Since the bridge was shut and I couldn’t bring my bike across, I have done zero cycling, and have had to walk, train and bus to get to work near the airport.
Had a number of things to do in central Edinburgh today that I normally would have used my bike for. I thought I’d give bike hire at Haymarket a try. I did 10 miles on it this morning in Edinburgh and out to work and will do another 5 back into Haymarket tonight. Here are a few thoughts.
What went well?
Online registration was quick and card arrived next day.
Very straight forward to hire the bike- got it at ticket desk about 7.15am and spent less time there than buying a rail ticket.
Plenty of room to store rucksack on bike, dynamo worked well for rear but Front useless to see by - gears Ok once I worked it out.
Gear range fine, once I worked it out.
Brakes perfectly reasonable.
Lock neat- everything stays attached to bike, and key attached to lock while cycling.
Things I worked out that would have been better if I’d known beforehand
Took a while to get familiar with bike- stuck in 2nd gear for ages before I worked out it was a twisty thing... was pressing buttons, but no change- legs spinning around like crazy.
Tried putting locking mechanism back in place while I rode, but right heel kept clipping it- had to stop and sort it out.
What didn't go well
Bike is very, very heavy (23-25kg I think I read somewhere) and tricky to manoeuvre if walking.
Seat was just too low for me at max height- I could place both feet flat on the ground with knees bent while seated. I'm 6'5" and have short legs for someone of that height.
Front dynamo useless to see by - I had my bag on the front luggage rack and until I went under a bridge west of Murrayfield 5 miles, I had no idea if it was working.
Summary
Good system, thought through well, but would like a better front light and a bigger range of saddle heights.
Will I use it again? Only if desperate- it just isn’t built for someone as big as me
Would I recommend it to anyone under 6ft tall? Absolutely.
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