The new CaBi bikes

[PotomacCyclist]

According to the New York Business Journal, the new bikeshare bikes will start appearing in NYC’s Citi Bike system at the end of June.

http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2015/06/08/olympic-bike-designer-revamps-citi-bike-for-expand.html

Motivate is phasing out the old Bixi bikes in NYC.

No updates on when we could see the new bikes here, as part of Capital Bikeshare.

[Steve O]

Spotted these bikeshare bikes in Denver. Different manufacturer obviously.
I did not ride one, but I think I might like the baskets better than the holder thingies on CaBi bikes.

[IMG]http://bikearlingtonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9307&stc=1[/IMG]

[DCLiz]

@Steve O 121926 wrote:

Spotted these bikeshare bikes in Denver. Different manufacturer obviously.
I did not ride one, but I think I might like the baskets better than the holder thingies on CaBi bikes.

You wouldn’t have if you had ridden one! The B-Cycles are MUCH clunkier than Bixi-style, if you can believe that. That front end with the basket is a beast. I rode one in Austin this spring. Right before the ride someone mentioned that they weren’t as nice as Bixi bikes, and I thought, “That’s silly. A bikeshare bike is a bikeshare bike. How different can they be?” And then I got on one. It’s not just the beastliness, either…the gears didn’t work very well. I’m glad we got Bixi bikes, bankruptcy and all.

[PotomacCyclist]

I rode the Pronto Cycle Share bikes in Seattle a couple weeks ago. That’s also a Motivate-operated system. But it’s a new system with slightly different equipment, which I believe is not manufactured by Bixi.

I meant to post a review of the bikes and the system. Might as well do it here. I’ll post photos later.

The bikes feel lighter than the older Bixi bikes. Still heavy for a bike, but I thought they felt a little lighter. The handlebars have a slightly different design. The bikes have seven gears, which you really do need for handling some of the very steep hills around downtown Seattle.

I don’t think the Pronto bikes had the center hole in the seat that I’ve read about. Seattle gets its fair share of rain too (although it was sunny and hot nearly the entire time I was there). The hole is designed to allow water to drain through.

The bike keys are dispensed from the kiosk, although you have to call them for a code to complete the process of obtaining a key. The plastic key has a barcode sticker printed on it. I don’t think it has an embedded chip.

It’s much easier to remove the bikes from the docks. Once you slide the key in, the locking mechanism releases. The bike can then be removed easily. No tugging or lifting required.

I found the Spotcycle app to be very convenient. Just go to the Settings menu and switch cities. Seattle is covered in the app. It only takes a couple seconds. Once you do that, you can use Spotcycle as you would in the DC area, with all the bike and dock info updated in near-real time.

[chris_s]

@DCLiz 122034 wrote:

You wouldn’t have if you had ridden one! The B-Cycles are MUCH clunkier than Bixi-style, if you can believe that. That front end with the basket is a beast. I rode one in Austin this spring. Right before the ride someone mentioned that they weren’t as nice as Bixi bikes, and I thought, “That’s silly. A bikeshare bike is a bikeshare bike. How different can they be?” And then I got on one. It’s not just the beastliness, either…the gears didn’t work very well. I’m glad we got Bixi bikes, bankruptcy and all.

+1

I enjoyed my bike ride in San Antonio DESPITE the B-Cycle bikes (one of which flatted on me, several of which had shifting issues, all of which were loud and creaky).

[dasgeh]

I’ve noticed (though not ridden) that bike share in Charlotte (and I think Des Moines) has different models of bikes all mixed together. Clearly, they keep changing their bike specs, but all the bikes work with the same docs and system. It’s interesting to pass a station with 3 or 4 noticeably different types of bikes.

Charlotte’s system is supported in part by one of the big hospital systems. This makes perfect sense to me, and I wonder why we don’t see that here (I have no idea if it’s common elsewhere). Maybe because we don’t have big hospital systems?

[PotomacCyclist]

Inova might be large enough to afford a sponsorship.

I’ve noticed that some of the bike stations in DC now have advertising. I’ve seen large posters for Yahoo at some stations.

[consularrider]

Something from Vienna, Austria.

[mstone]

@dasgeh 122204 wrote:

Charlotte’s system is supported in part by one of the big hospital systems. This makes perfect sense to me, and I wonder why we don’t see that here (I have no idea if it’s common elsewhere). Maybe because we don’t have big hospital systems?

Answer 1: our dominant employer did put money into the system, but didn’t ask for advertising

Answer 2: our system is regional, and big hospital systems tend to not cross state lines

Answer 3: our biggest regional private sector employers tend to either not sell things to people and aren’t that interested in consumer marketing or are located outside of the cabi zone (e.g., Tysons, Reston, etc.)

[Author]

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