Welcome to Cargo Bike Movement's myTurn page!

From borrowing a bike to move flat, taking someone on a tour of the city, or trialling what it's like to have your own cargo bike - you're in the right place. Have a browse to see what these brilliant bikes can do for you, your community, and our planet.

Individual loans are accessible to both our brilliant team of volunteers, and people new to CBM but who want to give a cargo bike a try - both to individuals and businesses. 

• Bikes are available to be collected and returned Wednesday - Saturday, subject to staff availability.
• Limited Saturday availability for remainder of 2024 - 2nd and 23rd November, as well as December 7th may be possible.

How do you access a loan? 

First you need to create an account with us here on myTurn. After which, you will be assigned the appropriate membership, which will give you access to reserving a bike.

If you are new to CBM here on myTurn and not a volunteer with us, we will hope to assign you an ‘Individual Loan’ membership. With volunteers being assigned the ‘Volunteer Membership’. This will allow you to reserve a bike. When you are assigned either of these memberships, it will ask you to initial the 'CBM Cargo Bike Hiring Agreement', which is necessary to be read, and agreed to, prior to any bike usage outside of our voluntary food collections. 

Once you've made a reservation, you will receive an email with a link to a google form, which needs to be completed prior to a loan. The Hiring Agreement needs to be read before filling in the google form and prior to the reservation being accepted. This can be accessed on myTurn via Accounts > Agreements > Details. You will then need to bring the ID cited within the hiring agreement form with you to collect the bike. 

Borrowing a bike as an ‘Individual Loan’? 

Bike pick up and drop off will need to be within CBM opening times, and coordinated with us. When entering a reservation request, please enter the time you hope to collect and drop off the bike within the notes section of the request. 

Then once a time is settled on, we will see you for the bike induction that takes abut 45minutes, and then you're off! There is also an option of a more in-depth 2 hour training session prior to borrowing a bike, please just note this down if that would be your preference. 

Borrowing a bike as a volunteer?

If you are a volunteer, please use the same email that you gave when registering as a volunteer, when creating your myTurn account. This will allow us to assign a volunteer membership to your account. 

You can then collect and drop off a bike during, and outside of, CBM working hours. Access to the hub and bike is as you would usually do so for an evening food collection.

Further FAQs:

The Tollcross CBM hub is quite far for me to travel to, is there any other options in Edinburgh?

Yes! Close to Porty? You could reach out to Porty Community Energy -  https://portycommunitybike.myturn.com/library/

Nearer to Colinton? Visit the SW20 myTurn page here - https://colintoncargobike.myturn.com/library/

What's the cost?

For now, this is completely free! 

How long can I borrow a bike for?

To allow many people to have access to bike loans, the maximum time able to be reserved on myTurn is 2 weeks, with one reservation at a time. If as an individual, business, or community group you would like to explore borrowing a bike for longer than this, please don't hesitate to reach out to jamie@cargobikemovement.org 

Are the bikes electric bikes?

Yes! All the bikes in our inventory are electrically assisted bikes, making moving your goods that bit easier. 

Can I keep the bike overnight?

Yes you can - although there are insurance stipulations that must be followed for the bike to be insured. It must be kept overnight inside of a building with foundations, while the frame is locked to an immovable object. 

Please note: many of our bikes (such as R&M Plywood box, R&M Packster 70, and Urban Arrow Family) can only be accessed as a day loan, as they are currently used on the evening food collections - and must be returned before 4:45pm if on an individual loan, or 7pm if a volunteer loan. 

Who can ride the bike?

As a volunteer, only you are allowed to ride the bike. So please don't allow a friend, family member, or partner ride the bike. 

With an individual loan agreement - only the person(s) named on the agreement are allowed to ride the bike, with said persons being over the age of 18 years, and all those named having attended the induction. 

I've made an account, and can see the bikes, but can't make a reservation yet. What's going on?

When you first make an account here on myTurn, it comes through to us as a ‘request to join’. Between creating your account and us assigning you the correct membership, you won't be able to access reservations - but please be patient with us, as once we get to your request, this will unlock reservations for you. 

Testimonials - some best bits and how people got on: 

“Every time I see what these amazing bikes are capable of, it reassures me that I feel I would manage to do many things I would otherwise do by car by cargo bike… …I feel a lot of joy being able to get from A to B to C riding these bikes, so most of the experience is memorable in a good way! I like being able to assert myself on the road and be one more example for folk that cars are far from the only option we have for these kinds of journeys.”

“I knew already that cars should be used as little as possible. However, it was a nice confirmation that it is easier and so much funnier to move stuff with a cargo bike than with a car, as I would have done it in the past before discovering cargo bikes.”

“The amount of conversation people started over the bike! Everyone was very positive about it."

“It's opened up the possibility of transporting things around town without use of a vehicle which I previously though would not be possible… …Being able to cycle up hill with lots of stuff and feeling like I wasn't going to die. The electric assistance is great!”

“I was considering registering to a car sharing scheme in the future, but now that I know I can use a cargo bike for moving small furniture it seems less useful to me… …I was worried that the armchair wouldn't fit well, so the moment when I loaded it and realised it did was a great relief."

“I immensely enjoyed accessing green spaces and sharing/introducing my children to longer distance cycling. Going down some of the cycle paths in the meadows during a pleasant summer afternoon was particularly memorable."

“Going on the cycle paths with my daughter and she loved it, being able to cycle non stop without stopping at traffic lights etc all time…         …Daughter having a strop when I said we need to go in the car (she wants the bike). ”

“The feeling of joy as it cruised along and bystanders would give admiring looks!”

“I feel I'm doing the right thing, contributing to a cleaner environment as well as feeling healthier and showing my children how important all this is (and more fun!)… …Another one was riding the Tern while listening to my children, singing and laughing.”

“Yes, confirmed my assertion that I don't really need a car for most of the journey's I take… …It was my first time using it but was amazing to use the assisted pedalling.”