RideOn Are Working in Partnership with Beryl to support E-Bike Hire in Falmouth, Penryn and Penzance
Dec 23, 2022
Are you local to Falmouth or Penzance looking for a greener way to get around town? Or maybe you’re on holiday wanting an e-bike to hire to take you on a coastal adventure. Either way, there’s a solution for you!
Introducing Beryl E-Bikes
Do you rely on public transport to get to work? Or perhaps you’re looking to live a more greener lifestyle by taking less car trips. Maybe you’re a green traveller wanting to enjoy the world, but without the carbon footprint! Well a solution has arrived in Falmouth and Penzance.
Beryl are a nationwide UK bike-share scheme, currently placed in 14 locations around the country, with the newest locations being Falmouth & Penryn and Penzance, right here in Cornwall.
50 E-bikes landed in Cornwall in September 2022, distributed across 20 bays in and around Falmouth and Penryn. Each bay is a designated area where a Beryl E-bike can be hired or returned, making E-bike hire and travel in Falmouth very flexible and easily accessible.
20 Beryl E-bikes have more recently been placed in and around Penzance, with 30 more due in the new year, giving local residents and visitors the chance to get around the town with ease. With bays placed on the outskirts of the town centre too at Newlyn and Marazion, Beryl E-bikes offer a good range of Penzance and surrounding areas, making more places accessible by bike.
About the Beryl E-Bikes
Beryl E-bikes are designed to be safe, fun and easy to use. Check out their features:
- The lightweight frame is designed for an easy ride
- Three gears are enough to get you around town on the flat as well as tackle slight hills
- The front and rear brake lights fire up as you peddle, and stay on for two minutes once you’ve stopped. The front light includes Beryl’s laserlight projection technology, lighting up your journey and keeping you safe
- The adjustable comfy saddle accommodates riders from 4′ 11″ to 6′ 5″
- The unlock pad uses smart technology, making access quick and easy.
How do Beryl E-Bikes Work?
In order to use a Beryl E-bike, a user must first download the Beryl App which is available on both iOS and Android. A user is required to create an account and enter their bank details as the bikes are unlocked and paid for through the app.
There are various tariffs available to suit all kinds of riders.
- Pay As You Ride: This is best for single or occasional journeys. The cost is £1.50 to unlock the bike and 10p per minute.
- Minute Bundles: For more regular riders, the minute bundle allows users to save money by buying minutes upfront, starting at 80 minutes for £5.
- Day Passes: This tariff is most suited to people who are on long days out, offering unlimited use over a 24-hour-period for just £20.
Accessing a Beryl E-bike couldn’t be easier. Open the app to find where the nearest bikes are located. Once you’ve got your hands on a Beryl, hold your phone over the pad on the handlebars to unlock it, hop on and off you go. The bikes work within a designated zone area, agreed with the local council. Once you’ve arrived at your destination within the zone, place the bike back into an official Beryl bay and lock it. This will clock it off, ending your charging period. If a bike is not locked or placed back in a bay you will continue to be charged and a penalty fee will also be applied.
You may cross the designated boundary lines whilst riding your Beryl E-bike, but if you lock your bike outside the Beryl zone, you will be charged £10 each time it’s locked, regardless of how long it’s locked for. If you leave a bike outside of a zone for more than 24 hours, you’ll be charged an £80 penalty fee. For further information on payments and charges, check out Beryl’s Cornwall pricing page.
How are Beryl E-Bikes maintained?
Once placed into an area, the Beryl E-bikes need to be maintained, ensuring as little disruption to users as possible by keeping as many of them on the roads as possible.
That’s where we come in! RideOn have been working in partnership with Beryl since their bikes were first introduced into Cornwall in September, providing on and off street maintenance as well as regular servicing, keeping them in tip-top condition for riders.
Our staff patrol each town everyday and are responsible for re-distributing the bikes, ensuring that there’s an even spread of Beryl E-bikes across each town. They will do battery checks and swaps and bring bikes off the street for maintenance if necessary, whilst returning others that have been serviced.
It’s a full-on job but we love it as we know we’re helping to create more sustainable towns in our county by cutting carbon, costs and congestion!
Cycling Adventures Around Falmouth and Penzance
The Beryl E-bikes are fantastic for commutes to work and short journeys around town, but if you want to explore further afield, you’ll need to hire a different kind of E-bike in Falmouth and Penzance!
Whilst RideOn currently only has shops in Penzance and Newquay, it doesn’t mean we can’t get bikes to you in different locations in Cornwall. For an extra cost, we can drop and collect our E-bikes to and from you, wherever you are in West Cornwall, making exploring any part of the Cornish coast on a Super73 perfectly possible!
Exploring Falmouth on an e-bike
So, where might you go on a Super73 E-bike in Falmouth? Well, there are a number of scenic routes in and around the maritime town which take in stunning views. Here’s just a couple of suggestions:
The Bissoe Trail
7.5 miles outside of Falmouth, towards Truro, is Devoran which is the start of the popular Bissoe Trail: a cycle path which will take you across Cornwall from the south coast over to Portreath on the north coast. It’s a trail that’s not only popular with cyclists, but runners, walkers and dog walkers too! It was originally built for working mine horses, so this path takes in a lot of historical mine workings which is built into Cornwall’s DNA.
The trail is approximately 11 miles each way and is mostly flat with slight inclines throughout, but nothing your Super73 and its power assist can’t handle! It’s mostly on stony trails and lanes, but there are small sections that will take you onto the main road, but these are few and far between. So this trail is perfect for anybody who’s not confident in cycling on the road.
There are some great pit stops along the way if you’re in need of refueling and in Portreath itself, there’s a number of places to stop for food and drink including before heading back to Devoran.
Falmouth to St Mawes
This is a beautiful route which will take you over the River Fal on the King Harry Ferry, but it’s for the more experienced and confident rider since it does take you on the main road. Start off by heading towards Penryn from Falmouth and then onto Perranwell Station. Here you’ll turn onto the cycle route towards Devoran and onwards to the King Harry Ferry. Once over the river, you’ll be on the main road again, where you’ll follow the signs into St. Mawes, a delightful Cornish fishing village with lovely independent shops, restaurants, pubs, a small hotel and a castle. Now would be a good time to stop and refuel, before heading straight back to Falmouth on the St. Mawes Ferry.
Exploring Penzance by E-bike
There are a number of scenic routes to explore on a Super73 from our base in Penzance, ranging from a couple of hours, half a day or even a day. Check out some of our suggested routes and take a look at our previous blog about St.Ives if you’re interested in setting off from a different starting point.
HIRE AN E-BIKE IN CORNWALL
We have e-bikes available to hire from Penzance and Newquay, but we can deliver bikes to other areas of Cornwall too. Give us a call on 01736 888777 or book online.
