http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Deliveroo suicidal cyclists (and illegal bikes generally) en Thu, 17 Sep 2026 11:37:57 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=4#post-385583 Tue, 25 Aug 2026 08:21:09 +0000 Frenchy 385583@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Notable example of a non-sentient car in a newspaper headline. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=4#post-385579 Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:42:25 +0000 chdot 385579@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>“</p> <p>A car has been deliberately driven into a house before being set alight while a suspect made off from the scene on an e-bike.</p> <p>“</p> <p> <a href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26257255.car-deliberately-driven-glasgow-house-set-fire/?" rel="nofollow">https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26257255.car-deliberately-driven-glasgow-house-set-fire/?</a></p> <p>(I can’t prove the bike was illegal…) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=4#post-385545 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 14:16:53 +0000 neddie 385545@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>To have the time and energy to engage in (the mostly ignored anyway) infrastructure-modification consultations is definitely middle-class privilege. Those guys just trying to survive </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385539 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:48:18 +0000 wingpig 385539@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>If a glove/pogie stays on the handlebars when the hand is retracted then it doesn't need to clamped in an armpit whilst the same hand's fingers then tap on a capacitive touchscreen.</p> <p>Given their numbers, it would be quite useful if even a smallish fraction of delivery riders were engaged enough to engage with various infrastructure-modification consultations, or if they contacted their local councillors to raise issues like the wait times at cycle lane traffic signals. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385538 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:06:56 +0000 Yodhrin 385538@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>If the "oven mitts" are what I think they are, they may just be leaving them on there because they can't be bothered to take them all the way off. You can just loosen the strap a little and get some air blowing through. I had a set on my previous bike for winter but I ended up leaving them on in most of spring and autumn as well because tightening or loosening that strap is less faff than taking them on or off when you get one or two days in a week with bad weather, and I just about get heatstroke if it goes above 21C, so if someone was originally from a warmer place or has a better constitution than mine they might well just leave them on year-round. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385535 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:34:15 +0000 neddie 385535@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I wonder if the oven gloves help make the bike a bit less attractive to opportunistically steal? The thief having to put their hands into the "unknown", not knowing what might be in there, or how the controls might function?</p> <p>The riders could also keep as pets the equivalent of the hungry tiger in the shed - maybe a trained scorpion or ferret or something </p> <p>Or maybe the bike nicking scrotes don't have such qualms? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385532 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:59:13 +0000 gembo 385532@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Nice young deliveroo on the Leith Walk path apologised to me. I was watching him checking which address to deliver the package to. I sensed he was about to come to a total halt so gently applied my brakes. All was well. Just another thing to watch out for on the leith walk bike path alongside Bikes cycled the wrong way, drunks, stoners, cars parked in the lane, cars driving across the lane cyclists overtaking you etc. still very jolly bit of circuitous infra. </p> <p>I don’t begrudge them skipping in front of me in a stopping box, they are going to accelerate faster than me with their battery assist. I still sometimes begrudge other cats who don’t have a battery basically pushing in front of me but these days I find I am less in a rush and less bothered about being in front of someone. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385524 Thu, 20 Aug 2026 18:20:31 +0000 mcairney 385524@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I’ve had occasional incidents with them, usually from them stopping/changing direction with no warning or because they’re paying more attention to their mobile than the road. There’s also little in the way of etiquette as they’ll frequently go in front of you in the ASL /traffic queue even if you’ve overtaken them on the way there! And the effortless gliding up hills annoys me more than it really should but I realise that’s a me problem!<br /> And the oven mitts on the handlebars even when it’s 30oC<br /> As pointed out though their livelihood depends on their vehicle so they aren’t going to go out their way to make your life difficult, I do wonder how there are so many of them making drop-offs at all hours having never used (and never will) use their services myself </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385518 Thu, 20 Aug 2026 13:21:46 +0000 Dave 385518@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've never had the slightest problem with delivery riders. Which makes sense if you think about it, they are clinging to a precarious living where if they get injured or damage the bike it could be hugely problematic, plus while the pay structure and (dis)incentives practically require them to use an out of spec ebike, in any incident the police will also throw the book at them for it being an out of spec ebike on top. </p> <p>If you were going to caricature a careful road user, you could hardly do a better job </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385491 Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:58:28 +0000 gembo 385491@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The food guys are just trying to get to the next job. Harmless I except generalized to all cyclists on the inter web. Which is the lived reality of most desk jockeys these days.</p> <p>The balaclava dudes sure can pull so,e great wheelies. They used to die on motorbikes they stole from civilians. They are just kids. Their parents must really have given up. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385483 Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:40:45 +0000 Murun Buchstansangur 385483@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I don't hate on the Deliveroonies, I do most of my utility cycling on Fountainbridge and the city centre and I'd say 'compliance with traffic signals' is pretty good there. There was a high profile Police Scotland op there to scoop some of them and their bikes so maybe the rare case of road users taking on board the message being passed. Can we do drivers now?</p> <p>Yes, the bikes are obviously illegal but don't seem to exceed 15mph too much, maybe just battery management though. Perhaps careers in Formula 1 beckon?</p> <p>Must of the 'non-compliance with traffic signals' I see is Voi bikes, young people (students?) and the odd commuter.</p> <p>As for the SRYT, well the best that can be said is that if they weren't on the Surrons, they'd probably be nicking cars and killing people or themselves like in the Republic of Ireland the other night. Which isn't to say those outcomes aren't eminently possible on Surrons too. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385480 Tue, 18 Aug 2026 10:39:48 +0000 mcairney 385480@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>About the only good thing I'll say about the Deliveroonies is that at least they're not malicious unlike the balaclava-clad neds on Surrons. The vehicles themselves are deathtraps though and most will end up in landfill within a year of ownership.<br /> Had an amusing encounter with one yesterday cycling back from town and stopped on the line of the ASL at the bottom of Regent Rd. Having passed them going down the hill and stopped on the line about 30 seconds later the Deliveroo stops about 10 feet ahead of me well past the line and in the pedestrian part. I made a passing suggestion that he should maybe get his brakes checked out and he actually looked down at his rear wheel! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385473 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 21:28:58 +0000 Arellcat 385473@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>even in the height of summer they have thick glove things attached to their handle bars and clad in winter clothes and virtual balaclavas - perhaps to hide faces from the Scottish equivalent of ICE?</em></p> <p>I've heard various hypotheses for the Pogies and balaclavas in summertime:<br /> <ul><li>To hide the thumb operated throttle</li><li>To hide their identities because they are each substituting for someone else who is a legal employee of $fooddeliverycompany</li><li>They don't generate any body heat because of thumb operated throttles and/or high motor power</li><li>They come from warmer places and find Edinburgh much colder than we do</li></ul></p> <p>Maybe all of these are true, I don't know. Though if they were worried about hiding their throttles, they wouldn't sail along without pedalling at the same time. It's also not true or fair to suppose that they all appear to actively hide themselves, but some definitely do.</p> <p>Perhaps they are the acid test for good cycling infrastructure, because for the most part they are 'people on bikes', for whom an e-bike is a means to an end. It may as well be a van. More than a few of them seem to have very little interest in assertive, skilled, courteous cycling. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385472 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 19:41:16 +0000 jss 385472@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The deliveroo boys and their ilk are the most frequent users of the bike lanes that I encounter ,outnumbering all other cyclists. I wonder if Edinburgh council ever thought they would be the main users and beneficiaries of their cycling infrastructure?Curiously they hardly seem to pedal and even in the height of summer they have thick glove things attached to their handle bars and clad in winter clothes and virtual balaclavas - perhaps to hide faces from the Scottish equivalent of ICE?<br /> But good luck to them , we all have to eat!<br /> Remember a youtube video of a deliveroo guy on a non electric bike down south who reckoned he could make £30 to £40 an hour with careful management of his deliveries </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385413 Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:39:51 +0000 chdot 385413@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/two-teens-charged-police-trace-third-off-road-motorbikes-seized-wester-hailes-clovenstone-8884870" rel="nofollow">https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/two-teens-charged-police-trace-third-off-road-motorbikes-seized-wester-hailes-clovenstone-8884870</a> </p> <p><a href="https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025/04/police-continue-crack-down-on-illegal-use-of-off-road-and-electric-bikes/" rel="nofollow">https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025/04/police-continue-crack-down-on-illegal-use-of-off-road-and-electric-bikes/</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-385411 Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:29:02 +0000 chdot 385411@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>(I’m sure there’s another more recent thread somewhere)</p> <p>“</p> <p>The petition continues: “If a vehicle is not an EAPC it can only be ridden on a road; the rider must have a valid driving licence and the vehicle must be insured. E-Bikes are common in Leith and particularly on the cycle paths on Leith Walk: many of them are not legally compliant.</p> <p>“</p> <p><a href="https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/petition-launched-to-stop-illegal-e-bike-usage-on-leith-walk-as-seizures-soar-across-city-8886217?" rel="nofollow">https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/petition-launched-to-stop-illegal-e-bike-usage-on-leith-walk-as-seizures-soar-across-city-8886217?</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324462 Thu, 12 Mar 2020 13:56:15 +0000 acsimpson 324462@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Oops, That was meant to go in the cycle hire thread. I'll stick it there now too. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324442 Thu, 12 Mar 2020 11:25:00 +0000 acsimpson 324442@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>9 new racks are going in around SQ, Dalmeny and Kirkliston today (I think). The first one (Borrowman Square) had just been put live when I passed this morning so I stopped for a quick chat.</p> <p>They are going to get out as far as Port Edgar for full east west coverage. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324397 Wed, 11 Mar 2020 22:45:16 +0000 Tulyar 324397@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Didn't get the number of the 'roo rider that nearly hit me (on foot) emerging from GP surgery on foot - easier to walk than use bike.</p> <p>Saddle too low pedalling in too low a gear right down the footway!</p> <p>Word is for Glasgow, they hire EAPC when their own EAPC breaks down, and take the hit on their earnings for the day. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324388 Wed, 11 Mar 2020 21:53:51 +0000 Greenroofer 324388@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@acsimpson - I have it on good authority that the Just Eat Bikes people are very aware that food delivery operatives are using their bikes. I hear that their heaviest user is a delivery rider who commutes in from the west each day (they know because they've spoken to this user). They seemed quite pleased with the idea, actually (and it's not in breach of their <a href="https://edinburghcyclehire.com/terms-of-use">Ts and Cs</a>). For a full-time delivery rider it makes good sense: it's a cheap way of being able to guarantee yourself a reliable bike. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324297 Wed, 11 Mar 2020 10:51:32 +0000 crowriver 324297@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Deliveroo should do something about that"</p> <p>Yeah, like they care. </p> <p>As Uber and AirBnB have shown, tech disruptor platforms really couldn't give a monkey's how their services get delivered, as long as they're getting their cut. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324288 Wed, 11 Mar 2020 09:54:15 +0000 ianfieldhouse 324288@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Tulyar On day one of the Just Eat eBikes I had the one eBike in the dock next to my work nabbed from under my nose by a Deliveroo rider, so it's already happening over here. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324253 Tue, 10 Mar 2020 18:13:24 +0000 acsimpson 324253@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>With an annual subscription I'm sure it's worth a deliveroo rider using hire bikes over the cost of maintaining their own bike. Especially if they don't already own one.</p> <p>I'm not sure about the economics of the e version, but suspect it might still add up if you're just using it to get a few extra bob here or there. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324218 Tue, 10 Mar 2020 11:58:59 +0000 ejstubbs 324218@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Again, Deliveroo should do something about that if it's reported to them. AIUI they're supposed to be able to track their riders via the GPS on the rider's phone while they're on a job, so all you should need to report it is where and when you saw it. (I assume that, if the rider wasn't actually on a job but just happened to be carrying their Deliveroo bag while using a Nextbike for legitimate purposes - I know, not very likely - then they won't show up on Deliveroo's tracker.)</p> <p>I don't know whether Nextbike have similar tracking capability for their bikes. If they do then they should be able to identify the hirer and have a word/disable their account, assuming that the incident is reported to them.</p> <p>I also wonder whether it's actually cost effective for Deliverooists to hire a bike? Just wondering whether they might have found a way to use the bikes without paying... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324211 Tue, 10 Mar 2020 11:28:40 +0000 Tulyar 324211@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've noted riders in Glasgow using the Nextbikes (especially the e-bikes) when clearly working for Deliveroo. This is expressly contra to the Nextbike T&amp;C - with EAPC now in Edinburgh Just Eat fleet, will this be happening in the East? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324091 Sat, 07 Mar 2020 22:32:42 +0000 Snowy 324091@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Given the road sense on display from the average Deliveroo/Ubereats rider, this will just get them into bother even more quickly. I saw one ride straight into a black bin the other day, but he seemed ok. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324053 Fri, 06 Mar 2020 21:46:48 +0000 crowriver 324053@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The ones I saw were mostly mid-motor, i.e. proper e-bikes. Though in the past I have also seen rear wheel drive numbers which may have been ridden without pedalling. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324050 Fri, 06 Mar 2020 21:32:49 +0000 ejstubbs 324050@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Should be possible to report them to Deliveroo for using non-road-legal vehicles. If you felt so inclined. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324049 Fri, 06 Mar 2020 21:30:37 +0000 CycleAlex 324049@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've noticed a couple recently using American style* throttle e-bikes with massive batteries. </p> <p>*American style purely because I saw loads of delivery riders using them in NYC </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=15842&page=3#post-324046 Fri, 06 Mar 2020 21:08:36 +0000 crowriver 324046@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Dunno if anyone else has noticed, but Deliveroo riders seem to be switching en masse to e-bikes. </p> <p>Yes, I'm old, unfit, was riding a 25kg Pashley Pronto with too high gearing - but still surprised to be overtaken at some speed on Edinburgh hills several times until I clocked the pedal assist... </p>