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Just came across this on Kickstarter.
Basically a bluetooth enabled lock that allows you to put a private bike into circulation as a rental bike: London, Paris, Dublin, Dumfries style.
€80 for the kit and the slim odds of ever seeing the bike again aside its quite neat.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2084861579/airdonkey-join-the-bike-sharing-revolution?ref=category
Nice idea but NOMSB. ;-)
(not on my spare bike)
I note in the endorsements Mikael Colville-Andersen is calling himself an "Urban Design Expert". I did not realise he had any qualifications in that field. I thought he was a former film-maker cum blogger who took loads of photos of stylish urban cyclists on the streets of Copenhagen (mainly attractive young women) and got loads of publicity for doing it. Or did I miss a key part of Mikael's journey there?
I guess all you need to become an expert these days is to shout about something loudly enough in the right places. Probably helps if you have loads of contacts in the media. Oh and some photos of attractive young women won't hurt either...
Nice idea but NOMSB. ;-)
If the widget lock wasn't so expensive I'd suggest a whip round and share out the profits. I'm sure between us we could knock up a beater that wouldn't look like a complete death trap. Might even convince the council to get on with their own.
@crowriver, to be fair to MC-A, he is CEO of Copenhagenize, a proper urban design company with worldwide clients : http://copenhagenize.eu/about.html
As for his CV, I've no idea. I don't think you necessarily need qualifications to be an expert at something.
Yeah, I'm aware of his company, Copenhagenize Design. Seems to be primarily involved in communications, media, and advocacy. Nothing wrong with that of course, and it fits with Colville-Andersen's expertise and background in media and communications. How he can then claim to be an "Urban Design Expert", or even an "Urban mobility expert" is something of a mystery.
On this basis, you, paulmilne, can claim to be an "Urban mobility expert" as you happen to ride a bike in a city, and you presumably advocate for more bicycle friendly urban space. You may not, of course, be "an influential and much sought after keynote speaker:, which Colville-Andersen is, it would appear. Which is fine.
He's good at marketing, at spreading ideas from his home city Copenhagen internationally, and is media savvy. Which is all good, we need people like that. If his company can do some good while making some nice consultancy fees that's great. It's the self-aggrandising claims about his "expertise" I take issue with.
Steveo wrote: "€80 for the kit and the slim odds of ever seeing the bike again aside its quite neat."
I think the AirBnB/Uber/Streetbank/etc models all prove that the review system builds trust. I'm sure you'd hand over your bike in person for a deposit to someone with no feedback and for a well-reviewed person you'd be a bit more hands-off.
Still, bikes like tools are very personal so I expect it to be as unsuccessful as Streetbank.
I think the premise is that with this lock your bike becomes a borris bike you never encounter the renter. To borrow a very old meme
1) buy the lock
2) lock bike outside the museum
3) ????
4) profit
It looks like the renter has to take a picture of the locked bike at the end of the rental period. It's not clear if they have to lock it to anything.
I wonder if normal bike insurance would cover this. after all you can provide a picture of your bike locked to an immovable object although couldn't say that it was normally kept indoors overnight (The 2 things I have been asked about for insurance claims).
Fitting people to bikes is the main reason something like this won't have a big take up. (That and the fact bikes are relatively cheap).
Ideal rental bikes tend to be based round a model with a massive 'one size fits all' frame adjust. This means suitable bikes would have to be something like a Paper Bike or a Moulton.
If I rented a bike I'd expect to be offered lights and a pannier rack. Mudguards and kick stand would be nice too. Possibly too much equipment to have on your 'spare bike'?
I hadn't thought of lights. They'd have to be integrated or be stolen lets face it.
"Donkey Republic has tested the lock and platform in and around Copenhagen, and the system works."
"...and having interesting features on your bicycle (a baby seat?) will increase chances that it's rented"
"We cannot yet offer insurance against theft. But we are speaking to insurance companies to propose some options."
When they have proposed options I'll maybe take another look.
Yes, if the platform provided insurance it would definitely increase attractiveness.
Thinking about it in Copenhagen you could probably leave a spare bike in most bike parking without it being in the slightest bit attractive to ne'er-do-wells. There would almost always be a more attractive bike/components to not-do-well with. Having the bike locked on a street corner with no others near it as would be the requirement here seems a lot riskier.
Steveo a beater that wouldn't look like a complete death trap
And from the renters point of view, how would you know the bike you are renting wasn't a complete death trap? At least with the bikes in Stirling, Dumfries etc, they are (presumably?) being looked after by someone.
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