Cycling UK Forum

Re:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/12444.aspx

I think they should be called:

Velons

as a play on velo and london and of course the paris velibs

What about Maxon - the design inspiration for the bikes seems to be the Puch Maxi moped.








PS They'll probably all be nicked in the first week so why not call them Felons.

pete75 wrote:

PS They'll probably all be nicked in the first week so why not call them Felons.

Need some monitoring to ensure that no docking station is ever full or empty - but otherwise it looks like a good idea.

These mass hire schemes is something that I can't make up my mind on.

But it does seem that they are very much location specific - I couldn't see one happening round here because of the way that the city is layed out (for the similar reasons we only have one or two cycle couriers).

But, on the surface, the bikes look reasonable enough for short trips in a flat location weaing 'normal' clothes.

Velons sounds too much like Felons
How about "Globes" Good London Bikes

What's the odds on one ending up at Dunwich next summer?

Any volunteers to ride one to Land's End?

Mick F

I'll do it, but only if I can get a taxi as far as Penzance.

I'm not convinced that these bike hire schemes have any real merit in London or anywhere else.

I prefer to cycle to and from work in west London so I have my own bicycle. Lots of people don't want to ride a bicycle or go anywhere near one and no amount of green propoganda will convince them to do so.
These bike hire schemes will appeal to the casual tourist visitor perhaps, but regular commuters will have thier prefered route and if it's not thier own bike then it's very unlikely to be a hire one either.

It certainly looks like a 1970's moped with no engine - the sort of bike you would lend to people you wanted to convince that cycling was unpleasant hard work. I wonder what on earth they weigh.

On a practical note, it looks as though the one in the pic has no lights - if so, why is it fitted with reflectors? Are they for use legally at night or not

thirdcrank wrote:On a practical note, it looks as though the one in the pic has no lights - if so, why is it fitted with reflectors? Are they for use legally at night or not

The one in the picture is from Montreal, as you can see if you look closely at the chainstay. London doesn't seem to have decided yet what the bikes will be like.

The London bikes will be Bixis , the same as in Montreal. A company called Serco won the contract but have sub contracted it out to Bixi. TfL would have saved themselves a bob or two if they'd gone direct to Bixi.
Apparently it will cost £140 million , £23,333 to put each bike on the road, almost £4000 each per annum for the six year contract. This seems a ridiculous amount of money. I think the idea of the scheme is good but not at that price - the overheads and/or the profit margin must be phenomenal.

A photo gallery of international Bicycle Rental & Free Bike Schemes on the photomap of Cycle Streets: http://www.cyclestreets.net/galleries/104/