UKC

Has anyone taken to the streets of London on one of these?

Trying to fathom if the costs are good value.

Looks like a good way to get around .even if one would look like a complete arse.
V

In reply to andymac: yep, something of a BB evangelist - i have a key (£90 a year - was £45) and that makes the process really easy.

They're a bugger to handle when you're pissed, mind...

In reply to andymac:
At £2 for 24 hours they're a great way of getting along London if you're confident enough on very busy roads. Take a helmet with you though as they're not provided with the bike.

One final point, please don't call them Boris Bikes, he got the credit for the scheme as he was the mayor when they were introduced, the scheme was actually Ken livingstone idea.

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Who 'borrowed' it from Paris, who no doubt took it from somewhere else

In reply to Doug:



No doubt, but he was the mayor that thought of bringing it to London and he had the infrastructure installed borefore he was replaced by Boris who took the credit for it.

In reply to Doug:

Paris got it from Lyon I believe.

In reply to Tony the Blade:

How about "Kencycles" pronounced ken-sickles?

In reply to andymac:

Yes, I think they are excellent. You see another side of the city.

You don't look like an arse as there are loads of people using them. The only annoyance is that popular origins run out of bikes and popular destinations run out of spaces - you do need to make active use of the mobile app to check this in order to get the best out of the system.

Neil

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Ken bikes..... hmmmm doesn't quite roll off the tongue does it!

Besides who wants to be reminded of Ken Livingstone

In reply to Indy:

More to the point 'Ken Bike W*nker' doesn't sound as good as 'Boris Bike W*nker'.

In reply to Tony the Blade:

its not 2 quid for 24 hours though is it

D

In reply to andymac:

Give them a go and see for yourself. It's a great concept, but I wish it worked a bit better. Half the time it works out quicker to walk than to go through the faff involved in using one.
Get an app to find docking stations. Citybikes is good and free.
I had a key when they first came out and it was the only way to use the bikes. It only worked one time in three and I spent more time on the phone to customer services than I did riding the bikes. Threw it away and use my debit card now, but the terminals are frustratingly slow and many don't work.
Check the bike carefully before you release it, as if you discover a fault and put it back, you have to wait 5 minutes before you can hire another.
The bikes are very heavy and top gear is so low that you have to spin like mad to reach a speed that's safe in traffic. This can be worrying sometimes.

In reply to Dauphin:

No, it's not. It's 24 hours in which you can have a bike for 30mins at a time. I've had some desperate searches at 29 minutes when I've arrived to find the docking station full.

In reply to Hooo:
You know you can press a button on the terminal and get an extra 15 mins to find another docking station?

And my key works pretty much perfectly every time - it was a bit flaky at first, but they seem to have sorted out most of the issues with "tidal flow" and software.

In reply to Dauphin:

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/barclays-cycle-hire/what-you-pay

In reply to andy:
Do the bikes have Di2?

And I can't help bit feel those Barclays rims would be quite dangerous doing a 60km
Descent in a crosswind.

Set of Zipps might be a little safer

In reply to Hooo:

Me also. Total bullshit. 5 min lock out. The payment system if you can call it that is shambolic and poorly implemented, especially if its a first time, does nothing to make you want to use it again. I use them infrequently, I'd use them more if it wasn't such a chore with paying for and unlocking a bike.

D

In reply to Indy:



Me

In reply to Dauphin:



If used correctly, then yes, it's £2 for each 24 hours.

In reply to Tony the Blade:

No mate, its 50 quid for 24hrs. Plenty of tourists get stung for it every day. Nothing in the payment system prepares you for the 30 minute limit, or at least it didn't last time I used one. I'd had the heads up by doing the due diligence.

D

In reply to Dauphin:

Cyberpunk linked the pricing structure earlier in this thread, and it clearly states that £2 will give you 24 hours use. However if you return the bike late to a docking station then there is a penalty.

If this is not made obvious either at the stations (I'll have to have a look now ) or on-line then that's a different call to the cost being £50.

I do agree with you that the pricing should be made explicit and in a selection of popular languages - the Velib in Paris used to do this and I always knew what the T&C's were.

In reply to Dauphin:

It seems obvious enough when you sign up.

The intention of it is to stop people leaving them lying around, thus making them unavailable for others. I can see that because of the size of London it could do with being upped to 45 minutes or maybe even an hour, or perhaps be zoned based on the journey you make, but I don't see any problem with the concept.

You take a bike for a journey, you return it, you don't keep it.

Neil

In reply to Tony the Blade:

I'm pretty sure it is always referred to as 24 hours *access*, not "use".

Neil

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Its not 24hr use. If you have to return the bike every 30 mins with a 5 minute lock out each time you put it back in. Yeah sure I understand the need for flow blah blah blah, thing is its not explicit and it seems an absolute bargain until you decide to take it to Richmond for the day. Or any place with no docking stations.

D

In reply to Dauphin:
Yes agreed, and Neil has corrected my use of the term access over use

I can now access a Barclays Bike, in half an hour intervals, for £2 over a 24 hour period.



Edit: Smiley added

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Not getting into an argument with anyone on here least a blade. Sorry if my tone came across as petulant, just seen a few friends getting stung and heard a few stories about tourist taking them for a couple of days thinking they were going to get a bill for £6.

D

In reply to Tony the Blade:

The scheme in Paris operates on similar lines.

Now Boris has hiked up the annual access fee to £90. they aren't as good value as they used to be. Especially as the Paris scheme costs 29euros per year for free 30 minutes each time you use it!

In reply to andymac:

I tried to use one the other day and thought it wasn't worth the money for a single journey which is a shame.

This seems to be the perfect thread to link to this
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/recreational-cycling/10947069/What-it...

And the fundraising site www.justgiving.com/BORISvLeTour