Velib like bicycle rental kiosks are being constructed in Dublin

lucernarian

markpb wrote: »

If the scheme is popular and it introduces lots more cyclists into the city centre, drivers will learn to be more aware of cyclists thereby making it safer. The center of Amsterdam has no cycling facilities to speak of, just lots of cyclists.

I'm not sure what that's a reply to. I'm quite certain that Dublin is not the most cycle-friendly city in europe currently. I mentioned that it will work long-term, meaning that I'm already expecting drivers to get used to it. My point was more directed at infrastructural aspects (potholes, pointless cycling lanes etc), and the behaviour of bus drivers and taxis in bus lanes.

Also, lol at the above. A blind person cycling for a sighted person on a tandem?! My oh my, that would be odd and beyond foolish.

The nearest one to me is Merrion Square, or at Baggot St. bridge but most of my journeys are that sort of a distance or a bit further. E.g. there's no point walking 5 minutes to a stand and then cycling 5 minutes when I can just walk somewhere direct for 10 minutes for completely free.

It's still very stupid for them to have a mythical Grand Canal St. dublinbikes stand in their press release...

Btw, are there any plans to expand the scheme in the city?? (Assuming the scheme works well)

blorg

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Am I entitled to be in the middle/right of the bus lane if there is no seperate cycle lane? Coming down Dawson St this evening I stayed in the right of the buslane because I wanted to be able to smoothly move into the righthand lane on Nassau St so as not to be trapped behind the buses pulling in outside Elverys. This led to an irate Bus Eireann driver beeping at me for the last 50 metres of the Dawson St bus lane and making strange hand gestures at me when he passed me in Dame St.

There is a general rule that you are meant to keep left... hard to tell as I wasn't there but if you were obstructing him passing for no good reason I can understand his reaction. In general, cycling in a buslane, you should be to the left of it. There are however situations where it is appropriate to "take the lane."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicular_cycling#Lane_control
http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/technique-road-positioning-197

blorg

DualFrontDiscs wrote: »

So overnight is okay, but not more than 24 elapsed hours.

DFD.

Given the pricing structure it would be prohibitively expensive.

Dublinbikes wrote:

BIKE HIRE FEES
First ½ Hour : free
1 hour : €0.50
2 hours : €1.50
3 hours : €3.50
4 hours : €6.50
Every extra ½ Hour : €2

If you took one out for exactly 24 hours that would cost you €86.50. Even 12 hours overnight would set you back €38.50. The whole idea behind this pricing structure is to keep the bikes in circulation.

Euro_Kraut

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Also, lol at the above. A blind person cycling for a sighted person on a tandem?! My oh my, that would be odd and beyond foolish.

Read his post again. The blind person would be at the back and the sighted person at the front.

I don't see any great problem with it. Its no more or less dangerous than two sighted people on a tandem.

blorg

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

I don't see any great problem with it. Its no more or less dangerous than two sighted people on a tandem.

It is quite common in paralympic cycling, blind stoker and sighted captain team on a tandem.

lucernarian

I was thinking of dublinbikes when I made my comment, in that whatever about sport situations, cycling blind in Dublin would be very unwise. Also, I was at laughing at DualFrontDisc initially thinking that pete wanted db tandems for blind people to steer for sighted people, as opposed to the other way around. Sorry:o, but I did read it correctly.

A little OT bit here: I love how that blind Belgian guy can cycle normally on the streets using that clicking trick, much like how some marine mammals navigate and communicate.

Beasty

blorg wrote: »

It is quite common in paralympic cycling, blind stoker and sighted captain team on a tandem.

There is a club in Lancashire that offers blind cyclists the opportunity to ride tandem. They train up both able-sighted pilot and the blind person. I used to see them quite regularly at weekends when I lived there

petethedrummer

blorg wrote: »

If you took one out for exactly 24 hours that would cost you €86.50. Even 12 hours overnight would set you back €38.50. The whole idea behind this pricing structure is to keep the bikes in circulation.

So about 38.50 if you wanted to use one for the WW200.

Nietzschean

i think we should ask them about some sort of special promo rate or something and we'll do the WW200 on them next year ?

blorg

petethedrummer wrote: »

So about 38.50 if you wanted to use one for the WW200.

I think I would do it on a Penny Farthing* before one of them! Besides, it would cost me substantially less than 38.50

*has been done before.

jimogr

Did anyone sign up for an annual card last week?

I signed up last Monday but haven't received it yet... Anyone receive theirs?

petethedrummer

jimogr wrote: »

Did anyone sign up for an annual card last week?

I signed up last Monday but haven't received it yet... Anyone receive theirs?

My housemate signed up last Monday and got it in a few days.

Mine took longer as I left out part of my address, the county. Got a call to confirm it.

tomasrojo

Signed up last Monday, got the card on Thursday. Haven't had a chance to try the bikes out yet, but heartened at how many seem to be in use.

ED E

jimogr wrote: »

Did anyone sign up for an annual card last week?

I signed up last Monday but haven't received it yet... Anyone receive theirs?

Orderd sunday evening last week. Got it within 48hrs, two actually.

Used it yesterday. Function:10 Aesthetics:0

markpb

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

Orderd sunday evening last week. Got it within 48hrs, two actually.

That was fast! I ordered mine last Wednesday and there's no sign of it yet. Maybe they're issued in batches.

ED E

markpb wrote: »

That was fast! I ordered mine last Wednesday and there's no sign of it yet. Maybe they're issued in batches.

Yeah, I think after a few days of publicity the numbers may have gone up, and employees will be busy keeping things going. Let us know roughly where your numbers at when it does arrive, want to see how many have registered so far. I was just over 3000.

Also, 2 questions for others who've used the sytem:
1. Do you have to verify returns, is there any point if you dont want a receipt?
2. Is it just me or are the card readers less powerful than Luas ones? My Smarcard works fine inside my wallet, but my DB card in the same part of my wallet does not. Pain. Also, the machines have a little bit of a delay, poor show.

ArmaniJeanss

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

1. Do you have to verify returns, is there any point if you dont want a receipt?

No you just lock it in place, wait for the 2 beeps and walk away - don't have to go to the machine at all.

penexpers

I took one of these tonight and have the following observations

- Seatposts getting badly scratched already.
- Pretty standard drivetrain components - nexus 3 speed hub, nexus dynamo hub on the front.
- Gear range is not really wide enough, would be better with nexus 8 speed, imo
- Lights very good, drivers and peds definitely notice them
- Handling is not really very smooth and feels very fidgety.
- Brakes are not very good - no chance of emergency braking.

They are really suited to short trips around the city, but once you get any kind of speed up, the braking performance diminishes. I was disappointed to note a lot of the parts are standard bikes parts which could easily be stripped without even needing to take the bike out of stand. SO much for vandal-proof.

Anyway, I hope the scheme doesn't suffer any vandalism and that it continues to expand. It is a really good facility and it was great being able to cover a trip that I would normally do on foot by bike.

buffalo

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

Let us know roughly where your numbers at when it does arrive, want to see how many have registered so far. I was just over 3000.

Press are saying 6,000 registered.

loyatemu

penexpers wrote: »

I took one of these tonight and have the following observations

- Seatposts getting badly scratched already.
- Pretty standard drivetrain components - nexus 3 speed hub, nexus dynamo hub on the front.
- Gear range is not really wide enough, would be better with nexus 8 speed, imo

Yeah, I've felt the need for a faster gear when I've been on them

- Lights very good, drivers and peds definitely notice them
- Handling is not really very smooth and feels very fidgety.

I think they're quite top heavy, I cycled into a rut on the road surface this morning and nearly keeled over in front of a line a traffic

- Brakes are not very good - no chance of emergency braking.

They are really suited to short trips around the city, but once you get any kind of speed up, the braking performance diminishes. I was disappointed to note a lot of the parts are standard bikes parts which could easily be stripped without even needing to take the bike out of stand. SO much for vandal-proof.

the stations are all in pretty public locations - I can't see too many vandals going to the trouble of bringing a spanner or allen key set with them just to remove some cheap components. The added cost of custom components probably would have outweighed the benefit.

davej

Took one for a spin on Saturday. Pretty good overall and 2 people asked me about them while I was docking it.


On the downside, I saw some scumbags messing with them on Jervis Street. All the bikes were locked in place but they had the standers down and they were pedalling, jumping off them and generally treating them quite roughly

davej

priscilladeegan

This is the question we faced so my husband set up this site that can be viewed from any device, initially for our own use, but it might be useful to others too:

www.dubsonwheels.com

I think he's going to put some other cycling related stuff up there too in the near future as he's an avid cyclist.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

tomasrojo

priscilladeegan wrote: »

This is the question we faced so my husband set up this site that can be viewed from any device, initially for our own use, but it might be useful to others too:

www.dubsonwheels.com

That's very handy. The data are live data? Where do you get the data from?

Gavin

priscilladeegan wrote: »

This is the question we faced so my husband set up this site that can be viewed from any device, initially for our own use, but it might be useful to others too:

www.dubsonwheels.com

I think he's going to put some other cycling related stuff up there too in the near future as he's an avid cyclist.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Good job on the stats, was contemplating doing that myself. Should be able to extract some interesting information about the flow of the bikes, depending on the granularity of the statistics.

rebel.ranter

Was up in the big smoke for the weekend. They are a really nice additon to the city! Didn't get a chance to have a go on one though, the "boss" wouldn't allow me

I saw one locked to a railing across from the Gaiety which I thougth was ratehr odd, why would someone pay to rent a bike & lock it up? Surely it would have been better to return the bike & rent a new one for th ereturn journey?

cable842

cool story dave thats goin to happen a lot. read online that they wreck them in paris they do.

they could have got better bikes and used a depot. what did they expect putting them out in the streets like they of course people are goin to wreak them. they get them for free so they dont care really.

With the signs for free bikes scheme. that was the deal they had.

I cycled bikes in copenhagen and it was the best experience in my life so much fun.

davej wrote: »

Took one for a spin on Saturday. Pretty good overall and 2 people asked me about them while I was docking it.


On the downside, I saw some scumbags messing with them on Jervis Street. All the bikes were locked in place but they had the standers down and they were pedalling, jumping off them and generally treating them quite roughly

davej

ArmaniJeanss

cable842 wrote: »

cool story dave thats goin to happen a lot. read online that they wreck them in paris they do.

they could have got better bikes and used a depot. what did they expect putting them out in the streets like they of course people are goin to wreak them. they get them for free so they dont care really.

With the signs for free bikes scheme. that was the deal they had.

I cycled bikes in copenhagen and it was the best experience in my life so much fun.

Cycling around a city, the best experience of your life? :pac:

On a serious note the bikes are no better in Copenhagen, and I don't think they have depots there either (most of the bikes seemed to be in stands there as well though I never used the system).

Also why do you pop back here when anyone comes up with a minor negative point, yet totally ignore all the overwhelmingly positive points - why is every post of your in this thread so anti against this scheme?

Limestone1

cable842 wrote: »

cool story dave thats goin to happen a lot. read online that they wreck them in paris they do.

they could have got better bikes and used a depot. what did they expect putting them out in the streets like they of course people are goin to wreak them. they get them for free so they dont care really.

With the signs for free bikes scheme. that was the deal they had.

I cycled bikes in copenhagen and it was the best experience in my life so much fun.

I met a maintenance guy yesterday at one of the stations. He said there have been 6 damaged/vandalised bikes in the 2 weeks that they have been out there. Just small things like a saddle taken, broken pedals etc and all were repaired and back in working order straight away. So definitely not as bad as expected.

-Chris-

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Also why do you pop back here when anyone comes up with a minor negative point, yet totally ignore all the overwhelmingly positive points - why is every post of your in this thread so anti against this scheme?

+1

Why so negative, cable842?

loyatemu

cable842 wrote: »

they could have got better bikes and used a depot. what did they expect putting them out in the streets like they of course people are goin to wreak them.

what are you talking about - the whole idea is that they're on the street for people to pick up easily - if you want to hire a better bike from a "depot" you can already do that from any bike-hire place.

they get them for free so they dont care really.

they're not free - if you don't return it they take €150 off you, thats a pretty big incentive to make sure you care.