Author Topic: Dockless Bikes (merged superthread)  (Read 26825 times)

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #25 on: 21 July, 2017, 09:53:35 am »
Saw my first O-bike, in the grounds of Kingston University.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Steph

  • Fast. Fast and bulbous. But fluffy.
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #26 on: 21 July, 2017, 10:26:49 am »
When I was riding through Frederukshavn they has a Boris-style bike scheme. Speaking to the tourist info people, they said a very large proportion had 'left' the system and were being kept for private use, such as kids going to school. The authorities' attitude was "Well, as long as people are on bikes"

What was harder for them to bear was that a lot of kids insisted on, er, testing the performance envelope by jumping the bikes. Enough said.
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

fruitcake

  • some kind of fruitcake
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #27 on: 21 July, 2017, 11:21:15 am »
Yes, I guess it is a sign of success. That's why Mobike should legitimise it, through a 'long term hire' deal.

ian

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #28 on: 21 July, 2017, 11:40:25 am »
Given we have an endemic problem with bike theft (not to mention vandalism), any system that depends on them not being nicked is doomed, alas, to failure.

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #29 on: 21 July, 2017, 12:06:26 pm »
Quote
"My White Bicycle" is Tomorrow's debut single. According to Tomorrow drummer John 'Twink' Alder, the song was inspired by the Dutch Provos, an anarchist group in Amsterdam which instituted a community bicycle program: "they had white bicycles in Amsterdam and they used to leave them around the town. And if you were going somewhere and you needed to use a bike, you'd just take the bike and you'd go somewhere and just leave it. Whoever needed the bikes would take them and leave them when they were done."

That was 50 years ago. Most of the bikes ended up in the canals. Nazareth did a cover in 1975.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.


Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #32 on: 21 July, 2017, 02:12:47 pm »
"White Bicycles" is also the title of the autobiography of noted 60s record producer Joe Boyd, trivia fans.
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Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #33 on: 24 July, 2017, 05:37:51 am »
It's clear that the scheme can work - because it does in Guanghzhou.

The people there are no less petty, larcenous or devious than the people here and they've had the same problems with bikes being stored in private areas, dumped inconsiderately, or stolen.

Yet the whole city is cycling whereas a few years ago you only really saw cars. Whatever minor problems result it's made the city much nicer.

I think what really helped was getting to such a scale that they could employ large teams to tidy up behind their users. That'll be around 8 times more expensive to achieve here than in Gz.

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #34 on: 24 July, 2017, 12:57:40 pm »
Spotting Mobikes in unlikely places is my latest game on my commute, this morning's was in a trench Stretford, the best so far has been up a tree in Whitworth Park.

telstarbox

  • Loving the lanes
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #35 on: 24 July, 2017, 03:16:11 pm »
I think if Obike replaced the bikes with something a bit better the scheme could really take off, but this might also fundamentally change the economics/pricing of it.
2019 🏅 R1000 and B1000

Andrij

  • Андрій
  • Ερασιτεχνικός μισάνθρωπος
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #36 on: 24 July, 2017, 09:25:56 pm »
I've seen Obikes all around London - even east of the Lea - and heard of one spotted up on Blackheath.  But has anyone seen one being ridden?  Admittedly, I travel outside of traditional commuting times, but I have yet to see one of these bicycles in use.
;D  Andrij.  I pronounce you Complete and Utter GIT   :thumbsup:

ian

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #37 on: 25 July, 2017, 05:58:39 pm »
I saw one parked in the middle of the pavement by Myatt's Field. Literally in the middle, which was a bit odd, because the stand was down and it was locked, like someone had got half way down the road and given up. Or they'd decided to enter the park by climbing over the railings.

Another in Croydon. Two lads, one on an Obike and one on a de-labelled Boris Bike, both barrelling along the pavement in a manner that suggested they'd just nicked something and didn't giving anyone the opportunity to ask for it back , so I suspect it wasn't being used in quite the way the organizers intend.

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #38 on: 26 July, 2017, 12:21:16 pm »
Just clocked this one

In sunny Forest Hill - which is a fair distance from central Londres to be riding what looks to be a heavy bike.
And that bike could not have been placed where it is without encountering hill(s).

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #39 on: 26 July, 2017, 12:47:39 pm »
I've seen Obikes all around London - even east of the Lea - and heard of one spotted up on Blackheath.  But has anyone seen one being ridden?  Admittedly, I travel outside of traditional commuting times, but I have yet to see one of these bicycles in use.

Me:

The O-bikes arrived in large numbers in South Kensington the day after their introduction in Tower Hamlets. Today, for the first time. I saw a couple being ridden about. Maybe they will be ok as a complement to the Boris bikes - certainly a bit of competition might help to keep prices down overall.

I note that they have mostly disappeared from South Ken now. That might be due to the councils' intervention (or Hammersmith and Fulham at least) but I suspect they have just been ridden off to the boonies as emergency transport and left there. I don't think the Obikes have Santander's huge redistribution network to bring the bikes to where they are needed.


Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #41 on: 22 August, 2017, 10:35:35 am »
Belfast's scheme is popular but struggling due to predation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-41002467

That's an interesting link up with See.Sense, NI's "smart" bike light maker. Philip McAleese is an all round good egg.

I wonder what information the sensors are able to gather regarding near miss events:

Quote
"Use of sensor technology allows us to collect never-before-seen data from bikes, including road surface and near-miss events," said the chief executive of See.Sense, Philip McAleese.

Some kind of proximity sensor??

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #42 on: 22 August, 2017, 12:36:20 pm »
Some kind of proximity sensor??

Be interesting if it is.  Presumably also an accelerometer (which have become so cheap they're cropping up in all sorts of weird places).

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #43 on: 22 August, 2017, 04:01:42 pm »
Can't find anything about near misses, but dc rainmaker's review mentions combining phone GPS data with the accelerometer in the see.sense light light to build pothole maps.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/10/hands-smart-lights.html

Still off-topic on the light, the ability to have your light switch off / turn on as you leave / approach your bike has appeal:

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/see-sense-icon-led-flashers-get-smarter-and-brighter-45509/


telstarbox

  • Loving the lanes
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #44 on: 22 August, 2017, 04:38:26 pm »
A lot of the Obikes in my part of London seem to have disappeared - only see the odd one or two on back streets now.
2019 🏅 R1000 and B1000

Pedal Castro

  • so talented I can run with scissors - ouch!
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Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #45 on: 22 August, 2017, 06:57:39 pm »
It's clear that the scheme can work - because it does in Guanghzhou.

The people there are no less petty, larcenous or devious than the people here and they've had the same problems with bikes being stored in private areas, dumped inconsiderately, or stolen.

Yet the whole city is cycling whereas a few years ago you only really saw cars. Whatever minor problems result it's made the city much nicer.

I think what really helped was getting to such a scale that they could employ large teams to tidy up behind their users. That'll be around 8 times more expensive to achieve here than in Gz.

I wasn't working too well in Xiamen when I was there earlier this year, I tried to use it but although I saw quite a few in use, all the stationary ones were O/S.  In both my visits to Guangzhou this year I didn't notice any of the bike schemes either in use or at rest.

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #46 on: 22 August, 2017, 08:39:29 pm »
A lot of the Obikes in my part of London seem to have disappeared - only see the odd one or two on back streets now.

I think they have just adjusted the number of bikes to be more in line with the number of people actually riding them. I’m seeing fewer O-bikes, but they are in more useful parking places, with an air of having been ridden there, as opposed to an air of having been dumped in piles out of the back of a lorry. 

Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #47 on: 23 August, 2017, 09:59:32 am »
I saw them being collected up for re-distribution yesterday, I bet that bike trailer takes some effort and skill to tow about, it was mahoosive.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Mobikes in Manchester & Obikes
« Reply #48 on: 08 September, 2017, 09:22:55 pm »
It's not clear to me whether Mo, O and Yo and merely coincidental, are ripping each other off, or are part of the same company.
I've now noticed that on the back of the Yos, on the QR code sticker, it refers to an "Oh bike".
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

telstarbox

  • Loving the lanes
Re: Mobikes in Manchester and Obikes in London
« Reply #49 on: 13 September, 2017, 11:07:45 am »
Two more launches in London, both apparently with the blessing of the local authority:

Waltham Forest - Urbo

https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/content/urbo%E2%80%99s-dockless-bikes-wheel-waltham-forest

Ealing - Mobike (the same operator as in Manchester).

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2017/09/more-bike-sharing-for-part-of-london-launches-today/
2019 🏅 R1000 and B1000