30 July 2010 Last updated at 10:19 ET

London bike scheme: Cyclists' stories

BBC News website reader Patrizio Romagnoli test-drives a bike in Bishopsgate, London.

A new bicycle-rental programme has been launched in London.

Tourists, residents and commuters can all pay to use the bikes, six-thousand of which will be available at four-hundred docking stations across London by the end of the year.

BBC News website readers have been saddling up and testing the new bikes.

Richard Gough, Hackney

Richard Gough describes his test ride this morning

I used one of the bikes today. I used to cycle to work quite regularly but there's nowhere for me to keep a bike, so this is very convenient. The system works well - the bike was very easy to use; solid but responsive.

I plan to use the bikes as a complement to my travel card. Lots of my colleagues who commute in plan to use the bikes daily though.

The only nagging thing was that it felt a bit strange not using a helmet every day. I'm only going to use the bikes on an ad hoc basis so it's not really worth me carrying a helmet.

Tim Lidbetter, Waterloo

I used one of the bikes this morning. The system is quick and easy to understand, but the bike is a bit clunky and low-geared, not to mention heavy. Ludgate Hill never seemed this steep when I was walking!

This seems like a good idea, given the hopelessness of public transport between Waterloo and my office. It takes a while to walk, so anything with wheels is a novelty.

The big problem is finding a docking station though. Many of them are tucked away in side-streets, and the map issued by Transport for London (TFL), is not very accurate and includes some non-existent stations. I tried to find the docking station marked near St Thomas' hospital, and it wasn't there!

Bruce Tiplady, Marylebone

I tried to get a bike out at Paddington station, with no success.

I'd paid a £3 deposit for the key and £1 for 24-hour access. When I got off the train at Paddington, I went across all the bikes in the bank of the docking station but couldn't make the key work for any of them.

I did check online and saw that £1 had been deducted from my account. The system showed that I had access up until 9am on Saturday, so I don't know why my key wasn't working.

Fortunately I did eventually manage to get a bike out at Marylebone station, but it does seem a bit of a shame. I'm a really keen cyclist and I want this system to work.

Steve Catchpole, Pimlico

I used the bike to get to work today. It was absolutely brilliant - very easy to use and a smooth ride. I rode from Pimlico to the City, which took about 20 minutes.

I registed for the scheme on Monday with no problems and received the map from TFL, which showed me where I could dock at the other end. I also had a back-up plan in case the docking bay was full (which it was). But I put my key in to the bay at Southwark Bridge and got an extra 15 minutes to find another station.

I don't have a bike, although I used to cycle everywhere when I was a lad. So I'm quite keen on this new system and I plan to use it every day.

Adam Fuller, Kennington

I picked up a bike in Kennington to ride about two miles to Bloomsbury. I normally use my own bike to do this every day. Because there's a docking station where I live and where I work and the journey is short, it could make sense for me to pay the annual hire fee. So I was willing to give it a try.

The bike felt like Boris Johnson was sitting on the back, it was incredibly hard to pedal. I believe there may have been a fault with it - the wheels didn't spin very freely. It was as if the brakes were stuck on.

I parked the bike up at a docking station in Aldwych, about half-way to my destination as I could barely make it over Waterloo bridge. There was a TFL representative at the docking station handing out feedback forms, who said that several other people had made the same comment so I don't think I was the only one.

I will try it again tonight, but I'll check the bike before I take it out of the docking station.