London Cycle Commuting

I’m looking at a new job in London and planning to do the second half of my commute by bike as it will save about £1k a year.

I like in Southampton so would be catching a rush hour train with the bike most days. It doesn’t look like Southampton is one of the stations with cycle restrictions in operation between 0730 and 1000

I’ve had a look at the train company’s website and it looks like i’d need to book a spot, daily, to take my bike unless I buy a brompton or similar. The cost of folding bikes is putting me off, especially since most cost more than my ‘proper’ bike!

Does anyone on here make this trip with a bike regularly, if so…

– can you normally get your bike booked on or does space fill up quickly?

– should I just bite the bullet and buy a folding bike?

Might be worth checking if your destination station rents out bike lockers?

(That’s a very “Dutch” approach – don’t put bikes on the train – simply have a bike stored at each end!)

Any commuter train into London in the morning peak will be a nightmare with a full sized bike. A Brompton is an ideal solution, I use mine on peak hour overground services and on the tube.
What station are you intending to arrive at and where will you be cycling to?

Decathlon do sensibly specced, cheap(er) folding bikes if the Bromptons are too expensive.

Either leave a super cheap hack locked up at the London mainline station or go with a folder. Taking a full size bike on a train every day in rush hour would be a world of pain.

You shouldn’t need to reserve space on those but you’ll encounter a lot of animosity trying to take a bike on a rush hour train. Where are you going to ride from as well? The restrictions start at Hook, so you’d have to ride from Basingstoke…?

It doesn’t look like Southampton is one of the stations with cycle restrictions in operation between 0730 and 1000

The destination station may be a problem though?

I would suggest a bike at each end. If it’s only a couple of miles when you get to London, just get a cheap s/h bike, cover it in Hammerite and just leave it locked up overnight. If it’s a long trip at your London end you could use a decent bike and leave it somewhere secure, there was a secure bike storage place near London Bridge, can’t see to find it on the interweb now though.

Although I would also suggest moving as you will be spending 5 hours a day commuting. My idea of hell.

njee20 – Member
You shouldn’t need to reserve space on those but you’ll encounter a lot of animosity trying to take a bike on a rush hour train. Where are you going to ride from as well? The restrictions start at Hook, so you’d have to ride from Basingstoke…?

gobuchul – Member
The destination station may be a problem though?

Looks like i’ve misinterpretted the information then and wouldn’t be able to take a bike off a train when I arrive in london.

I’d be going from waterloo to canary wharf – about 5 and a half miles according to google maps.

Hadn’t really considered that I might be unpopular! Seems logical though given how busy the trains are.

bails – Member
Decathlon do sensibly specced, cheap(er) folding bikes if the Bromptons are too expensive.

Cheers, hadn’t thought of decathlon but for the price they’re flogging them at it’s worth a look in.

gobuchul – Member
Although I would also suggest moving as you will be spending 5 hours a day commuting. My idea of hell.

Shouldn’t be too bad, I already do about 3 hours of commuting per day already. The key difference will be that I won’t be driving any more, so plenty of books…

Thanks for all the advice though. Plenty to think about before I apply…

Looks like i’ve misinterpretted the information then and wouldn’t be able to take a bike off a train when I arrive in london.

I’d be going from waterloo to canary wharf – about 5 and a half miles according to google maps.

I was assuming you were looking to cycle part of the journey, rather than get all the way to London by train. Just use a Boris bike. £90 annual membership. You’d be mad to cart your own bike all the way for that.

There’s certainly ambiguity on the SWT site, it doesn’t expressly say you can’t do what you’re proposing, and you may be fine, but I’ll wager a few jobsworth guards wouldn’t let you.

^this.

And arent boris bikes free if you can do the ride in less that half an hour?

Njee, I hadn’t thought of the boris bikes but they’ll probably be perfect for what I’m after.

Thanks!

And arent boris bikes free if you can do the ride in less that half an hour?

Ish, you have to buy access, which is £1 a day, £10 for a week or £90 for a year, then you hire a bike, which is free for 30 minutes, £1 for up to an hour, £4 for up to 90 minutes etc (figures may be slightly off!).

So yes, if you do the ride within 30 minutes (you should), then there’s no additional cost other than the £90 per year. If it’s looking like you’ll over run you can just dock the bike and instantly take another one for another free 30 minutes.

Unfortunately you can’t just dock and grab another, I think you need to wait 10 or 15 minutes between each half-hour without incurring a cost.

One potential way around would be to initially request 2 bikes. Take the first, then dock it less than half an hour later, then take the 2nd. May or may not work, but might be worth considering if you are looking to go over 30 minutes.

Cheers, Rich

@singletrack – I used to take the train from Airport Parkway, usually about the 6:40. I don’t recall seeing any normal sized bikes, just a few Bromptons. Also it does depend what type of train is running, from memory some have bike store areas and some did not. From Southampton central the train isn’t crowded but by Winchester its standing only.

I think the normal solution is either a Brompton or to keep your bike at Waterloo, there are places to lock it at the station in the platform so reasonably secure. Plenty of people seem to do this.

I don’t know how many people cycle out to the Wharf, the roads are pretty busy and dual carriage way like. It would be worth having a look.

I use a Boris Bike every day but its a 10 min ride. They are heavy and even on my short ride I am considering using one of my MTB’s as I have secure parking at work / home. You might want to give the Boris Bike a try as an experiment on the route, remember also the bikes can all gone and no parking at the far end which is a nightmare, especially when you arrive at Waterloo with just a few mins to spare before your train home.

Good luck with that commute, i do not envy you. It is very tough week in week out.

Boris Bike – £2 a day, as many 30 min trips as you like. Yes no wheeze for instant dock/retake (have tried it !). Going over 30 mins but under 1hr is only an extra £1

BTW if they let you on the train with a bike you can definitely take it off 🙂

I used to commute into Canary Wharf from Waterloo. It’s not too bad, takes about 25 minutes – jus take care on the blue route on the funny bridge over the Blackwall tunnel approach road!
There’s enormous bike racks out from at Waterloo you could easily park a bike there and then I assume that you’d have secure parking at CW. Otherwise a brompton is very handy as I’ve very rarely been refused permission to take it into client’s offices with me.
You’ll also not have to worry about the regular Jube disruptions on the way home, and TBH Waterloo is a nightmare to get onto the Jube in the morning. It can be quicker to go west to Westminster then change back to an east train.

Quietest route out to Canary Wharf from Waterloo is to stay on the south side of the Thames (Thames Path is an option but it’s quite winding) and then go under the foot tunnel at Greenwich (by the Cutty Sark).

Brompton. If the cost is putting you off, you can hire one from Waterloo on a long-term basis. Not a lot of people seem to know about the scheme but it’s great value… £50 for 3 months if you’ve got a season ticket.

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/cycling.aspx#140323

I’ve kept a bike at Paddington for nearly 10 yrs. It comes home every two years for a service. Gets used once most weeks, doing about 6 or 7 miles during the course of the day.

Bike originally cost me about £90 from the classifieds.

OP. I imagine you are a more youthful and fit individual than I but I could not commute up from Southampton every day and add on a 30 mins ride to/from the office. By Friday I would be dead and would dread Mondays. I did 3 months of commuting from Airport parkway (20 min drive to station and 20 mins on Waterloo and city line) and that was when I was 40 and that was very tough. So I can’t imagine you will ride every day and I suspect you’ll be thinking of a move nearer London if this is a long term job.

Was going to suggest Brompton Dock[/url] rental option for a while see how you get on before blowing a load on a Brompton. You do have to cough up if anything happens to the bike tho…

If you are saving 1k a year then buy a brompton. Not being funny but if you are working in the financial centre of a world city and prepared to commute for so long (saving money in the process by not living in Mayfair) then there has to be some fiscal reward that makes spunking on a brompton a drop in the ocean? I can’t believe somebody would go through all that to get to work for the minimum wage.