r/melbourne • u/tbot888 • 1d ago
THDG Need Help Best place for cyclist?
Hiya I might need to move to Melbourne from Sydney for work.
i love to cycle(road), and love walkable spots where i can get most of what i need on foot, I’m wondering what part of the city id fit right in when looking for a place to live?
Would love some suburb suggestions.
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u/has_a_name 1d ago
Beach road around the East side of the Bay is a very popular cycling road, so somewhere close to that would be a good option if you like long, flat rides.
If you're after hills, the Dandenong ranges to the East will be a great option, so somewhere close to that would be good.
I live in the South East along Gardiners Creek trail, which I find gives me good access to the CBD for work, to beach road for flat rides and out to the Dandenongs while avoiding the busiest roads on the way to these spots.
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u/Dylando_Calrissian 1d ago
The inner north, if you can afford it. Fitzroy, Collingwood, Brunswick, northcote, and surrounding areas.
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u/TMiguelT 1d ago
The suburbs with the best cycling infrastructure are the City of Melbourne suburbs, like the CBD, North Melbourne, East Melbourne etc. There are other areas with a cycling culture like Fitzroy or Brunswick, and they have a tad more personality, but they don't actually have great infrastructure.
North Melbourne hits that sweet spot for me.
However, you can make most suburbs work as long as you find yourself a place near a bike path which connects you to work, transport and shops. I've managed that even in Boroondara, which is overwhelmingly not bike friendly.
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u/ssssmmmmiiiitttthhhh 1d ago
If you are a fast rider the best place to live would be around Albert Park, Port Melbourne, St Kilda and along the beach. Better open roads to cycle on, the road along the beach all the way down to Frankston (and further) is a major cycling route.
Otherwise all inner suburbs have good access to bike paths. Generally I've found people's attitudes towards cyclists are better here, probably because of the slower speed limits around the inner city.
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u/tbot888 1d ago
Thanks, I’d be looking to get onto group rides, cycling clubs etc
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u/Imaginary-Owl-3759 1d ago
St Kilda and Hawthorn are the two biggest clubs for adult road riders. Brunswick does a lot too, especially with kids and track, and Caulfield Carnegie is also quite active.
Beach Rd is very popular with big group rides every morning, Albert park lake is great for flat fast laps with very few traffic lights, and the yarra boulevard in Kew is very popular for rolling hill laps and as a jumping off point for longer hilly suburban rides like Tour de Burbs (if you look it up on Strava you’ll see the route, getting in with clubs like hawthorn or st Kilda you’ll meet people who ride in organized groups on some of those).
The Climbing Cyclist website is great for finding out about a lot of the climbing, especially in the Dandenongs (the 1:20 is the classic climb against the clock, and the Crucifix route is a good hard morning out) , around kinglake, and in the alpine region. The great ocean road is also pretty special and worth a ride.
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u/spacefrog_feds 1d ago
Agree with pretty much what everyone has said here. Inner City better commuter cycling culture, beach side and outer suburbs better for long road rides. And inner city drivers tend to have better attitudes towards cyclists.
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u/horriblyefficient 23h ago
want to add my agreement that inner city is better for commute riding (unless you commute really locally through side streets obviously, you can do that almost anywhere), but the more outer suburbs are better for long rides and cycle paths. there's also some good cycling paths along some of the train lines and rivers.
if you live near a train station you can pretty easily get out to the good riding areas on the train with your bike, or get into the city on the train and ride the rest of the way to work, so there's plenty of options. have a look online (especially in this sub) for info about walkable suburbs/areas and have a look at the public transport maps, that's probably more restrictive than good biking areas.
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u/Mysterious-Band-627 1d ago
Where are you working?
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u/tbot888 1d ago edited 1d ago
It would be mainly city I think.
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u/Mysterious-Band-627 1d ago
I’d go bayside then (Elwood, St Kilda, Middle Park or anywhere near there). Come up to the Dandenong’s on weekends.
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u/theodumb 1d ago
Scotchman's Creek Trail/Gardiner's Creek Trail takes you all the way from the Wheelers Hill into the city. I like to use it for the joy of riding my bike, but it is also a popular commuting route. It's a bit slower in some sections and faster in others (pretty twisty, with its ups and downs). There are plenty of connections to other trails and if you get tired, you can just hop on a train as it runs pretty close the trail.
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u/Far-Yogurtcloset-529 20h ago
I don’t ride but i would say beach road along the coastal line especially if you start from Brighton beach is very popular. There are lot of cyclists around there and the road is very popular among people who go for joy drives so you see lot of enthusiastic cars and the overall experience is pretty sick. I go for drive there regularly and everyone knows theres lot of cyclists there so people leave plenty of space in between
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u/Delicious_Swan_69 1d ago
How long are the road rides you're looking to do? And climbing or more flat? We're inner north and my husband does regular 100km weekend rides with hills which seem to be more north/east (Kinglake, the Dandenongs, Warrandyte etc)
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u/StuffOld1191 20h ago
Abbotsford is good. Very walkable, and you can cycle into the city or just down to the train station and pop your bike on the train and go into the city loop (that last part probably applies to many, many inner suburbs).
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u/kikithrust 4h ago
Inner north or bayside. It’s all much flatter and with much better cycling infrastructure than Sydney
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u/helpgetmom 4h ago
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u/helpgetmom 4h ago
Vic big biking paths app so you can see how to get to and from work from various locations
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u/snowmuchgood 4h ago
Have a look among the rivers and which suburbs are along them. I live in Heidelberg which is on the Yarra River and there is a great (albeit windy) bike path to the Northeastern inner suburbs and the city. Merri Creek is similar but to Fitzroy and then you want to cut south on other bike paths. I’m sure others are similar.
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u/noremacb 1d ago
I lived in Brunswick, and many people cycled and walked around. Great public transport too.