Lime Says Its E-Bikes Are 'Not for Jousting' After London Fields Duel
Hundreds gathered in Hackney to watch two riders in armour charge at each other on rented e-bikes, prompting a safety warning from the operator
By AXY Business Desk ·
Key points
- Rental e-bike company Lime said its bikes are "not for jousting" after footage of a bike joust in London Fields, Hackney, circulated online.
- Hundreds of people gathered in the east London park to watch artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew the First joust on rentable e-bikes.
- Lime said "safety must always come first" and that its bikes are designed for getting around the city.
- The BBC report notes that hospitals have reported an increase in injuries to e-bike riders and pedestrians.
- A video of the event on Carden's Instagram account has been watched more than four million times.
E-bike rental company Lime has said its bikes are "not for jousting" after footage of a staged medieval-style duel in a London park drew hundreds of spectators and spread widely on social media. The videos show two riders dressed as knights, in chainmail and armour and carrying lances, trying to knock each other off bright green rentable e-bikes in London Fields, Hackney, in east London. The BBC, which first reported the story on its business coverage, said the footage circulated over the weekend, and Lime responded with a statement on Monday that combined a light tone with a clear warning about safety.
What Happened in London Fields
According to the BBC report, hundreds of people gathered in London Fields to watch artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew the First joust while riding the rental bikes. The contest was promoted in advance. Carden described the "free public joust" as "performance art" in a post on social media. The BBC report says a video of the event on his Instagram account has been watched more than four million times.
The clips shared online show the two men in armour attempting to unseat each other, a format that closely follows the traditional joust, in which two mounted competitors charge at one another with lances and try to knock the opponent from the saddle. In this case the horses were replaced by motorised bicycles. The BBC report says the crowd can be heard chanting "joust, joust, joust" before one of the men falls from his bike after being jabbed.
The BBC report does not say whether anyone was seriously hurt at the event itself, whether police or the local council attended, or whether any complaint has been lodged. Those details matter for understanding whether the stunt led to consequences beyond online attention, and they are not confirmed in the source material.
Lime's response was delivered by a company spokesperson. "We always love seeing Londoners come together and build a sense of community in unexpected ways," the spokesperson said. "While we appreciate the medieval spirit, safety must always come first." The company added: "Lime bikes are designed for getting around the city, not for jousting." The statement is notable for pairing an acknowledgement of the event's creativity with a firm statement about what the vehicles are for.
What Lime Is and How Its Bikes Work
Lime is one of the best-known operators of shared micromobility, a term used for small, low-speed vehicles that people rent for short trips around a city. The company was founded in 2017 in California and began by offering rental electric scooters before expanding into e-bikes. Its model is typically based on an app: a user finds a vehicle nearby, unlocks it with a phone, rides it to a destination, and leaves it parked for the next person to rent.
An e-bike, short for electric bicycle, is a bicycle with a small battery-powered motor that assists the rider while they pedal, or in some designs provides power on demand. The motor makes the bike easier to ride uphill and over longer distances, but it also means the vehicle is heavier and can accelerate more quickly than a conventional bicycle. That difference matters when a rider falls, collides with another person or object, or is steered deliberately into a contest, because the energy involved in an impact is higher.
Rules on where and how e-bikes can be ridden vary by city and country, and they often distinguish between privately owned vehicles and rental fleets. The BBC report does not set out the legal position of this specific event, so it is not possible to say from the source material whether the stunt broke any particular regulation. What is clear is that Lime's own statement focused on the purpose for which its bikes are designed, rather than on a legal finding.
Why E-Bike Safety Is Under Scrutiny
The BBC report notes that, despite the popularity of e-bikes, hospitals have reported an increase in injuries to both riders and pedestrians. That context helps explain why a light-hearted stunt drew a sharp safety response. The concern is not that e-bikes are unusual, but that they are now common on city streets and in parks, and that the number of people sharing space with them has grown.
For the riders in a contest of this kind, the risks are direct. A fall from a bike at speed can cause head injuries, broken bones and deep grazes, and armour and padding do not remove those risks. For spectators, the concern is crowd density and the unpredictability of vehicles being steered toward one another rather than travelling in a straight line. A crowd of several hundred people gathered around moving machines can make it harder for anyone to step aside quickly if something goes wrong.
Parks such as London Fields are used by families, dog walkers, runners and cyclists. An event that turns a public green space into an arena raises questions about how shared space is managed, and about whether organisers and participants consider the people who did not come to watch. Those questions are part of why the episode has drawn attention beyond the entertainment value of the footage.
Why Viral Stunts Are a Problem for Operators
Shared vehicle companies depend on public trust. Customers need to believe a bike will be safe to ride, and cities need to believe that operators can reduce the nuisance and danger that rental fleets can create. When a rental vehicle appears in a viral stunt, the company can face reputational pressure even if it did not organise or approve the event. This is one reason operators tend to respond quickly to high-profile misuse, usually by restating their rules rather than commenting on the creative intent behind it.
The balance is delicate. Operators generally cannot control every action a customer takes once a vehicle has been rented, but they can set terms of use, provide guidance, and respond publicly. Lime's statement appears designed to make clear that the company does not endorse the activity while avoiding a heavy tone toward an event that many people seem to have found entertaining. The company's acknowledgement of the "medieval spirit" is part of that approach.
The episode also shows how quickly a single video can reach a very large audience. The four million views reported for Carden's Instagram video mean that the risky behaviour was seen far beyond the people who attended, and that the company's warning was also seen far beyond London. In that sense, the response became part of the story itself.
What to Watch Next
Several developments could follow, although none has been confirmed in the source material. Lime could update its public guidance on permitted use, or it could take steps to address the use of its vehicles in organised events. Analysts expect that viral incidents of this kind may prompt more operators to set out their rules in plainer language, particularly where a vehicle is designed for travel rather than sport.
Local authorities in Hackney or London more broadly may consider whether gatherings of this type need permission, or whether existing rules on public space and vehicle use already cover them. Whether any formal action is taken would depend on facts not yet reported, including whether anyone was injured and whether the event broke specific local rules.
For the public, the practical message is straightforward. Rental e-bikes are built for getting around the city, and riders should consider their own safety and that of people nearby. Readers who want to know more about the rules in their area should check their local council's guidance on e-bikes and public spaces, and the terms of use for any rental service they use.
The BBC report makes clear that Lime's central message is that its bikes are for travel and that safety must come first. How that message is received, and whether it changes behaviour at future events, is likely to become clearer in the coming days and weeks.
Questions and answers
Why did Lime say its bikes are not for jousting?
Lime said its bikes are designed for getting around the city and that safety must always come first, after footage of two riders in armour charging at each other in London Fields circulated online.
Who took part in the London Fields bike joust?
The BBC report names artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew the First as the two riders. Carden had described the free public event as performance art in a social media post.
Are e-bike injuries rising?
The BBC reports that hospitals have recorded an increase in injuries to both e-bike riders and pedestrians. The report does not give specific figures in the source material.
Topics: Lime, E-bikes, London Fields, Hackney, Jack Carden, Micromobility, Bike safety
Sources: BBC Business