I rode into town and cycled around until I found one that was within a short distance of somewhere sensible to park my bike, finding a cluster outside Snow Hill station, across the road from some Sheffield stands overlooked by a flower stall.
I had already installed the app, so all I had to do was scan the QR code on the scooter I wanted to use (I selected the one that was positioned as a tripping hazard). It then asked me to take a photo of both sides of my driving licence, which I was expecting, but the app hadn't really provided any prior warning of. It then twiddled its thumbs for long enough to suggest it was OCRing the image and doing some sort of database validation, rather than just storing the photo.
The scooter then unlocked, and I was ready to go. So far, about as annoying as charging an electric car on a good day.
The first thing I discovered was that the scooter's phone bracket was a pretty tight fit for my Moto G7 in its case (not in the photo, because I was using the phone to...yeah):
The second thing I discovered was that the phone bracket was loose on its attachment to the handlebars, so my phone went back in my bag. Which was fine, because I wasn't using the map, and wasn't too concerned about mounting costs, but still, they've only been around for a couple of days.
So, notable features:
- 4 status blinkenlights, telling you whether it's available for hire, whether the speed is being limited, whether you're allowed to park, and whether the battery is not flat.
- A thumb-throttle. Not dissimilar to those on e-bikes I've experienced. Acceleration (from a rolling start, it won't move off from stationary under its own power) is decent, but not especially sharp.
- Two reasonably sturdy-feeling brake levers, connected to front and rear brakes that have all the feel and modulation of those on a Boris Bike. They do however do a reasonable job of stopping the scooter, and if you ride sensibly, you don't really need to use them much anyway.
- The thing that looks like a twist-grip shifter on the left turns out to be a pretty decent bell. I only discovered this by accident.
- The fuzzy stuff on the grips is apparently antimicrobial copper, which doesn't cover the underside properly, and is peeling off.
- Lights front and back. Static. On for the duration of the hire period. Seem decent enough for being seen in an urban environment.
- Hook halfway up the steerer you could hang a bag from.
- Cute little two-prong stand, that works surprisingly well.
- Mysterious black box on the front, presumably containing the electronics. Looks like it has a speaker on it. (Is the 'motor noise' actually coming from here inna Nissan Leaf style?)
My first observation was that it seems much sturdier than typical privately-owned ones, and it was surprisingly heavy. It must have a fairly substantial battery inside. If you wanted to throw one in the canal, it would be best to find a young person to help you, so as not to put your back out. If you were to do a Basil, you'd probably need a small crane to get it out again.
Fortunately, I was able to get it going without embarrassment. You have to give it a kick (or let it roll downhill a bit) to get it moving before the throttle has any effect, which took a bit of getting used to. Steering seems very wobbly for not a lot of change in trajectory, which is presumably normal for scootery things (my previous kick-scooter experience is limited to the length of CrinklyLion's living room, so my closest reference is probably the M-type Brompton).
I spent about 20 minutes riding it around an assortment of Central Birmingham's finest challenges to wheeled users:
The wheels cope surprisingly well with potholes, dropped kerbs and the like. I was impressed. While there's some suspension to protect your wrists from getting too much of a pounding, this only affects the handlebars - I found the repeated shock to my heels was unpleasantly novel: On a bicycle, even when freewheeling out of the saddle on locked knees, your ankles provide some suspension effect, which you don't get here.
I crossed the tramlines a couple of times, and they didn't give me any more concern than my bike with 40mm Marathons. I'm sure you could still come a cropper if you tried to cross at too shallow an angle.
Strava informs me that my maximum speed was 25.2kph, with a cruising speed a little under 24kph. This dropped to about 17-18kph climbing le Col de Hill Street. Some areas (in this case pedestrianised streets that are legal to cycle on) are geofenced as 'Slow Zones' - the speed limiting automatically drops to about 6.5kph here, which is a fast walk. This is quite disconcerting when travelling uphill, as you feel that it's on the cusp of stall speed, which might be problematic for those with less good balance. You also get glared at by pedestrians, who appear not to be able to work out whether to fear that you're about to kill them utterly to
DETH, or wonder why the fuck you're riding so slowly. Due to the foibles of GPS, you can't really anticipate exactly when it will leave the geofence, so the first thing you know is a sudden burst of acceleration.
I covered 3.7km in about 20 minutes, draining the battery by about 10%.
Parking it up is a simple matter of digging your phone back out of your bag and pressing the park button. You have the option of either locking it temporarily (keeping the hire period running), or releasing the scooter for others to use. When you park, the app takes a photo of the scooter as you've left it. This seems like a good idea, as it ought to discourage the most antisocial parking, and protects the previous user should it subsequently get kicked-in or hoiked into the canal by sufficiently youthful oiks.
There are geofenced areas where it won't let you park, and I didn't test it, but I believe it turns into a pumpkin if you attempt to cross the Middleway.
So far so one-less-car.
The major downsides as I see it are:
- Cost: £1 to unlock and then £0.20 per minute makes it at least as terrible value as the wumpty buzz. £10 for a day might be a reasonable tourist rate. £40 for a month starts looking attractive for commuting, until you realise that that's only for the city centre part, and you'll probably need to pay for public transport on top of that.
- It's dockless: While the app lets you locate available scooters, you can't really rely on them being in any specific place. To say nothing of all the reasonable complaints about dockless hire things cluttering up the pavement.
- You (currently) need a driving licence to use one in the UK.
- In the eyes of the average BRITON, as soon as you step on one you immediately take on the stigma of being an antisocial lout, jumping red lights while mowing down blind people on the pavement (cont p.94).
- There's nothing you can wear while riding one that doesn't look ridiculous. Doubly so if you're over the age of 25.