Dublin Bikes letting themselves go?

rollingscone

I've been a fairly active user of the Dublin bike/Pedal tractor scheme for about a year now.

But it seems to me that the maintenance and redistribution networks are slowly but surely degrading.

For example of the last 7 times I've gone to my local stop the stand has been completely empty or completely full (which makes a short return journey unviable). This is at various times of day as I'm working largely on a call out basis.

Qeues of people waiting to return bikes in the early evening are a common sight too.

Add to this an increasing incidence of mechanical issues.

I've had ultra soft braking, a bike that won't lock in the 3rd gear and seats that are so jammed you can no longer turn them backwards to warn about the other issues.

This morning I took the only bike left at the station and it boasted a combo pf incredibly tenuous braking,jumpy shifting, juddery steering and obvious crash damage to the front.

Are the budget cuts on the council trickling down?

Darkglasses

Maybe they scale it down during winter, when they expect less users?

Wishbone Ash

rollingscone wrote: »

Are the budget cuts on the council trickling down?

I thought it was entirely funded by JC Decaux. I don't think it costs DCC anything.

Re: 3rd gear not locking - I've had that problem in nearly every one I've ridden. Usually have to apply pressure on the handle throughout the ride.

The stand outside Christchurch seems to be perpetually empty - has it been withdrawn?

monument

rollingscone wrote: »

For example of the last 7 times I've gone to my local stop the stand has been completely empty or completely full (which makes a short return journey unviable). This is at various times of day as I'm working largely on a call out basis.

Qeues of people waiting to return bikes in the early evening are a common sight too....

What station?

With many systems edge of network stations suffer from this problem. This problem is amplified in Dublin by the network edge being in or so close to the city centre / high demand areas. Problems along the same lines will also happen at key core city centre stations.

The scheme is also oversubscribed with it coming close to 55,000 long term subscribers with just 550 bikes.

loyatemu

regularly up to 10 people waiting to return bikes at CHQ in the mornings - should improve once they increase the number of stations in the Docklands area though.

Dermot Illogical

In my experience the bikes have been in noticeably poorer condition recently. It's been a few months since I got one without at least one problem. Nothing serious, just little things.

shed head

well they are getting on now in fairness and take a lot of hits, a lot like Barcelona, still good though!!

buffalo

Does anyone else report the problem bikes? I take a note of the number and the issue, and email them. I've asked them for a number to text, because I'd definitely use that (and then wouldn't forget to email them for a week, which I often do), but no joy.

Plutonium Kun

I've noticed it too, often the bikes are quite dirty, never a good sign. However, I think its inevitable that given the huge success of the scheme that the bikes are going to be overworked - they are used on average almost 10 times a day each, which is a lot of wear and tear over the course of a year, especially given how wet its been the past 12 months. If you assume an average trip of 2 km, then they are doing maybe 7 or 8,000 km a year, thats like cycling from Europe to China! They are supposed to be getting extra bikes when the new stations are rolled out this year, lets hope there are some upgrades and replacements too.

I can't say I've noticed that the queuing is any worse than before - its a bit frustrating that they don't shift them more out of normal working hours to take account of the natural tidal flow out of town from 5.30pm. But I think the problems are exacerbated by the very high rates of use now, it must be very hard to keep up with the flow into particularly popular stations.

Wishbone Ash

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

then they are doing maybe 7 or 8,000 km a year

That's not much for a bike that's available 24/7. Many of us would do that in 6 months on more fragile bikes.

amdublin

buffalo wrote: »

Does anyone else report the problem bikes? I take a note of the number and the issue, and email them. I've asked them for a number to text, because I'd definitely use that (and then wouldn't forget to email them for a week, which I often do), but no joy.

I return the bike and turn the saddle round to face the wrong way, and drop the saddle right down.

I believe that is the unofficial way to notify that there is something wrong with the bike

But I think a text number would be great!

buffalo

amdublin wrote: »

I return the bike and turn the saddle round to face the wrong way, and drop the saddle right down.

I believe that is the unofficial way to notify that there is something wrong with the bike

But I think a text number would be great!

Reversed saddle is definitely handy to notify other users, and I believe that the system alerts maintenance if a bike isn't taken out, or gets returned quickly, but I think they should be a lot more open to explicit reporting. I don't know if the guys going around re-distributing bikes pay attention to the saddles? I don't know if their job makes them more bike-friendly, I witnessed one get an earful from a cyclist after parking the bike truck right here: http://goo.gl/maps/CZO29 - and cutting off access to the contra-flow lane.

I can't even email them fault reports actually, have to fill out a form on their site, which means digging out my subscription number, etc. oh, my life is so hard!

monument

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

That's not much for a bike that's available 24/7. Many of us would do that in 6 months on more fragile bikes.

But: Are these bikes left outside regardless of the weather? Used in the snow on gritted roads and not washed afterwards? Do around ten diffrent non-owners ride the bikes ever day?

DirkVoodoo

I've had the slipping gear issue and also the crank hitting the plastic mudguard, both I would consider not only a sign of poor maintenance but plain dangerous.

I notified DB and in fairness I got a swift and considered reply.

They were built to cope with the usage they get, I'd say it's down to poor servicing plans rather than parts seeing excessive wear.

Also, the redistribution has got noticeably worse, I would have thought they would have enough data to be able to cope with current demand, again it smacks of poor management rather than the system being overworked.

Also, why in the name of all that is holy did whoever built the canal cycle path not create a lip by the dublin bike stands for cyclists to get onto it? There are a few spots where you can't easily get from a stand to the path (or indeed off it again!)

buffalo

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

That's not much for a bike that's available 24/7. Many of us would do that in 6 months on more fragile bikes.

That's actually 19/7.

du Maurier

I'd say apart from daily wear and tear the bikes are subjected to plenty of vandalism. I had the misfortune of picking a bicycle that had a buckle like a converging plate boundary. It was just about cycle-able but fairly dangerous - I had to put it back in the very next station. More than likely the result of someone leaning on the bike when resting.

Another morning someone thought it would be hilarious to spit on every saddle at the Bull and Castle station. Suffice to say no one probably took a bike from there that morning.

Apart from general deterioration it does seem like they're not very well looked after. The gears can be pretty finicky, mostly, the saddles don't lock so well, and they're bloody stinking, the bikes. They undergo a lot of usage, but they're so grimy and in such a short space of time since DB started.

I used to always have a problem getting a bike at certain stops but my route has changed recently and now I don't have much of a problem and there are more options. The station by the Barge in the mornings was a disaster - never a bike, unless you made a concerted effort to get there a half an hour earlier than usual. But I suppose that's just the flow in that area - perhaps more bays are required, or a quicker replenishment.

But overall it's a really good scheme, and very convenient particularly for someone who doesn't need to use it at peak times.

Tar.Aldarion

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I thought it was entirely funded by JC Decaux. I don't think it costs DCC anything.

Re: 3rd gear not locking - I've had that problem in nearly every one I've ridden. Usually have to apply pressure on the handle throughout the ride.

The stand outside Christchurch seems to be perpetually empty - has it been withdrawn?

Yes it is funded by JCDecaux, and for the amount of money they make for doing it (millions in transit media, advertising space and so on) they really should be keeping it in top condition.

monument

Hopefully Dublin City Council and the NTA will bash out an expansion deal with Jcdecaux which improves maintaince overall.

But I have to ask:

Does anybody actually remember before the launch of DublinBikes? We were told it would end in disaster and the bikes would end up in the river and the canals. In any case, if the bikes managed to stay above water, there was a strong view that Dublin was diffrent and there would be low usage. It was in that backdrop a deal was made (as well of the highs of the advertising market).

The city council officals were less pessimistic but their expectations were still far lower that what turned out to be actual demand. Demand predictions were smashed.

Let's get realistical about this: Using the figures found online, Paris is at something like an adverage of 4 bike rentals per day per bike and Dublin is at least double that -- at around 9 per day in winter and higher in the summer.

tomasrojo

du Maurier wrote: »

They undergo a lot of usage, but they're so grimy and in such a short space of time since DB started.

Was it four and a half years ago? Good while ago now anyway.

monument wrote: »

Let's get realistical about this: Using the figures found online, Paris is at something like an adverage of 4 bike rentals per day per bike and Dublin is at least double that -- at around 9 per day in winter and higher in the summer.

Yeah, I think the db scheme averaged 13 trips per bike on its busiest day so far. It's very heavily used, no ambiguity there.

du Maurier

tomasrojo wrote: »

Was it four and a half years ago? Good while ago now anyway.





Yeah, I think the db scheme averaged 13 trips per bike on its busiest day so far. It's very heavily used, no ambiguity there.

I'm not sure how long ago but it's relatively short. They need replacing if they don't work or are completely jaded imo.

pprendeville

Couldn't enter one of the numbers in my PIN this morning on the station beside the GPO on O'Connell St. Maybe I was better off as it was cold walking so I think cycling and I would have had a frozen face after getting to Aungier St.

Mcofferon

monument wrote: »

Let's get realistical about this: Using the figures found online, Paris is at something like an adverage of 4 bike rentals per day per bike and Dublin is at least double that -- at around 9 per day in winter and higher in the summer.

If that statistic is rentals per Bike, we'd need an indication of the number of Bikes available in Paris. If we only have 550 bikes in Dublin for 55,000 annual subscribers that may represent a much lower ratio of available bikes than the French operation. More Profit for JCD though:rolleyes:

monument

Mcofferon wrote: »

If that statistic is rentals per Bike, we'd need an indication of the number of Bikes available in Paris. If we only have 550 bikes in Dublin for 55,000 annual subscribers that may represent a much lower ratio of available bikes than the French operation. More Profit for JCD though:rolleyes:

:rolleyes: indeed...

Even with a lack of anything to back your conspiracy theory, I will reply:

The important figures regarding the condition of the bikes is rentals per bike per day as that gives the best idea of how much use the bikes are getting. The numbers of subscribers per bike is important but nearly abstract compare to bike use.

With the ratio of available bikes -- for all we know, Paris may get the raw deal. It's more liklely they do and they have proportionately less bikes available at any one time but that the shear number of bikes makes up for this in practical terms. Dublin with its low number of bikes is likely to be under presure to have as many bikes on the street as possable.