/
TriandRun
Rents their own brand road bike.
http://www.triandrun.com/ | IG7 6DQ | 0208 500 4841
Southbank Cycles
Bicycle rental.
http://www.southbankcycles.com | SW8 2JU | 0207 622 3069
Inside the London Bike Shop iPhone app you can also see what times these London bicycle rental shops are open.
See also:
- London bike shop app
- London cycle cafes
- Barclays cycle hire
- Second hand bicycles in London
- Love my local bicycle shop
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As seen on The Guardian, BBC and The Independent.
I led a bicycle tour of East End cafes last summer and can fully recommend City Bike Service. Really efficient and friendly staff and loads of properly maintained bikes. At first glance the place looks like they only deal in motorcycles. No worries – just walk through the motorcycle shop and the bikes are in the rear.
I must say Brian I was confused when I landed on their website. I thought no way can these guys do bicycle rental. But sure enough..! Thanks for the review
Why not try out CityTooSurf rent from local hosts, have them tell you where the best spots to head to in London
Here’s a link to a map of my East End Coffee ride where we used City Bike Service’s bicycles in case anyone is interested:
http://bit.ly/hQxdkJ
I would be interested to know if these companies have been affected much since the introduction of the Boris Bikes.
Me too but I strongly doubt it because these guys specialising in renting out bikes for the entire day. Plus at £20 for a days rental – that’s good money!
I went to Southbank Cycles earlier today and the fellow I spoke to denied that they rent bikes out.
This page needs to be updated. Since February 2011 there has been Tally Ho Cycle Tours near Waterloo Station, they also do cycle hire, which are all very stylish Pashleys.
http://www.tallyhocycletours.com/london/bicycle-hire/
http://www.facebook.com/tallyhocycletours
You can also rent electric bikes from http://www.electricbikerentals.co.uk based in London Bridge. £25 for full day. Great fun, shop is a bit hard to find but they have a video on their homepage showing you how to find it from London Bridge station. A really cool way to see London.
I am looking for hire 4 bikes (2 adults, 2 kids) just for a few hours, to cycle around the park. But most co. only offer adult bikes. Any reliable bike rental co. to recommend?
Please see the above recommendations!
Don’t forget:
FREE tandem hire to people with special needs or disabilities from Charlotte’s Tandems.
The website is Charlottes.Tandems.weebly.com
I meant CharlottesTandems.weebly.com
Goodwheel Rentabike is a bicycle rental company based in Central London which rents out bikes by the day or week. They offer a free delivery and pick-up service and appear to be the cheapest company in London offering this service.
Yes, we are the proprieters, so don’t take our word for it. Check out our prices and if you find cheaper elsewhere in London offering a similar service we will reward you a day’s bike rental for free!