Dunedin Bike Library project manager Rose Dovey said the Dunedin City Council and an anonymous stakeholder were developing a community bike library in South Dunedin.
The bike library wanted gifts of second-hand bikes for recycling and restoration.
Bikes with gears, suitable for children between 8 and 12, were needed and adult bikes of any size.
BMX bikes would not be collected because the lack of handbrakes deemed them unsuitable.
The pilot project would make the bikes available to the pupils of a South Dunedin school - yet to be determined, she said.
The pupils, and their family members, could borrow bikes if they had completed the first two grades of the DCC cycle skills training programme, she said.
About 400 pupils had been on the training programme.
''I was surprised how many kids had no access to a bike, or had a badly damaged bike, with damaged tyres or brakes that did not work.''
Dunedin bike shop mechanics were being asked to teach members of the community about repairing and restoring the bikes.
Businesses were being approached for safety equipment, such as high-visibility vests and helmets. Second-hand helmets would not be collected because they could be damaged and unsafe.
DCC recreation planning officer Andrew Lonie said the success of the pilot would determine ''what the appetite'' was for the bike library being open to more children.
A bike pick-up could be arranged by emailing Ms Dovey on rose@motum.co.nz.
