Bike Rental Near Me in Kennington: London Bicycle Tour Company's £4.50 Hourly Hire

The London Bicycle Tour Company hires a traditional city bike for £4.50 an hour, capped at £22.50 for the day, from 74 Kennington Road, London SE11 6NL. The hire centre sits at the foot of Lambeth Towers in Kennington, with Lambeth North Underground station just down the road, and every hire comes with a free helmet and a free D-lock. If you searched "bike rental near me" from a hotel around Waterloo or Westminster this shop has been hiring bikes in the area since the early 1990s.

Robert Graham founded the company in 1991, and its own history says it launched London's first ever bike tour. For 27 years it ran from a small office on Gabriel's Wharf, the outdoor shopping yard on the South Bank, with the bikes stored outside in all weathers. On Wednesday June 27, 2018, it moved to Lambeth Towers on Kennington Road, a much larger shop where the fleet lives indoors, guests can help themselves to coffee before a tour, and the shutters were painted in the company's blue and yellow.

Plenty of old listings still send people to Gabriel's Wharf, and some of the company's own help pages still mention it. Ignore them. The tour and hire centre is in Kennington; the separate London Bicycle Repair Shop is at Shop 2-3 Benson House, Hatfields, SE1 8DQ, and only does repairs. Today the company says it runs London's largest privately owned fleet of bikes.

The traditional bike is a Leader 96 sit-up city bike with a three-speed hub, built for pottering, not for long rides, and only for use inside London. It costs £4.50 an hour up to £22.50, then £45 for two days, £55 for three, £65 for four and £75 for a week. A Trek FX 2 hybrid, with 24 gears and hydraulic disc brakes, is £7 an hour up to £35 a day, £70 for two days and £115 for a week.

The e-Starli e-bike has a 250-watt Bafang hub motor with an automatic two-speed gear for hills and flats, and is hired by the day only: £55 for one day, £110 for two, £140 for three and £200 for the first week. A Viking tandem has a one-day minimum at £50. A traditional bike with a rear child seat, for children aged roughly one to three and up to 20kg, is £6 for an hour or £30 a day.

You can book online or turn up with a card. Online, the deposit is set automatically as an authorisation, not a charge, and the agreement ends shortly after the hire. At the counter, staff take a card authorisation for up to the value of the bike, which is only charged if the bike does not come back. If you have no card, the company asks for a cash deposit of £200 per traditional bike, and it does not accept passports or ID cards as security.

Helmets are free and recommended, although the company points out that no UK law requires one. D-locks, the strongest type, are included with every hire. Racks and panniers only come on the touring bikes, so hire one of those if you are carrying luggage.

The hire centre is open April to October from 9am to 6pm, and November to March from 9am to 4pm, including weekends and public holidays; it closes only on Christmas Day. That short winter day is the thing to plan around in late autumn. A 1pm start in November leaves you three hours before the shutters come down.

Avoid the tour rush. The company prioritises its guided-tour guests, who leave between 10am and 11am in summer, especially on weekends and sunny days. If you want a bike in that window, book online first or arrive after 10:30am. In winter, when tours are quieter, the morning queue largely disappears.

Staff will hand you a map for the safest route to Hyde Park, which the company puts at a gentle 20-minute ride away. If you have half a day, its own suggestion is to head east to Greenwich and come back via Canary Wharf and Wapping. With a full day, follow the Regent's Canal from Limehouse to Little Venice via Camden Town. Beyond London, it recommends the river ride to Hampton Court Palace.

One honest warning from the company itself: you cannot ride the Thames all the way from central London to Kew or Greenwich, because private developments block long stretches of the riverfront. Putney to Hammersmith and Richmond to Hampton Court are the long sections that work. And if you get a puncture, the bike has to come back to Kennington, walked, on a train or in a black cab.

The traditional bikes suit couples and families pottering between the South Bank and the parks, especially with a child seat. Commuters testing a route and visitors staying a week get good value from the multi-day rates. Skip the traditional bike if you plan to cover more than a few miles: the company itself says it is not recommended for long journeys, and the Trek hybrid at £7 an hour is a far better ride to Greenwich.

The Imperial War Museum, which the company describes as a stone's throw away, makes an easy first stop on foot before you collect the bikes.

London Bicycle Tour Company, Lambeth Towers, 74 Kennington Road, London SE11 6NL. Open April to October 9am to 6pm, November to March 9am to 4pm, including weekends and bank holidays; closed Christmas Day. Traditional bike £4.50 an hour (max £22.50 a day), Trek hybrid £7 an hour (max £35), e-bike £55 a day, tandem £50 a day. Free helmets and D-locks. Card authorisation or £200 cash deposit per bike; no passports as security. Nearest Tube: Lambeth North.