Yes — and an e-bike is the smartest way to do it. The Greater Sydney Bike Trail is a roughly 230 km loop right around the city that Bicycle NSW describes as 85% off-road, with only about 22 km of road riding through the Eastern Suburbs. It starts at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, it is not officially signposted, and you take as many days as you need. On a 1,200 Wh e-bike you can ride it in two or three civilised days instead of grinding it out — and step onto a train almost anywhere if the legs give up first.
What exactly is the Greater Sydney Bike Trail?
It is a community-made loop, not a government project — and that is the most interesting thing about it. Bicycle NSW puts the main circuit at 230 km, with a shorter 150 km version for people who want a weekend rather than an expedition. There is no fixed route and no wayfinding. The only rule is that you pass four markers: Centennial Park, the Woronora Bridge, Lizard Log in the Western Sydney Parklands, and Lachlan’s Line Bridge at North Ryde.
Between those markers the loop stitches together paths Sydney already owns: La Perouse and the Botany Bay foreshore, the Menai cycleways, Chipping Norton Lakes, the Glenfield Rail Trail, the M7 Cycleway, the Parramatta River Cycleway, Lane Cove National Park and Epping Road, before the classic finish over the Harbour Bridge cycleway. Garry Robinson of CycleSydney.com rode the whole thing in five days using six train trips.
Read that list again. Every one of those paths was built with public money, and nobody ever joined them up, named the result or put a single sign on it. Volunteers did that. If you want one clean example of how little Sydney invests in making its own bike network legible, this is it.
How do you join the loop from the Inner West?
From Leichhardt you have two clean ways in. Head north and pick up the Bay Run, the 7 km traffic-free loop around Iron Cove, then carry on east through Rozelle to the Anzac Bridge and the city, joining the trail near Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. Or head south on the GreenWay, the 6 km path that opened on 14 December 2025 between Iron Cove and the Cooks River at Earlwood, and meet the southern leg at the river.
Either way, most of your first hour is on separated path. Keep left, ring your bell early rather than late, and ease right off around walkers, kids and dogs — shared paths stay pleasant only while riders behave like guests on them. Helmets are mandatory in NSW, every path, every time. For a wider menu of starting points, our guide to where to ride an e-bike in Sydney covers the routes and group rides worth knowing.
Will one battery really get you 230 km?
No, and you should not plan as though it will. Do the maths instead. The 2026 Cyberbikes Centauro carries a 48V 25Ah Samsung pack — 1,200 Wh — and its product page claims up to 120 km at 25 km/h on flat road, with a 75 kg rider and no headwind. A full charge from empty takes about five hours.
So 230 km is two full charges, minimum. Hills, headwind and cargo all push real consumption above the brochure figure, so treat 120 km as a ceiling, not a plan. Bicycle NSW also warns accommodation is thin between Cronulla and Parramatta, which effectively picks your overnight stop for you. The sane version: 90–110 km, sleep, charge, finish.
Can you put your e-bike on the train?
That depends on what kind of e-bike you own. Bikes travel free on Sydney Trains, Metro, Sydney Ferries and light rail at any time, and are banned outright from buses, including train replacement buses, according to Transport for NSW.
But since 1 November 2025, converted e-bikes — an ordinary pedal bike fitted with an aftermarket motor and battery — have been banned from Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink and Metro carriages and platforms, with a $400 fine and a maximum penalty of $1,100. Factory-built e-bikes, shared e-bikes and mobility devices are excluded from that ban, and you can still wheel a converted bike through concourses, lifts and bike storage outside the fare gates.
The bike also has to be legal in the first place. Transport for NSW currently allows a maximum of 500 W continuous rated power, dropping to 250 W plus mandatory EN 15194 certification from 1 March 2029; the motor must not provide power above 25 km/h, and any throttle-only function must cut out at 6 km/h. A bike over those limits is illegal even if an app or a switch restricts it, and since 21 August 2026 police have expanded powers to seize illegal e-bikes. The Centauro is a factory-built 250 W bike certified to EN 15194, ISO 4210, UL 2849 and UL 2271 — which is exactly the paperwork that keeps a long, multi-leg ride like this one simple.
Surface-wise, Bicycle NSW warns of bumpy bitumen at Chipping Norton, a brick path at Ramsgate and big dips along the waterways. If the finish worries you, our guide to riding the Harbour Bridge cycleway on an e-bike covers that last climb.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the Greater Sydney Bike Trail?
Bicycle NSW gives the main loop as 230 km, with a shorter 150 km version. It is about 85% off-road, with roughly 22 km of road riding in the Eastern Suburbs. There is no signposted route — you only need to pass four markers: Centennial Park, the Woronora Bridge, Lizard Log and Lachlan’s Line Bridge.
Can you take an e-bike on a Sydney train?
Yes, if it is a factory-built e-bike. Bikes travel free on Sydney Trains and Metro at any time. Since 1 November 2025, converted e-bikes are banned from Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink and Metro carriages and platforms, with a $400 fine and a maximum penalty of $1,100. Bikes are not allowed on buses at all.
How many days should you allow for the loop on an e-bike?
Two to three days is realistic on an e-bike. A 1,200 Wh battery is rated to about 120 km in ideal conditions, so 230 km needs at least two full charges, and a charge takes about five hours. Riders without assistance commonly take five days.
You do not need to ride all 230 km to get the point of this trail. The point is that the paths are already there, and most of us drive past them. Swap one car trip a week for an e-bike ride and see what changes. When you want to talk it through, we are at Cyberbikes, 281 Parramatta Road, Leichhardt.
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