Bicycle
- Rent a bicycle at Velo
- Bicycle sheds
- Bicycle safety
- Bicycle registration
- Bicycle theft
- KU Leuven bicycle for staff members
Rent a bicycle at Velo
VELO is a non-profit organisation that promotes the use of ecological means of transport in the city by recycling, repairing and renting bicycles.
- You can rent a safe, fully equipped and registered second-hand bicycle with a solid lock
- and repair your own bicycle at the bicycle repair shop.
Bicycle sheds
Use the bicycle sheds:
- in the Centre (pdf)
- at the university buildings (pdf) - Dutch
- at the station
Please note ! If your bicycle is parked in such a way that it hinders pedestrians and wheelchairs or if it blocks the entrance of a building, a police officer may remove it. If you park your bicycle on the pavement, always make sure you leave at least 1 metre of free space on the pavement. When you park your bicycle, think about people who are less mobile than yourself (persons in a wheelchair, with a bad vision, the elderly, parents with a pushchair).
If your bicycle is parked in a public bicycle shed for longer than 2 consecutive months, the police may/will remove your bicycle.
When you go home for the holidays and you are unable to take your bicycle with you, the best thing to do is to put it inside a building. Due to various summer events, bicycles will be removed from public bicycle racks in the city centre, the area around the railway station and the area around Sint-Jacobsplein.
Bicycle safety
Cycling guide
Driving through a red traffic light, driving the wrong way down a one-way street or cycling at night without lights on your bicycle - these traffic offences will not be tolerated in Leuven. Every passenger on a bicycle must have a seat and a footrest. No one is allowed to sit on the luggage rack. Extra notice is being taken of bicycle lights so make sure they always work properly!
The cycling guide tells you everything about the traffic rules, traffic signs, fines and how to get about Leuven safely and in accordance with the rules!
Bicycle helmet
Traffic accidents can have severe consequences. As a cyclist, it’s best to protect your head with a bicycle helmet.
Your rights as a cyclist
If you are hit by a car, the driver is liable for your physical injuries, even if the accident wasn’t his/her fault. The material damage must be paid for by the offender. This may be the cyclist.
If you become a member of ‘de fietsersbond’, you get a legal assistance insurance, valid for almost all bicycle related conflicts.
A well-equipped bicycle
Your bicycle must be equipped with the following to legally in order:
- a bicycle bell
- 2 adequate brakes
- yellow or orange reflectors on the pedals
- 1 white or yellow front light
- 1 red rear light
- 1 white front reflector
- 1 red rear reflector
- 2 yellow or orange side reflectors or reflective strips on the tires (front and rear)
Bicycle registration
If you don’t rent a bicycle, it is important to have it engraved with your ID- number. This is no guarantee against theft, but it helps to prevent theft and makes it easier for the police to retrieve your bicycle if it does get stolen.
You can have your bicycle engraved free of charge at the bicycle office of the local police or at Velo. At the start of the academic year, the police also has a registration campaign at Alma 1, 2 and 3.
- Alma 1: 19 and 20 October, 11.30 am – 2 pm and 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm
- Alma 2: 12 and 13 October, 11.30 am – 2 pm and 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm
- Alma 3: 26 and 27 October, 11.30 am – 2 pm and 5.30 pm – 7.30 pm
Bicycle theft
Bicycle theft prevention
- Always lock your bicycle (even when leaving it for a short while).
- Always anchor your bicycle to a fixed object (a pole, fence, bicycle rack,…) but not to traffic signs.
- Use a decent lock: no combination numbers, locks with thin chains or thin cables.
- Make sure that removing your bicycle takes a lot of time.
- Park your bicycle in a safe, visible place (preferably a bicycle rack) and avoid deserted, unlit places.
- If your bicycle gets stolen, it is important to have a good description of what it looks like; this can help you recover the bicycle.
Report bicycle theft
If your bicycle is stolen, always report the theft immediately at the police station!
Bicycle theft report forms can be filled out:
- at the offices of VELO
- at Pangaea
- at your faculty secretariat
- at the police office
- at De Moete (the student cop)
- at the railway station (the railway police)
- at the doorman of Gasthuisberg
KU Leuven bicycle for staff members
KU Leuven places bicycles at the disposal of every staff member on the KU Leuven payroll (including recipients of doctoral scholarships), who may use this bicycle for their daily commute and to travel around the university during working hours: the 2WD-bicycle.
Staff members can also use a department bicycle.
