Velib vandalism

flickerx

"A popular bicycle rental scheme in Paris that has transformed travel in the city has run into problems just 18 months after its successful launch.

Over half the original fleet of 15,000 specially made bicycles have disappeared, presumed stolen."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7881079.stm


Cant help but think the bikes in Dublin would suffer a similar fate, if such a scheme got off the ground.

Plascebo

flickerx wrote: »

Cant help but think the bikes in Dublin would suffer a similar fate, if such a scheme got off the ground.

They have something similar, though on a much smaller scale, in Dublin Airport. Roughly 15 or so bikes spread around the airport campus for the use of airport staff who have signed up to the scheme.

Seems to be working out very well!

Bunnyhopper

I'd be surprised if they lasted 18 months in Dublin.

Where are these bikes anyway? By the sounds of it the City Council managed to negotiate a truly woeful deal, and we still don't have the bikes even though the advertising displays have been up for a good while.

NeilMcEoigheann

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055386959
those crazy motorists

Gavin

Not all the bicycles receive rough treatment however. One velib repairman reported finding one of the bikes customised with fur covered tyres.

haha

Amalgam

Shame. Lovely bikes. Reminds me just a tiny bit of the french, ' Motobécane '.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motob%C3%A9cane

Ryaner

Same company signed a deal with Dublin CC before xmas for sign posts in return for bikes for the city. Can only assume it is the same setup however in light of this, they are likely to be left using the signs and not need to provide the bikes.

If you are wondering what signs, look out for signs blocking traffic lights or pedestrian walkways or obstructing the view of crossings and that'll be them.

Húrin

Why do people think that Dubliners would be more likely to steal these bikes than Parisiens? The grass (or moral fibre) is greener on the other side, perhaps?

- a tendency I've noticed when discussing French people, supposedly the pinnacle of sophistication

kenmc

Húrin wrote: »

Why do people think that Dubliners would be more likely to steal these bikes than Parisiens? The grass (or moral fibre) is greener on the other side, perhaps?

- a tendency I've noticed when discussing French people, supposedly the pinnacle of sophistication

I think that there are generally more acts of wanton vandalism in Dublin (Ireland?) than on the continent, at least from my experience anyway - the amount of dismantled/destroyed bike carcasses lying around dublin is appaling. Don't ever recall seeing anything like that anywhere else

blorg

It's a pity if it is that bad, to be honest when visiting you would never see this, there was always plenty of them at the racks and they seemed very popular. Traffic in Paris is also a hell of a lot calmer than it was 10-15 years ago, the place is much more cycle-friendly now. A lot of old bikes, and most modern bikes in the "Dutch" city bike style.

Gavin

kenmc wrote: »

I think that there are generally more acts of wanton vandalism in Dublin (Ireland?) than on the continent, at least from my experience anyway - the amount of dismantled/destroyed bike carcasses lying around dublin is appaling. Don't ever recall seeing anything like that anywhere else

Definitely. I know of a German lady working in the Ballymun Regeneration Project. She is constantly baffled by the vandalism, just doesn't happen in Germany.

kenmc

Hey look penexpers, here's an odd shaped bike you don't have yet!

penexpers

kenmc wrote: »

yet!

I would like to emphasise this word.

rubadub

The stolen ones are going to africa & eastern europe. I would not expect the same theft here. If they are distinctive it is not like you could really sell them on to anybody.

If it was all owned by taxpayers vandalism might be a bit less, i.e. people would be smashing up their own stuff, or see people smashing what they have really paid for.

The design could be offputting to potential daredevil kids just wrecking them.

Also the gardai could begin to take a more serious view of bike theft & vandalism, instead of what they currently do -treating it like school bullys stealing chocolate bars from other kids. I won't hold my breath for that to happen....

Chips Lovell

kenmc wrote: »

I think that there are generally more acts of wanton vandalism in Dublin (Ireland?) than on the continent, at least from my experience anyway - the amount of dismantled/destroyed bike carcasses lying around dublin is appaling. Don't ever recall seeing anything like that anywhere else

Might be a bit of a generalisation, but Irish teenagers seem to wreck stuff, while French teenagers just cover everything with graffiti.

kenmc

I don't tend to mind that *so* much, as *some* graffiti is quite artful (obviously not just tagging), and at least you can still cycle home a bike with a painted wheel more so than a buckled wheel.
And I'd rather have a bus-shelter with graffiti'd glass than broken glass.

Bunnyhopper

Húrin wrote: »

Why do people think that Dubliners would be more likely to steal these bikes than Parisiens? The grass (or moral fibre) is greener on the other side, perhaps?

- a tendency I've noticed when discussing French people, supposedly the pinnacle of sophistication

Not more likely, just not any less likely, though tbh I don't know enough about France or Paris to make a specific judgement about relative risk.

I do know that I lived in England for several years, parked my bike outside all the time and never had it interfered with or stolen. Then within the first six months back in Dublin I had (in three separate incidents over a six week period) a saddle and seatpost stolen, a friend's bike stolen from a bike rack in the city where it was locked beside my own bike, and some scummer cut halfway through the lock on my bike. That was almost six years ago and I haven't locked a bike outdoors since.

I'm not suggesting that England is a crime-free paradise for cyclists; I'm just explaining my cynicism about some Dubliners' attitudes to bikes. I wouldn't leave one bike in the city centre, never mind five hundred

blorg

kenmc wrote: »

Hey look penexpers, here's an odd shaped bike you don't have yet!

I am not sure but he may have been a postman, certainly seemed to be delivery of some sort of stuff, he seemed to be having a whale of a time in the snow and absolutely rocketed down into the underground carpark I was standing over. Bike was very well equipped with a map of Paris on a plate in front of him and I think a handheld GPS.

Civilian_Target

I'm surprised the bikes are re-sellable, they are quite distincitive!

Run_to_da_hills

rubadub wrote: »

The stolen ones are going to africa & eastern europe. I would not expect the same theft here.

THe stolen ones here will end up in Hammond Lane.

petethedrummer

Húrin wrote: »

Why do people think that Dubliners would be more likely to steal these bikes than Parisiens? The grass (or moral fibre) is greener on the other side, perhaps?

- a tendency I've noticed when discussing French people, supposedly the pinnacle of sophistication

are you mental??? have you not seen how irish people carry on?? there is NO HOPE for this scheme here. I will put money on it with you that this will be a complete and unmitigated disaster in Dublin.

petethedrummer

Civilian_Target wrote: »

I'm surprised the bikes are re-sellable, they are quite distincitive!

It doesn't matter if they are re-sellable or not, they are 100% f*ckupable, which they will be. either that or it will become be a badge of honour to be seen on a liberated one of these bikes.

kenmc

petethedrummer wrote: »

it will become be a badge of honour to be seen on a liberated one of these bikes.

If thats the case, then maybe they'll leave our bikes alone? sorry... too much to hope for.

jspruit

kenmc wrote: »

I think that there are generally more acts of wanton vandalism in Dublin (Ireland?) than on the continent, at least from my experience anyway - the amount of dismantled/destroyed bike carcasses lying around dublin is appaling. Don't ever recall seeing anything like that anywhere else

Most of my European bicycle experience is in either Copenhagen or Dublin so I can't comment on what it is on the rest of the continent. But I'd have to say that there is plenty of bike theft in Copenhagen.

kenmc

Theft perhaps, rife in Netherlands too, but what about mindless thuggery like jumping on wheels or cutting cables or stealing bits - saddles, wheels etc? Don't recall seeing anything like that in NL.

jspruit

kenmc wrote: »

Theft perhaps, rife in Netherlands too, but what about mindless thuggery like jumping on wheels or cutting cables or stealing bits - saddles, wheels etc? Don't recall seeing anything like that in NL.

Yes-my comment was based more on theft rather than thuggish vandalism. Although you do see the odd bent wheel or frame here and there in Copenhagen, this is usually done on a bike which has been sitting at the train station or something locked up for weeks on end with a flat tire or two. The authorities complete an annual, at least, roundup of abandoned/disused bikes at train stations, bus stops, etc. after placing a sticker on them for a few weeks and then auction them off at public sale. It is sort of a clearing house for disused/abandoned/burglarized bikes and a good way to keep things relatively tidy.

Húrin

petethedrummer wrote: »

are you mental??? have you not seen how irish people carry on?? there is NO HOPE for this scheme here. I will put money on it with you that this will be a complete and unmitigated disaster in Dublin.

yes it's bad here but I have no reason to believe it's any better in Paris. All those ghettos they have you know.