Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from SF City Attorney

Re:Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from... by URSpider94 on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @02:54AM (#16856110)

Really?

1. No money down: a decent bike is $700+, a bike share is $3 per ride or under $100 per year

2. No maintenance: someone else keeps the tires full and the chain lubed. If something breaks, you just park the bike and get another one.

3. No theft: bikes get stolen when they are parked. When a bike share is parked, it’s not your problem.

4. No parking hassles: finding a safe place to park your bike in the city is tough. Many buildings don’t provide bike storage. Try carrying your bike up and down from a 5th floor walk-up every day.

5. One-way trip: you rode to work this morning, and now it’s raining. No problem, take the bus home.

Don’t believe me, just ask New Yorkers, who are taking an average of 40,000 rides per day on the city’s 12,000 citibikes.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from... by rdiddly on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @03:45AM (#16856336)

Yeah I know about Citibike, Velib, Capital Bikeshare, and the Nike ones in Portland, all of which are part of how I ended up accumulating enough experience of the topic to end up baffled that they're actually popular. But from your comments I realize it's about avoiding a commitment. And I'm not trying to sound as judgmental as that probably sounds. It's to enable you to NOT own a bike. But for reference here's how I've dealt with your five issues:

1. My current bike cost $550 new, 6 years ago, so that would've been less than $100/yr, if I hadn't replaced parts and spent more. But I get unlimited rides. And it'll last another 20 years if I'm not a fad-follower and don't get reckless or unlucky.

2. I do it myself, that way I'm the one in control of when it fails to get done.

3. Always lock it. Never had a problem. Having a cheap $550 bike probably helps.

4. Yep America's like that. I carry mine up & down from the 3rd floor. If I move I'll choose not to live above the 3rd floor. Or maybe I'll live on the 5th floor after all, and become a bad-ass with huge calves and five flights of endurance.

5. I wear rain gear.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from... by jlavine on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @10:53AM (#16858870)

> It's to enable you to NOT own a bike.

While this is its main use, it's also a great alternative to riding your own bike in cases where you want extra flexiblity - as referred to in point 5 in the list above - not only for changes in weather, but also when you want to travel out and back through some asymmetric combination of biking, walking, public transit, and Uber/Lyft. This flexibility can be very liberating.

It's also a useful temporary backup when your bike is broken.

> 4. Yep America's like that. I carry mine up & down from the 3rd floor. If I move I'll choose not to live above the 3rd floor. Or maybe I'll live on the 5th floor after all, and become a bad-ass with huge calves and five flights of endurance.

As I'm sure you'd recognize, there are many people (e.g. the not-so-fit) and situations (e.g. fancy clothes and dirty bike, or also having other things to carry) for which this isn't practical.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from... by 1moronposting on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @10:20AM (#16858525)

This is a silly argument. Some people don't want to do the thing you do. They are willing to pay for it. You do want to do the thing you do. You're willing to pay for it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from... by rdiddly on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @01:57PM (#16860710)

You would probably find it less silly if you stopped mischaracterizing it as an argument.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from... by walshemj on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @07:49AM (#16857433)

The other option for commuters is buy a Brompton (folding bike)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bird, Lime and Spin Receive Cease-And-desist Letters from... by kalleboo on Tuesday April 17, 2018 @10:44AM (#16858772)

Who's buying $700 bikes? My bike cost under $200, and for $30 extra came with a 3 year insurance and service plan so I can drop by any affiliated store and have it cleaned, adjusted, oiled and ready to go at no cost.

[ Parent | on HN ]