Whilst I mostly cycle around London on my own (clapped out) mountain bike, occasionally I need to hire a bike. And since I couldn't find a useful comparison of bicycle hire companies - I decided that I should compile my own!
These prices are as at the end of September 2025. Different prices may apply in different parts of London if your local borough has negotiated special prices - such as Hackney. Most hire companies don't make it easy to find their prices - you often have to download the app, and company PAYG prices and bundle prices to find out how to get the best value.
Forest - formerly Human Forest
First off let's start with Forest - which operates across 18 London boroughs - from Heathrow borders in the west to Greenwich in the east. The different colouring on the map relates to the different bike parking rules - dark blue for Mandatory Parking bays and light blue for Preferred Parking areas.
With Forest the first unlock each day normally costs £2.50 with each subsequent unlock costing you £1 - and each unlock gives you 10 minutes of free cycling (ignore the 60 minutes in my screenshot below).
But Forest also have random bikes which only cost £1 to unlock - and these come with 30 minutes of free cycling.
After you've used your 10 minutes / 30 minutes free cycling you're then paying a whopping
29 pence per minute - which quickly adds up and becomes uncompetitive.
So Forest, like all hire companies, sell bundles. Apparently you need to purchase these in advance - it's not like Oyster price capping!
And the bigger the bundle, the longer the expiry time - 24 hours / 72 hours / 7 days / 30 days
These bundles also remove the unlock fee and the daily fee, so if you're going to use Forest bikes in the next 24 hours for 16 minutes [£2.50 + 6x£0.29 = £4.24] or 41 minutes for discount bikes [£1 + 11x£0.29 = £4.19] ... then you should get the £3.99 bundle before you unlock your first Forest bike.
When I first looked at the Forest pricing I thought that a couple of 20 minute rides would cost me £9.30 [£2.50 + £2.90 + £1 + £2.90] ... but as long as you purchase the 40 minute bundle in advance, you can get the two rides for £3.99
TfL - Santander Cycles
The original Transport for London bicycle hire system requires significant of docking infrastructure investment and has a much more limited coverage.
But if you're cycling from Hammersmith in the west to Stratford in the east, then it could work for you. Just remember that the vast majority of these bicycles are
not ebikes! And you need to use the
app to hire an ebike - you can't hire ebikes at docking stations.
TfL's charging system is straight forward - unlocking a pedal bike costs £1.65 and unlocking an ebike costs £3 with 30 minutes of free cycling. After that it's £1.65 or £3 for each extra 30 minutes.
But TfL have a (very simple) range of bundles, starting with the £3.50 Day Pass which covers all your pedal bike usage (up to 60 minutes each time), and just £1 per 60 minutes for ebikes.
So if you're going to use a TfL bike twice in a day, you're probably better off getting a Day Pass. I used a Day Pass a few weeks ago, and found that it was reasonably convenient to dock and undock bikes within every 60 minutes - even taking one from the eastern edge of the TfL zone out to Manor Park and back without getting charged!
Lime Bikes
The green behemoth currently operates in 17 boroughs across London - but this changes regularly, and it recently lost the license to operate in Hounslow.
Lime is also blocked from operating in certain areas (including Richmond Park), and has different parking rules in different boroughs - so watch out!
The basic unlock fee with Lime is £1 and they charge £0.29 per minute.
Lime also have their bundles - starting at £3.99 for 30 minutes
These bundles also remove the unlock fee, so if you're cycling for
11 minutes [£1 + 11x£0.29 = £4.19] then you're better off getting a bundle. Apparently Lime are better than Forest at offering you the bundle price if your cycle goes over 10 minutes.
Whilst all the apps take a toll on your phone battery - I found Lime's app particularly brutal!
Voi
When you open the Voi app it looks like they cover a decent chunk of London - but they don't separate their scooter and ebike areas. So the reality is a lot smaller than their misleading app implies - just Ealing, Hounslow, Kensington & Chelsea, Southwark and Hackney.
If you find yourself on the right side of the train tracks - Voi don't charge an unlock fee and they initially cost £0.20 per minute.
Voi's bundles start at £2.99 for 30 minutes (24 hours), £5.99 for 60 minutes (72 hours) and £10.99 for 120 minutes (7 days).
So if you're cycling for 15 minutes [15 x £0.20 = £3.00] then you're better off buying a 30 minute bundle.
Bolt
Whilst Bolt is well known for taxi services and cycle hire in other cities, it was only in June 2024 that Bolt
announced it was entering the London cycle hire market. Currently Bolt only seems to be available in Kensington & Chelsea!
If you happen to be cycling within the borders of the royal borough, then Bolt don't charge an unlock fee, and initially cost a more reasonable £0.18 per minute.
Bolt's bundles include £2.99 for 30 minutes (24 hours) and £5.99 for 60 minutes (72 hours).
So if you're cycling for 17 minutes [17 x £0.18 = £3.06] then you're better off buying a 30 minute bundle - just don't try and sneak out of K&C.
Conclusion
Unless you are doing a single trip on a single day, then you will almost always be better off buying a bundle.
And make sure you use a company that will work in the boroughs you're cycling through!
