Cyclescheme Employer: What's the difference between standard cycle to work and bike rental?
Cyclescheme operates two types of cycle to work scheme; the standard scheme and the bike rental scheme.
Both schemes operate on the same principle, in that the employee has affordable access to a hire bike which they can use for commuting to work.
The key difference is that the standard scheme enables the employee to design their own commuting package that can contain a bike and/or accessories of their choice. Whereas, the bike rental scheme enables the employee to select a membership package from a partner city bike operator of their choice.
Bike rental operators tend to offer memberships that include a set amount of inclusive hire access that the employee can utilise - for example, 30 days use a year or the first 30 minutes of every journey.
The standard scheme is great for people that have space for a bike at home and that wish to have the perfect bike and accessories package to suit their requirements. Bike rental is ideal for people that simply want to experiment with cycling to work or people that maybe don't have cycle storage at home.
| Standard scheme | Bike rental scheme |
| 12 months | 12 months |
| 21-39% savings* | 28-42% savings* |
| Employee chooses personalised package | Employee chooses operator/membership |
| Employee keeps package at home | Employee returns bike after each use (exc. Buzzbike) |
| 2,000 retailers |
3 operators, 60+ locations |
| Ownership option usually 3 or 7% | No ownership option |
*Bike rental savings are higher as we do not highlight the potential cost of ownership; there is never an option to own a rental bike.