I was glad to see two other bikes at the Gibson Place virtual dock while approaching just now, although I then managed to accidentally pause my trip rather than end it as the app was most likely failing to recognise that I was at the dock... I had to lock the wheel and unlock it again before being able to end the trip. I can imagine people easily doing this at virtual docking stations and thinking that they have actually ended their trip by mistake.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme
(1576 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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Attempting to depart from Gibson Terrace (not Place), the app kept assigning me a bike which wasn't there. As with the bike with the jammed seat adjustor, I failed to notice any way of reporting this in the app so eventually gave up and wandered along to Dundee Terrace instead. Luckily I was assigned one that was actually there with a new seat adjustor so was soon on my way.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@jdanielp How long have you had access to pause? It’s still notably absent from my (iOS) app, much to my annoyance
Posted 5 years ago # -
I only saw it for the first time this afternoon, which is my third day of using the system on Android. I will likely be taking a bike home in a bit so will see if it is available again.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I’ve had 3 rides so far. The bikes seem pretty identical to the Boris bikes but with much smoother gearing, which I’m guessing is a combination of age and usage.
I bought the 2 month pass for £15, and having this now means I’m much more likely to use the bikes instead of walking around town, and can also see myself heading out for a spin at lunchtime instead of dining al desko.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I can confirm that the Android app gave me the opportunity to press a button to pause my ride when the bike was stationary away from a (virtual) dock. It would have then asked me to lock the front wheel before leaving the bike. Upon returning to the bike, pressing another button on the app automatically disengages the lock, allowing you to continue the journey.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Maybe there’s an iOS update stuck in review hell until new year now :(
Edit:
This seems likely, Play Store shows version 3.7.x available while iOS store is stuck on 3.6.x
Posted 5 years ago # -
Mrs F, used one of jdanielp's codes to hire a bike around 3 today and ran into the same problem at Gibson Terrace, assigned a bike that didn't exist. It wasn't obvious how to get access to the single bike that was present, so she spent 20 minutes trying to get it sorted which wasn't a great experience.
This was also reflected on the time I hired a bike, and couldn't return it to the Dundee Terrace virtual hire point. I finally gave out and found out the next morning that there had been some problems talking to the server.
Also related to the missing bikes at Gibson Terrace, I spotted a bike on one of Racks just inside the entrance of Boroughmuir School; it was over 2 hours that I had seen it for, so I think too long for a paused journey.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Hires possible for up to 7 hours so long as extended hire is turned on
Posted 5 years ago # -
I had to spend a couple of minutes defrosting the seat using my glove before cycling just now else I would have ended up with a damp rear end. I wonder if there is a superior material for seats that would reduce frost and help them dry quicker after being made wet?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Anyone wanting free 24 hour codes? Not long left to use them now, unless the expiry date (31st) turns out to be as accurate as the hire duration (1 hour).
Posted 5 years ago # -
My voucher is still showing on the app as a 1 day hire to be used so I don't think they expired. :)
Posted 5 years ago # -
I invented a reason to use mine last week. I'll tell a fuller story when I have a keyboard. The abreviated version is similar to those already told. Fine for hills, lacking top end speed and docking station anxiety caused by an apparent overstocking of stations.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Here is the fuller story.
Having been kindly given a day pass by jdanielp I was dropped at Stockbridge Waitrose by my family. The first bike in line shared my name but sadly I was given another one (Kian). It had the "London" seat clamp which was good.
I was heading to London road for lunch with extended family which is unfortunately too far east for coverage so on the way past St Mary's I checked my bike back in and out to gain an extra 15 mintues. This time I was given the Kian again.
My route took me up Circus place which was a good test on cobbles. The hill was fine but the bikes are, as usual, not much fun on cobbles. Dublin Street was a detour but also fine to climb. The flip side of this is of course that I was spinning out around 20mph. I managed to get up to about 23mph on London Road but my cadence was probably approaching 150rpm to do so.
Having arrived for Lunch I had about 45 minutes before I needed to return the bike. Brunswick Street had 2 free slots on the app so I headed there. However when I arrived all slots were full despite what the app said. I phoned the help line (0131 278 3000) and they kindly remote docked my bike for me at the end of the stand. They took the names of the extra bikes but the app didn't change it's status as far as I noticed.
This time I was issued Summer, despite the older style seat clamp everything was fine. After pudding I headed up to St Andrews House with a borrowed scooter which fitted nicely to the front rack. The dock was showing just 1 space available. I arrived bang on the end of my hour and by the time I got there all the spaces were full so another call to the helpline ensued. They advised I left a little more time to get to a dock at the end of my hour but weren't clear if that was so that I could ride elsewhere or request a remote lock.
As I have said before I would love to make more use of the bikes but as I normally travel with kids and there are none near any of my regular haunts sadly I can't.
If I was a regular user I suspect I would get space anxiety after my experience and I'm not sure how it would work if the helpline is closed (I assume it's not 24/7).
The bikes themselves seem well built and can carry a reasonable bag. The could do with more gears but for only having 3 I think they have chosen the ratios correctly.
My final thought is about the names. I passed a rack on Tuesday where Lindsay was parked right next to Linsey. Quite a coincidence and I wonder how many other close name pairs they have, it would have made my phone call interesting if these bikes had been in use (although I suppose the bike numbers could be used as backup).
Posted 5 years ago # -
My sister in law's husband was telling me that he recently had to pick his way through central London at 7 a.m. On a Saturday morning with Boris bikes strewn everywhere like a scene from 28 Days Later.
I said I imagined the van would start the clear up around 8 a.m ?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Saw a woman struggling with saddle clamp on Saxe-Coburg St this morn after coming off WOL.
I would have thought the holiday lull would have been ideal to sweep up all the bikes with the slipping clamp but apparently not.Posted 5 years ago # -
Outside shop on St Peter's Place washing a bike and heard the sound of happy cyclists approaching.
One guy on own bike followed by three on Just Eat bikes.
Light on bridge was red but just went over and avoided oncoming car by using wide pavement.
One girl was commenting her JE bike was too slow.Posted 5 years ago # -
Personal opinion me, gear 1 is fine, gear 2 should be gear 3, gear 3 should be a bit quicker as it spins out on even the slightest of inclines
Current setup isn’t worth changing for the effort/cost it would require and I’ve learned to simply coast down hills and take the rest rather than go faster like I would on my own bike
Posted 5 years ago # -
Harrumph. Annoying when the app shows a docking space free but they are all occupied.
Posted 5 years ago # -
“
The UK takeaway industry is booming. The country now spends over £10 billion a year on takeaway food, with the online market being dominated by giants like JustEat and Deliveroo. But what is the real cost of convenience?
“
Posted 5 years ago # -
A recent phenomenon is that a number of the docking areas are entirely devoid of bikes. I don't know if this is intentional understocking by administrators or if it's market demand in action, but it was a little disconcerting to pull up at one such last night and find no visible evidence of the dock (not even the two out of action bikes that previously demarcated the extent of the docking area). However, I was able to wheel lock the bike and the app confirmed it as returned. The dock has since returned to zero bike status.
Posted 5 years ago # -
https://medium.com/@justeatcycles/just-eat-cycles-in-2019-acc3029cf820
We are rolling out some pretty cool new features over the coming months in 2019 including:
Pause Functionality for all bikers (allowing you to lock your bike while you grab a ☕️).
Business Accounts — so we can get all of you who aren’t allowed to play with bikes all day to that meeting or out of the office just a little bit faster.
We are also going to increase the number of stations across of the city (up to 80 stations by end of March 2019) and then some more bikes to fill them!!Posted 5 years ago # -
@PS Yes, I had the odd, and slightly worrying, experience this morning that I might not be able to get a bike this morning as I proceeded south (most nearby sites had only 1 or 0 bikes (there were others further away, but the walking time to them wouldn't have been worth the effort)) and that instead I might have to do the long walking slog uphill from the final bus stop to my destination!
Looking at the map just now, quite a lot of the Bruntsfield and Newington docks seem to be empty (and those in Marchmont and around Waverley and Princes Street quite well used (ie, few bikes available)).
Posted 5 years ago # -
@Stickman: How did you find that page? (I find it odd this unfortunate trend for people posting things on third-party sites rather than there being a News page on their own site, but anyway...)
I think they may be guilty of just a little too much enthusiasm in claiming "15,000 trips" so far, when the live counter says only 2226 (muses: can we make it to 2250 by the end of today?), which is still a fairly respectable level of usage for autumn/winter nevertheless (and will surely only continue to pick up as more sites are added, #HintHint).
Posted 5 years ago # -
@davecykl is it not likely that the counter has been reset for the New Year like the Sustrans bike counters? 2226 is good going for just a couple of weeks in winter if so...
Posted 5 years ago # -
As someone who hasn't yet tried to use the bikes, I find myself being put off even trying by the sheer hassle the whole thing seems to be.
It doesn't really come across as a laid-back, stress-free and enjoyable experience!
Posted 5 years ago # -
I think the under stocking must be intentional. From a quick swatch at the real-time map, I make it roughly 230 bikes out in the wild.
I was using the bikes on Saturday and turned up to the huge Riego Street dock and there was only one bike there (Stockbridge dock still full though - grrr).
Posted 5 years ago # -
Bike share map - http://bikes.oobrien.com/edinburgh/#zoom=13&lon=-3.2006&lat=55.9601 includes an estimate for the number of bikes available, that matches that 229.
Which seems to be down from earlier in the year, when there were around 300.
Also worth noting that with the extra stations the area covered is now 20km squared.
Posted 5 years ago # -
There was a problem over Xmas where the bikes internal battery kept dying as they weren’t being ridden enough
I wonder if that’s why public stocks are being kept low just now
Still confused how jdanlelp got the pause enabled update mid December but the new blog suggests the feature is still coming soon (it’s still not on iOS)
The total ride count was reset on Jan 1
Posted 5 years ago # -
The day I tried the bikes I had the pause option on one rental (Summer) but not on the others (Kian).
Perhaps it requires a firmware upgrade on the bikes themselves.
Posted 5 years ago #
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