In 2025, the Sustainability team received two e-bikes from Surrey County Council for colleagues to use for up to two weeks for personal and work-related journeys. This initiative was part of a wider collaboration with the council to enable more sustainable travel to and around our campuses.
Over the three month trial 10 colleagues trialled commuting on the e-bikes, including Karen Dawson from IT Services and Sigrun Wagner, Professor in International Business and Sustainability.
Karen said:
"I had the opportunity to hire an e-bike from Royal Holloway for two weeks. It was a fantastic experience. When I picked the bike up Mark and Lisa ran me through how it worked and all the rules. I was surprised how heavy the bike was, but once I got on it was just so easy. Just one set of gears on the right and the e-bike controls on the left. It had really big chunky tyres so going up and down curbs was no problem. I commuted to work which took about thirty minutes each way and I found going up Egham Hill was incredibly easy. I would highly recommend having a trial. I have decided I am definitely going to buy one as it was so much fun!"
Sigrun said:
"Thank you to the sustainability team for organising this e-bike trial! I loved riding the Tern Vektron folding bike for my commute - cycling about 4 miles from Camberwell to Clapham Junction, then taking it on the train to Egham and riding up the hill. It needs a bit of oomph lifting it on the train and you have to look out for the cycle area on the train, but it’s all feasible. It’s easy to adjust the handle bar position and the saddle height, allowing for a comfortable upright riding position. Over the weekend I cycled to Greenwich with a friend and whilst reading up to the Blackheath end of Greenwich park, it was quite steep up a hill and the turbo mode allowed me to smoothly climb that hill while my friend was sweating up on his manual pedal bike. If you’re not used to disc brakes, it takes a bit of getting used to - they are very good and sharp. I’ll be back to my normal bike(s) after this but would strongly recommend anyone who’s in cyclable distance to the university but still relying on a car to give this a try! It’s a fast and safe way to work while having some fun – it certainly gave me a lot of joy!"
