SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the I've-never-had-functioning-brakes,-I-don't-oil-my-chain-and-my-derailleur's-out-of-adjustment dept.
Brakes that are too effective have led Lyft to remove thousands of its electric pedal-assist bicycles from New York City (Citi Bike), San Francisco (Ford GoBike), and Washington, D.C. (Capital Bikeshare):
A month ago, Jordan Wyckoff was riding an electric Citi Bike to work in Brooklyn when he slammed on the brakes to avoid a minivan that swerved in the bike lane. But when he hit the brakes, the front wheel locked up, sending Mr. Wyckoff over the front of the handlebars and onto the pavement.
The same thing happened to Dominik Glodzik when he tried to brake before a stop sign in Astoria, Queens about two months ago.
William Turton flipped over the front of an electric Citi Bike while trying to brake before an intersection on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.
In recent months, dozens of riders have reported injuries while riding electric Citi Bikes, prompting the company on Sunday to pull all of the approximately 1,000 electric bicycles from New York City's streets amid safety concerns about the brakes. Lyft, which owns Citi Bike, took similar precautions with its other bike-sharing services in Washington and San Francisco.
Motivate, a subsidiary of Lyft since 2018, operates bicycle sharing systems in several cities.
Previously: Uber May Try to Buy Citi Bike Parent Company Motivate
Lyft Acquires America's Largest Bike-Sharing Company, Motivate
Related: New Electric Bikes, Scooters, and Dockless Bicycles Hitting U.S. Streets
Uber Buys Electric Bicycle-Sharing Startup JUMP Bikes
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday April 16 2019, @05:22PM (1 child)
That's likely good advice. I imagine it may be helpful to to some folks here.
However, I have my own (non-electric) bicycle. I can ride it whenever I like, for as long as I like, without paying some corporation that's sucking up my location information and who knows what else from my phone.
Does the app require full network access? Access to contacts, photos and other data in addition to tracking your location?
In fact, even if I didn't own a bicycle, I wouldn't install additional surveillance monitoring on my phone. Thanks, but no thanks.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 16 2019, @06:17PM
When I used a bikeshare, I had a little plastic key with a barcode that inserts into the dock. I still have it on my keychain, in fact. No phone needed, although I sometimes used a third-party app (Spotcycle) that could locate stations and occupied/unoccupied docks.
The service worked for me despite the restrictions. I could bike from location A to light rail, etc. No need to lug a bike around to certain places, no chance of getting a bike stolen. I moved before they rolled out any pedal-assist bikes, but I would have liked to have them available.
Certain cities have better terms. For example, Houston BCycle has 60 minute trips instead of 30.