Boris bike - do I need a lock

[Donbot]

I'm going to be borrowing a Boris bike for a while today, and I'd like to know if I need my own lock if I want to go into a shop, or do they have their own locks on them? Thanks

Can't seem to find an answer from google.

[essayer]

You’re not supposed to leave them unattended, you dock them and rehire when you leave the shop
First 30 mins are free so it doesn’t make sense to hold onto one all day

[Donbot]

Cheers. I'm guessing there are plenty of docks about then?

If the bikes don't have their own lock I'll take one just in case.

[Donbot]

Oh and I'm using a bank card to get a code. So do I use that code to rehire the bike for free?

Sorry for all the questions. The website doesn't seem to explain this stuff.

[Electro1980]

You should not lock them up. You get one from a dock, cycle to where you need to go and then leave it in a dock. When you need to leave you get another one. Locking one up not only removes one from use but it is also unlikely you will find somewhere to lock it up.

There are loads of them around and docks all over.

[Donbot]

Ok cheers. I promise not to lock one up.

[dontlookdown]

The idea is you cycle dock-to-dock not point to point, so you need to check where the docks are relative to the places you want to go, and use those.

Don't lock a BB on the street, there aren't enough bike racks as it is;)

[Donbot]

I would have thought it would be fairly quiet on a Sunday.

I haven't been to London before if you can't tell, so I'm not sure what to expect.

[dontlookdown]

BB's are a good way to get around as a visitor, the tube is great but nothing to see and gives you no sense of where places are relative to one another. Buses more scenic but v slow. Bike best of both worlds.

Hope you enjoy your visit!

[Donbot]

It was great. I did a couple hours sightseeing then went on the 'Drum and Bass on the bike' ride.

Was totally mental.

The bike kiosk didn't work very well and has charged me two lots of £2 for some reason. It accepted the payment then threw an error instead of giving me a code

I'm expecting to be charged about £12 for the time I had it.