Ebike sales are surging in Australia – and retailers are struggling to keep up.
“We’ve sold three times as many ebikes for the first months of this year than we did last year,” says Tony Morgan, manager of The Electric Bicycle Company in Melbourne. “This is absolutely in response to the fuel price spikes.”
Compared with manual bicycles, ebikes can travel faster and further, allowing riders of all ages and abilities to sail over hills or into strong headwinds. As a longtime cyclist and recent ebike user myself, the latter unlocks a whole new sense of freedom.
But much like electric cars, range anxiety is still an issue with ebikes, and I’ve learned the hard way that you need to ensure your bike has adequate power for longer journeys, or know where public charging facilities are. Fortunately, in Victoria, infrastructure is improving quickly.
With public transport half price in Victoria for the rest of the year, it’s a good time to take your ebike on the train and explore those new bike paths in Melbourne and further afield. You can take ebikes on all metro and regional trains in Victoria without charge, but it’s worth arriving early as spots are limited.
Just don’t rely on Google Maps for cycling – in most cases it simply hasn’t kept up with bike trail upgrades and will try to direct you on to highways or trafficked streets. Instead, use local bike trail websites with up-to-date maps such as those provided by the Bicycle Network.
If you’re keen to hit the new and improved bike trails in Victoria, here are some good places to start.
Dixon Veloway
Opened in December 2025, the 2.5km Dixon Veloway Bridge, named after the late trailblazing Australian cyclist Iris Dixon, is the jewel of Melbourne’s cycling upgrades. Elevated above Footscray Road with the sounds of semitrailers echoing below, it’s quite a sensation to ride.
The veloway, part of the West Gate Tunnel project, provides a safe bike-only connector from Melbourne’s west to the CBD. For riders, it also connects to the Federation trail and Docklands from the Maribyrnong River, which previously required cycling through heavy traffic.
Cycling the four-metre-wide, fluoro green Veloway for the first time brings to mind riding on Beijing’s bike highway. It’s a glimpse of what future city bicycle infrastructure can and should look like in Australia.
Trail length 2.5km.
Difficulty Easy – fairly flat and smooth.
Charging facilities There is free charging available at Library at the Dock or the Myrtle cafe beside the Maribyrnong Creek.
The cross-city caterpillar
Historically, cycling in Melbourne could be frustrating. Bike paths weren’t interconnected and would often dump riders out into notorious arterial roads and intersections, including black spots such as Footscray Road in the west and the beginning of St Georges Road, Northcote. But recent improvements have made cycling safer.
Since April 2025 it has been possible to cycle from the southern to northern suburbs of Melbourne completely on designated paths, via a new cable-stayed bridge, dubbed “the green caterpillar”. The 220-metre bike and pedestrian bridge, which was also part of the West Gate Tunnel works, connects Docklands to the Capital City trail and Moonee Ponds Creek trail – a gamechanger for folks wanting to ride safely from suburbs like St Kilda to Brunswick.
Other notable recent improvements include separated bike lanes along the southern part of Wellington Street in Collingwood; Heidelberg Road between Clifton Hill and Station Street; St Kilda Road between the CBD and St Kilda Junction; Arden Street between Moonee Ponds Creek and the Wreckyn Street/Chetwynd Street roundabout; and Macaulay Road between Moonee Ponds Creek and Boundary Road.
These improvements mean cyclists no longer have to share the road with cars travelling at high speed or along narrow roads.
Trail length Melbourne has more than 2,000km of bike trails stretching across the city and suburbs.
Difficulty Mostly easy. Melbourne is a relatively flat city and most trails are built around creeks, waterways and former rail lines.
Charging facilities If you have a detachable battery some cafes will allow you to charge it as a paying customer, just like you’d charge your phone. There are dedicated ebike charging stations in Lilydale trail head and Frankston foreshore. Local libraries are also a good option.
Kororoit Creek trail
If you’re looking for a great bike ride close to the city, take the train to Sunshine, Albion or Ardeer stations and ride through the backstreets to the Kororoit Creek trail, which stretches about 15km north-west to Deer Park. Recent upgrades as part of the West Gate Tunnel project include the completion of missing links between Altona North and Brooklyn, and a new underpass at Geelong Road, providing a safer direct connection to the Federation trail.
The moderately easy shared-use path crisscrosses Kororoit Creek, winding through regenerated bushlands, basalt cliffs and rocky outcrops, interspersed with semi-industrial areas. You’ll ride near river red gums and blackwood trees and pass Mount Kororoit, an ancient volcanic hill.
The path is also teeming with native birds and plant species. Keep a lookout for water and woodland birds such as pelicans, black swans, rainbow lorikeets and black-faced cuckooshrikes that are returning to the area after years of regeneration work from Friends of Kororoit Creek volunteers.
Trail length 22km.
Difficulty Easy, mostly flat.
Charging facilities You will need to go off-trail. The Sunshine library or the Kororoit Creek Neighbourhood House are good options.
Lilydale to Warburton bike trail
Often referred to as the “Warby trail”, this excellent recreational ride through the Yarra Valley has had significant improvements to intersection safety, connectivity to the Yarra Valley trail loop, and the addition of ebike charging stations, a public bike pump and bike repair station.
Take the train to Lilydale; the bike path starts near the train station car park and follows the former train tracks, with extended brick veneer back yards making way to a lush, forested trail.
The 40km path between the Dandenong Ranges and Great Dividing Range passes through the towns of Wandin, Seville, Yarra Junction and finishes in the artsy town Warburton. One of the prettiest stretches is around Mount Evelyn, where the path is lined with wildflowers and tree ferns, and offers glimpses of the mountain ranges.
This route also doubles as a kind of history lesson – riding alongside the decommissioned tracks, there’s a sobering realisation that Melbourne once had much better train connections to its outlying areas.
Trail length 40km.
Difficulty Moderate – its a bit of climb up to Warburton although most of the gradients are gentle.
Charging facilities The ebike charging stations at the Lilydale trail head are equipped with universal charging ports. There are also many cafes along this path that will let you charge, including the Trail cafe in Mount Evelyn and Carriage cafe in Seville.
Murray to Mountains rail trail
One of Victoria’s most beautiful bike trails is worth an overnight stay while transport is cheaper. Take the train to Wangaratta to see its $8.5m “enhancement”, completed in September 2025, which added a 31km extension from Beechworth to Yackandandah and improved safety – including nine new bridges and an elevated boardwalk – across the 180km trail network.
The trail starts at the northern end of town, beside the Murray River. The many paths are relatively flat and, depending on which route you choose, will take you past farms, ramshackle country homes, wheatfields and the odd pack of roaming sheep before reaching more forested areas.
The most popular route is Wangaratta to Everton and then on to the historic township of Beechworth. Unless you arrive in peak season (weekends in autumn and spring), you’ll feel almost completely alone on this ride, with a well-paved pathway stretching nearly 30km to Everton, where you turn towards Beechworth (altitude 550m) for another 17km ride, mostly uphill.
There are many good options to stay in Beechworth, such as the Tanswell’s Commercial hotel (from $95 per night, twin share). Then you can look forward to a blissful early morning downhill to Mount Everton. Consider riding back through the eucalypt and wattle forests to the Milawa Cheese Company, an excellent lunch stop that offers free cheese and wine tastings.
Trail length 130km total, through the heart of north-east Victoria, linking the flatlands of the Murray River to the foothills of the alps.
Difficulty Moderate. Depending where you go, expect some uphill riding as these paths are in the foothills of alpine country.
Charging facilities There are no public chargers on the actual rail trail, so you’ll need to detour to a cafe or bar in high country towns such as Bright, Myrtleford, Beechworth or Wangaratta.
Omeo mountain bike park
For those wanting to take cycling to the next level, the new 114km Omeo mountain bike park in Victoria’s alpine region offers off-road adventure riding for all levels. There’s no straightforward way to take public transport from Melbourne to Omeo town, especially with a bike in tow; however from Omeo’s main street, you can book a third-party shuttle service to get to the bike park.
Officially opened in December 2025, the snaking dirt paths offer freeriding, stomach-flipping descents, scenic adventure rides and climbs through the foothills of Victoria’s alpine national park.
Daniel Norris, a local dirt bike rider and tour guide for Gravity Dirt Co, says there are enough options to keep riders occupied for three to four days. “As far as I’m aware, there is not a park within Australia that has gravity trails anywhere near as long as what we have in Omeo.”
Trail length 114km of paths.
Difficulty The park has easy, moderate and difficult trails.
Charging facilities There are no charging facilities at the park. However in Omeo there are several public charging points including next to the Golden Age hotel and behind the East Gippsland Shire Council building.
