Give eBikes a go!

Electric bikes make travelling around Edinburgh a breeze. You can zoom up hills, carry children with ease, and you'll almost never get held up by traffic jams. The built-in motor helps you with every pedal, but you'll still get some easy cardio built into your dailly commute.

The University has a fleet of different eBikes that staff can hire for up to a month to try out commuting on it. The purpose of this “Try-Before-You-Buy” scheme is to help you decide if commuting by eBike is a good fit for your circumstances. Bike shops will usually let you test-ride a bike, but that doesn't help you figure out if your commute would be feasible, or if the bike would physically fit into your home. Our scheme provides staff with an easy way to work out these smaller details before committing to an eBike of their own, which can be a considerable expense.

We have three different bikes available to trial:

• Brompton C-Line electric (a folding bike, suitable if you don't have much storage space at home)
• Gazelle Chamonix C7 (an upright hybrid bike, suitable for most people who want a comfortable commuter)
• Tern HSD (a cargo bike, with accessories designed to comfortably carry luggage or children)

There are currently quite long waiting lists for the Brompton and Gazelle bikes, but if you would like to try out a Tern these will be available again very soon. You can find out more and sign up on our website.