Ad bikes on free loan from racks

EuroBike are a Danish company who are piloting a City-Bike project in the South Denmark town of Nakskov whereby 50 bikes will be available for borrowing from coin-operated racks in exchange for a deposit of 20 krone (about £2). The bikes have an advertising placard built into the frame that will in due course cover expenses, including the cost of a team of mechanics to inspect the racks and amke any repairs. City-Bikes plan to expand to a 3,000 bike scheme for Copenhagen. And other cities such as Amsterdam and Vienna are under consideration. Bikes can only be used within the urban limits, and the scheme would work best, it is thought, in areas with low levels of vandalism and where the bounds of legal riding can be clearly defined (college campuses, island resorts, etc). The bikes themselves have a heavy-duty construction, with puncture-proof solid rubber tyres.

Euro-Bike, Havnegade 33, 4900 Nakskov, Denmark (tel 45 53 92 05 55; fax 45 54 95 04 55).