It's transport.

We explicitly didn't provide things that UK bike shops typically encourage new cyclists to buy: Lycra, sports bottles, carbon fibre, etc. These are confusing to most people making ordinary trips – like using an F1 sports car to do the school run. This was part of the core innovation: to give people the confidence to ride a bike as an everyday person, free from the sports-mindset and all the faff that brings.

Over eighteen months, with huge help from friends and volunteers, I designed the service, brand and website, advertised it, built a waiting list, secured investment, wrote rental agreements, set up payment systems, bought and kitted out 25 bikes, delivered them to customers (by bike!) and much much more..!

Design research

The company began when I was studying my masters in 2020. Research I did showed that many diverse Londoners want to cycle, and highlighted areas where innovation might help them do it. You can read more about the research and design process in the project write-up.

A key finding was that, in the UK, we tend to think that cycling is for children and sporty people, as opposed to what it is in other countries: public transport. Sustainable. Affordable. Healthy.

Through this research, I identified areas where innovation would likely have an impact on the number of people cycling in London. It suggested that helping people access cycling equipment that’s appropriate to transport, not sport, would help them start and continue cycling.

Brand design

Everyday Bikes needed to feel like a reliable, practical and modern transport service. This informed the brand name, tone of voice and look and feel. I borrowed cues from trusted transport brands like Uber and Volkswagen. Clean lines and simple graphic shapes, like those found on road signs, in bold and fresh complementary colours. This was accompanied by our photography, shot on London's bike lanes.

Impact

The innovation was successful in that it helped diverse Londoners start cycling for the first time. It helped others cycle more and it reduced our customers' emissions. Some customers were with us from our first week until our final week. Some who had never cycled in London, now say it’s their default mode of transport, even after Everyday Bikes has closed. You can read more about the impact on pages 31-32 in the project write-up.

Closing Everyday Bikes

After 18 months of operating, well-established and well-funded competitors with similar services had now-launched in London. I realised that the positive impact of our bike subscription service would continue, whether it was my company doing it or someone else’s.

This was good news, and it was also freeing. I was spending my time running a startup instead of designing an experience and brand that people love, which was not playing to my strengths. It became clear that growing the company to have a meaningful impact on the number of cyclists would be a five-year journey (at least), tying me to this lifestyle for longer than I wanted.

The explicit “cycle transport” narrative remains unique to Everyday Bikes. I hope this will be picked up by others as it is one of the things that people told us helped them start and continue making journeys by bike.