Cycling UK Forum

"Gobee.bike pulls out of France due to 'mass destruction' of its dockless bike fleet "


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/25/gobeebike-france-mass-destruction-dockless-bikes?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=265453&subid=Gobee.bike%20pulls%20out%20of%20France%20due%20to%20'mass%20destruction'%20of%20its%20dockless%20bike%20fleet%20&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

I predicted this to a friend two months ago. The bicycles were cheaply and stupidly designed, failed left, right, and centre when used legitimately, and were a serious nuisance in my neighbourhood because users dumped them on the footpath at their destination – that being the express benefit of the scheme.

Good riddance.

This scheme would not work in any Western city. Maybe nowhere.

Audax67 wrote: . . . . .. Last year a chum and I gave a right dressing-down to a couple of little swine who were doing wheelies on motor-scooters up the main road of a country town, and they laughed in our faces.

thats what you get for being a pedent

We've recently had a non docked fleet arrive in Sheffield - bright yellow 3sp things. It took less than a week before yoofs started trashing the bikes and one chap has already been caught selling the dropper seatposts fitted.

Will it last! Is it sustainable? I guess only time will tell.

mercalia wrote:seems like the French cant be trusted and are thugs and vandals

Whereas the British are…?

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bris ... ised-58873

http://great-linford.gov.uk/wp-content/ ... _final.pdf

I’m fairly sure there was also an early hire scheme in the UK which had its entire fleet stolen on the first day, but I can’t find the evidence.

Anyway, no need for the xenophobia.

The Citybikes in Liverpool are routinely vandalised, both the bikes and the stations.

I'm amazed they're still available - although they claimed there would be over a 1000 bikes but last time I did a quick online count there were about 130 and I doubt that's because there were nearly 900 in use.

Bez wrote:
I’m fairly sure there was also an early hire scheme in the UK which had its entire fleet stolen on the first day, but I can’t find the evidence.

I think that was a trial in Manchester

Bez wrote:I’m fairly sure there was also an early hire scheme in the UK which had its entire fleet stolen on the first day, but I can’t find the evidence.

I'm fairly sure that one of the Cambridge bike share schemes (didn't even get as far as hire IIRC) ended up mostly in the river and the initial launch fleet were gone within a day. I've heard a certain group accused of doing that but I don't have any evidence, so I won't repeat the allegation. Some detail of the Green Bike Scheme is mentioned in passing in reports like https://www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters ... cle18.html

mercalia wrote:

Audax67 wrote: . . . . .. Last year a chum and I gave a right dressing-down to a couple of little swine who were doing wheelies on motor-scooters up the main road of a country town, and they laughed in our faces.

thats what you get for being a pedent

At least I stayed awake at school.

Bez wrote:

mercalia wrote:seems like the French cant be trusted and are thugs and vandals

Whereas the British are…?

And the Italians - Gobee pulled out of Italy a couple of weeks before France, I think that closes their European presence, I don't know if they were anywhere else in Europe.

foxyrider wrote:Will it last! Is it sustainable? I guess only time will tell.

I find it hard to even understand the business model, are they hoping that if they pour enough bikes in people will get bored with vandalising them? There's certainly some big money behind these companies, it'll take a lot of 50p hires to make it back. I was recently at a ofo presentation, the person next to me said they were more interested in getting their app on your phone that hiring you a bike, I laughed but I'm not at all sure they were joking.

PH wrote:And the Italians - Gobee pulled out of Italy a couple of weeks before France, I think that closes their European presence, I don't know if they were anywhere else in Europe.

Years ago, well before there could have been any electronic pay-as-you go facility, I remember reading about a 'white bike' scheme in a city in Italy (I'm pretty sure Milan). The bikes were free to use, and again all the bikes disappeared within a week. Free to use bikes seems to be one those things that city councillors love to implement despite the fact that bike thieves have no compunction about stealing them.

kwackers wrote:The Citybikes in Liverpool are routinely vandalised, both the bikes and the stations.

I'm amazed they're still available - although they claimed there would be over a 1000 bikes but last time I did a quick online count there were about 130 and I doubt that's because there were nearly 900 in use.

Of course not, they are parked 23 hours a day just like cars

Ben@Forest wrote:Free to use bikes seems to be one those things that city councillors love to implement despite the fact that bike thieves have no compunction about stealing them.

Of all the groups accused of wrecking bike shares, I think thieves are one of the less likely culprits...

Yet another 'tragedy of the commons', writes Stuart Jeffries in the Guardian