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Curious about e-bikes? Try one from the Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library!
E-bikes are a great way to get around Charlottesville. But there are many brands and styles to choose from, and because many e-bikes are sold online, it can be a challenge to try an e-bike before buying one.
The Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library is a free, non-profit service working to expand access to e-bikes in the area. We have a small collection of e-bikes that we lend out to community members for up to a week, for free. You can experience your daily commute, go grocery shopping, or even bike your kids to school, and decide whether e-bikes are right for you. Sign up to borrow an e-bike or contact us with any questions.
How it works
- Contact us to let us know which e-bike(s) you’d like to try.
- We’ll get in touch to schedule a time to borrow an e-bike.
- Visit the library in Fifeville to pick up an e-bike. If you haven’t ridden an e-bike before, expect this to take 15-30 minutes, or longer if you want to try more than one e-bike.
- Enjoy e-biking for up to a week, then bring the e-bike back to the library.
- You can borrow an e-bike more than once, or borrow multiple e-bikes.
To be eligible, you must be 18 or older, and have a secure place to store an e-bike at home, and at work or school if you plan to commute. You should also be comfortable riding a standard bicycle before trying an e-bike.
The E-bike Library is run by me, Josh Carp, using my own e-bikes and some e-bikes donated by friends and neighbors. The e-bikes are stored in my laundry room and shed at my home in Fifeville:
The e-bikes are free to borrow, but we welcome donations and volunteers if you’d like to support our mission and help cover our costs.