Mate Bike will become the latest manufacturer to offer its e-bikes by subscription. The firm said that giving people the chance to rent its bikes by the month could also result in more sales if people are sufficiently won over by the experience.

There certainly seems to be a rapidly growing market for e-bike subscriptions. We’ve previously reported on the likes of Swapfiets, Hurrecane and Dance, who all offer bikes for a monthly fee, as well as Zoomo, who do much the same thing but primarily targeting couriers.

The Mate subscription platform will be operated in partnership with Slipstream and will see both the jack-of-all-trades Mate X (which we reviewed here) and the lighter Mate City (review here) on offer.

Bikes will be either new or refurbished to an ‘as new’ standard.

Mate Bike UK partner Harris Qureshi told BikeBiz: “In line with global supply shortages and shipping delays, the huge increase in cost of logistics, we have always tried to maintain an affordable bike, without negotiating on the quality of parts we use.

“We offer payment options such as 24 months interest-free payments as well as being on all major cycle to work platforms. However, this is another new space, making it more affordable and practical for customers to have the option to have a shorter-term rental, use their Mate, and see how it fits in with the lifestyle, with a view to return or purchase the bike at the end of the rental period.

“We are super excited to launch this offering to the lovely people of the UK and get as many people switching their commute to an e-bike. With both the X and City models available for rental, one can have a lighter smaller bike as a daily commuter, or the larger X with its wide tyres to enjoy on and off-road.”

Slipstream co-founder Dillon Harindiran added: “We want to help consumers access the products they want at prices that make sense and couldn’t be more excited to help Mate lead the way in, once again, disrupting the e-bike industry with subscriptions.”