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E-bikes are among the easiest, most environmentally-friendly ways to get around London, but a turf war between operators could potentially soon leave fewer ride choices for west London cyclists.
Richmond Council has announced that it is considering a proposal that may swap the neon-green Lime bikes – one of London’s biggest e-bike operators – for its darker green competitor, Forest.
In the proposal, Forest would become Richmond's only e-bike provider for the next three years after outbidding Lime in a council tender. Forest’s bid apparently scored highest overall in the procurement process due to financial criteria like pricing and value for taxpayers. If councillors approve the recommendation, Lime bikes could be banned in the borough.
Lime currently operates in Richmond, where, according to the Standard, riders racked up more than 1.5 million trips in 2025 alone.
Naturally, Lime isn’t thrilled about the prospect of leaving Richmond. The company warned that forcing it out of the borough could lead to ‘unintended consequences’ for riders, like the possibility of people cycling in from nearby areas only to discover they can’t legally park their bikes without getting hit with a penalty. Forest says it won the Richmond tender in a ‘fair and square’, while hinting at potential perks or offers for riders once bikes roll into the borough.
If this all sounds a bit chaotic, that’s because, well... it is a bit. E-bike rules are inconsistent across London boroughs. Each borough decides which operators it wants to license, meaning riders can glide freely through one neighbourhood only to hit the breaks in a literal boundary in the next. In some places, e-bikes even power down when entering a banned borough.
Another Lime-Forest battle was fought less than a year ago in Hounslow, when the council announced that Forest had outbid Lime, and were banning the neon-green across the borough.
For now, the decision rests with Richmond’s transport committee who will meet to discuss the bid next Monday (March 16).
Did you see that Lime has launched a new subscription service in London to make e-bikes as cheap as public transport?
Plus: West London just got a step closer to getting a new Overground train line.
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