One of the better ways to explore a new city is by bike, because you can take as much time as you like, stop wherever something catches your eye, and get a real perspective of life in Brisbane.

Brisbane is a great city for cycling because the city centre is ringed with bike paths, and there are two bike and scooter share schemes in the city.

🚲 Bike share (and scooters too!)

Before heading out, you should download and sign up to both Lime app.

Subscription is free, and you can see a map of all the bikes and scooters available to hire in your area.

💰 Free trips with Lime and Beam

Use my signup code to get free credit on hire bikes:

Lime signup code

Get $4 off your first ride:

🤑 Life hack: get a day pass

Beam and Lime aren't exactly cheap. If you're doing anything more than a quick scoot, a daily or weekly pass is much better value.

• BEAM: 3 day pass on Beam costs $13 and gives you 60 minutes ride time. You may only use the pass in the city where you bought it.
• Lime: Lime passes are more straightforward, you can buy 30, 60, 160, and 300 minute passes for use within various time periods, starting at $7.99 for 30 minutes.

While this sounds like a lot of money, a couple of trips can easily exceed the price of a daily pass so it often works out cheaper to just get one.

Video: What's it like riding in Brisbane?

Longer bike rentals

If you're in the city for a week you can hire a bike from Riverlife for $199. They're located at the Kangaroo Point cliffs, a short ferry ride or bike from the CBD. Riverlife also offer kayaks and rollerblades if you want a different kind of adventure.

If you want something higher end, Epic Cycles is a reputable brand that offers road bikes, foldables, ebikes and cargo bikes to get you around. City bikes start at $360/week, and you can score yourself an ebike from $650/week. Epic Cycles isn't too far from Milton train station, or it's a 15 minute walk from the ferry.

🪖 Wear a helmet

Australian law requires you wear a helmet at all times while you ride a bicycle. This is strictly enforced and the fines are quite steep, so don't risk it.

There are usually helmets provided on the bikes, although occasionally it may be damaged or missing.

There will usually be another bike nearby with a helmet (or occasionally left in a tree or garden), so check around. You can also buy a cheap helmet for under $25 from department stores like Big W or Target if you'd prefer to use your own.

Check out more rules on riding bikes.

🚲 What happened to CityCycle

CityCycle was the old yellow bike hire scheme, which opened in 2010 and was retired in 2021.

If you're interested in a little look back through memory lane, check my CityCycle history and eulogy (off site).