I had a quick play with an e-bike on the Canongate earlier. It coped with the hill nicely. Apparently the plan is to have a small per-minute surcharge for the e-bikes, and otherwise they'd be like the normal ones.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme
(1600 posts)-
Posted 5 years ago #
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I saw 3 kids use a traffic cone to remove bikes from the Marchmont Crescent bike dock this afternoon. It takes one moderate whack and the bike is free. Remarkable. Best technique I've seen yet.
I took a couple of photos of the miscreants but actually I don't know why I bothered. Police won't be interested and on past experience, neither will Just Eat Bikes.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Likely saw the same three kids at about 1730 on Myreside Road: two on burger bikes with flashing red and blue lights, riding on the pavement. One on a normal bike.
I do find this incredibly depressing. They are literally kids. While there's a certain amount of 'where are the parents?' going through my head, the real thing that makes me cross is that the burger bikes are so easy to steal. This scheme is going to be abandoned due to vandalism and theft, all because the bikes are just too vulnerable.
Posted 5 years ago # -
This is basically Bic pen lids for U-lock tumblers.
Posted 5 years ago # -
There is another thing about these bikes that if the kids ever figure out the whole thing is over.
I'm not sure a society where children can openly ride stolen bikes without adults daring to do anything can ever support a bike-share scheme.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Virtual dock for Just East Bikes replaces Bike&Go inside Haymarket Station building
Posted 5 years ago # -
"This scheme is going to be abandoned due to vandalism and theft, all because the bikes are just too vulnerable."
Most likely. Why did Edinburgh go with Serco when Nextbike had successful schemes up and running in Glasgow and Belfast, which I would posit are 'harder' cities? There would also have been scope for a joint Edinburgh/Glasgow membership.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Hopefully if SERCO throw in the towel then someone else like Nextbike would replace them...
Did the same cost cutting which meant that we only have 3 speed bikes also mean that the bikes are just too easy to steal?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Why did Edinburgh go with Serco when Nextbike had successful schemes up and running in Glasgow and Belfast, which I would posit are 'harder' cities?
Presumably Serco met TfE's evaluation criteria better than Nextbike. Personally, I prefer the Pashleys to the NextBikes.
Obviously, the key issue is the locking mechanism and the problem will be that it is a much cheaper system than that used on the London or Paris equivalents, so it won't be viable for Serco to change their designs without more £££ from TfE.
I wonder if there's a (admittedly not 100% attractive) solution of an additional combination lock that could be added to the bike (a wheel lock might be best), with the code sent to the user when they want to undock.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Have they removed the Pause Trip function out of the Android app for all users/areas of town? Noticed it missing when i was in Porty yesterday, not sure if it's linked to the docking station there being removed
Posted 5 years ago # -
Hired one today for the first time and would say it's fine for an emergency or in my example - I'm at the hospital with someone expecting to be with them all day and told not the case. Don't want to drive home and get back finding nowhere to park so I decide to walk to the botanic gardens to sit in their cafe. Walking out I pass the rental bikes and figure why not it's quicker than a long cold walk.
Unlocking and getting logged in easy. Locking at the end not so obvious.
Also had to end at a station miles away from my intended destination so how come I see bikes parked outside random flats? Would I be charged off I left it outside a few hours to return later or can sometime else GPS find it and use it for their journey (which would have been fine I could have walked back or found the station I ended up leaving it at and taking another)
Gears are a bit naff and it's heavy. I'd also like a pannier rack not the awful hook on front that is like the London bikes not big enough to hold a carry on suitcase though the elastic might have gone round handle and clipped back onto the bar, London bikes from memory were too rounded for the elastic to get a hold I think.
Gears and weight aside it was really eye opening to not have helmet and gloves totally different feel to my usual way of riding and I'm not sure that's a good thing that I noticed it so muchPosted 5 years ago # -
how come I see bikes parked outside random flats?
Stolen.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Stolen? I thought just finished with for the day but too far away from one of the stations. And anybody else could grab it and go by gps tracking
Posted 5 years ago # -
Am I being dumb here, but don't all the bikes have GPS on them, so Serco should be able to find them once they've been nicked?
Have the scrotes found a way of disabling that too? Or does Serco not have the staff/budget/inclination to protect their assets?Posted 5 years ago # -
They do - I reported an abandoned bike and offered to ride it back ~10min later but they said the bikes GPS showed it had already been pinched again.
Assume it's an issue of lack of staff/limited battery life/issues with needing police assistance if they've been put in a flat/shed etc
Posted 5 years ago # -
Doesn't the lock engage rendering it immobile or an I being niave and they just break those locks
Posted 5 years ago # -
Stolen? I thought just finished with for the day but too far away from one of the stations. And anybody else could grab it and go by gps tracking
Posted 5 years ago # -
You can't just 'dump' bikes (within the rules of the scheme), you have to return it to a designated dock within the time that you've paid for.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Noticed in the TfE annual report that it said Serco had invested £1.2m in the cycle hire scheme in 2018.
Considering there were 'only' 100,000 trips Sep'18-Sep'19 they must be losing a fortune, especially with the e-bike investment this year?
Posted 5 years ago # -
I think the ebikes have over £400k of funding from Scot Gov to TfE so should not that much more of a drain on thier budgets..
Posted 5 years ago # -
I would love to know how excluding people who don't have 'smart' phones from a publicly-funded scheme sits with Scot Gov's inclusion criteria?
Posted 5 years ago # -
I opened the app by accident last night and decided to check out where the current docks are before closing it. Did we know there's a new dock at the RIE? Almost exactly where @Frenchy said it should be, alongside Dalkeith Road at the new Sick Kids. And did I dream there was a dock at Fort Kinnaird cos it's not there now. Possibly I did. Portobello seems to be operational again too.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Oooh, thanks for heads up on the RIE one.
I also have a vague recollection of a Fort Kinnaird one, but never used it, and can't be sure I didn't also dream it.
Posted 5 years ago # -
I am getting a smart phone when the electric burger bikes come in just to be able to hire them
Posted 5 years ago # -
Yes, I do recall them tweetling or similar about a site at Fort Kinnaird a month or two ago, but there's no sign on the map? Why does that give me a horrible feeling that the bikes there might have been stolen, and so it might have been quietly closed?
The Pleasance dock has now also reappeared, in the Pleasance courtyard, and so is at the top of the hill where the street has levelled off, which makes it a more useful point to actually start a ride from as well (the previous dock was steep uphill in two directions, too steep for the bikes' limited gear range).
Posted 5 years ago # -
Tried a JE e-bike at Open Streets today. Three speed with Continental motor - worked well. Slightly noisier than Shimano.
App will let you know range.
Guy said that Portobello bikes had been hit again.Posted 5 years ago # -
@laidback - any word on when e-bikes will launch?
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo
"our fleet of e-bikes will be available for full public use in spring 2020. Keep your eyes peeled on our social channels for updates over the next few months!"
Posted 5 years ago # -
@Trixie Fort Kinnaird was there for all three days or so. Amassed a whopping eight trips.
Slight decrease in trips last month (12475) vs September (13928). I'd imagine a good chunk of that is due to Portobello disappearing - nearly 900 trips to/from there in September!
Posted 5 years ago # -
Where is Brian? Brian is in the kitchen. Sorry, Brian is in our garden. Found Brian abandoned in the rain last night, took him in for safe keeping.
Posted 5 years ago #
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