Has the obvious question been discussed?

prj45

What FCN is somebody on a Boris Bike/Barclycle considering they weigh about the same as a small car and are geared like a rope pulley on a yacht?

wgwarburton

prj45 wrote:

What FCN is somebody on a Boris Bike/Barclycle considering they weigh about the same as a small car and are geared like a rope pulley on a yacht?

No, I don't think it has... I asked, in the depths of an earlier thread, but no-one followed up.

Cheers,
W.

dhope

WGWarburton wrote:

prj45 wrote:

What FCN is somebody on a Boris Bike/Barclycle considering they weigh about the same as a small car and are geared like a rope pulley on a yacht?

No, I don't think it has... I asked, in the depths of an earlier thread, but no-one followed up.

Cheers,
W.

I'll guess at a flat 18.

Shopper with basket (not wicker, granted): 13
You'll not be in cycling clothing: +2
Same weight as a trailer: +2
Flats: +1

Any advance on 18?

prj45

I pwned some bloke on a gobojo up constitution hill this evening (on the cycle path), I figure I was red shifted slightly as I went past him.

And he was wobbling somewhat!

Is it possible get negative SCR points off of somebody?

MonkeyMonster

surely needs to be higher - there is nothing bigger or slower out there. It should never be possible to scalp one.

lost_in_thought

MonkeyMonster wrote:

surely needs to be higher - there is nothing bigger or slower out there. It should never be possible to scalp one.

Erm...

Christophe3967

lost_in_thought wrote:

MonkeyMonster wrote:

surely needs to be higher - there is nothing bigger or slower out there. It should never be possible to scalp one.

Erm...

Notice how much happier the family in the second photo look? They're not colour co-ordinated and they don't have stupid hats on.

And is it the case that the expression Boris Bike was coined by the Guardian? That was where I saw it first.

snailracer

Something as immensely heavy as a Borisbike will coast down hills very fast indeed.

Does it warrant a different FCN going downhill vs flat/uphill?

dhope

snailracer wrote:

Something as immensely heavy as a Borisbike will coast down hills very fast indeed.

Does it warrant a different FCN going downhill vs flat/uphill?

Not many hills within 15 mins of a BB station if you're planning on getting there and back in the free 30mins

roger_merriman

I'd put it at about 15,

about the same as any other shopper/town bike. And is not likely to be that much heavier, my town bike is 50LB. And I'm sure there are plenty that are cheaper and nastier and heavier than that.

robz400

Is wrong that i'll still feel a sense of pride and manlyness when blasting past them?

PBo

prj45 wrote:

I pwned some bloke on a gobojo up constitution hill this evening (on the cycle path), I figure I was red shifted slightly as I went past him.

And he was wobbling somewhat!

Is it possible get negative SCR points off of somebody?

errrrrrrrrr I don't really think you should boast of pwning a boris bike........its really not going to get you much respect is it

PBo

robz400 wrote:

Is wrong that i'll still feel a sense of pride and manlyness when blasting past them?

very wrong - read The Hundredth Idiot's sig and substitute "Bobike" for brompton.....

MonkeyMonster

okay, bigger certainly in that respect - but i still doubt heavier

these things are like chieftan tanks compared to a dune buggy of a roadie...

/tonguestillfirmlyincheek

tomb353

will borisbikes mean the end of london couriers on single speed custom bikes? Why run your own bike and carry 5KG of locks when you can boris bike from job to job around central london for £35 per year and dock it close to every delivery?

MonkeyMonster

tomb353 wrote:

will borisbikes mean the end of london couriers on single speed custom bikes? Why run your own bike and carry 5KG of locks when you can boris bike from job to job around central london for £35 per year and dock it close to every delivery?

I would LOVE to see an alleycat race being done on loads of borisbikes

lost_in_thought

MonkeyMonster wrote:

tomb353 wrote:

will borisbikes mean the end of london couriers on single speed custom bikes? Why run your own bike and carry 5KG of locks when you can boris bike from job to job around central london for £35 per year and dock it close to every delivery?

I would LOVE to see an alleycat race being done on loads of borisbikes

YES.

I would love to participate in...... erm....... a cycle-based treasure hunt on boris bikes.

Not an alleycat, they're illegal innit.

deptfordmarmoset

Has anybody explored the potential for Boris Bike racing yet? You've got identically specced bikes with given departure points. All you'd need is to agree a finishing line and you have a race. The weight of the bikes would of course favour the bigger, more muscular rider, so you 'd maybe have to divide racers into categories from featherweight to heavyweight.

There could be distance races - how far can you go, docking point to docking point for free?

And relay races where you go as far as you can for free, dock the bike and wait till you can begin a new session on a different bike.

dresbo

I fully intend to hire them out simply to scalp people to embarass them.

I have a key fob, but I haven't ridden one yet. It must be possible to take a scalp. If you see some fool canning it to London Bridge from the city on one this evening, that will be me (if only there was parking right outside London Bridge station). Can't wait.

the_hundredth_idiot

PBo wrote:

read The Hundredth Idiot's sig and substitute "Bobike" for brompton.....

Good point - sig updated for the zeitgeist.

Sewinman

Are we settling on 'Boris bikes'? I imagine that it will be shortened to 'Boris'.

"How did you get here?"

"Borised it over"

Gobojo is awful. Sounds like a form of tramp....or something Piers Morgan would come up with.

dhope

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Has anybody explored the potential for Boris Bike racing yet? You've got identically specced bikes with given departure points. All you'd need is to agree a finishing line and you have a race. The weight of the bikes would have course favour the bigger, more muscular rider, so you 'd maybe have to divide racers into categories from featherweight to heavyweight.

There could be distance races - how far can you go, docking point to docking point for free?

And relay races where you go as far as you can for free, dock the bike and wait till you can begin a new session on a different bike.

Or start west and go furthest east with no more than 2 bike switches? Picking a good route, knowing the BoJoDock locations and not switching bikes too early would all play a part...
Could be overcomplicating things

dhope

Sewinman wrote:

Are we settling on 'Boris bikes'? I imagine that it will be shortened to 'Boris'.

"How did you get here?"

"Borised it over"

Gobojo is awful. Sounds like a form of tramp....or something Piers Morgan would come up with.

Ah, I like Gobojos
and the docks can be Gobojodos
If you find a broken one it'd be a Brogobojo

lost_in_thought

Sewinman wrote:

Are we settling on 'Boris bikes'? I imagine that it will be shortened to 'Boris'.

"How did you get here?"

"Borised it over"

Gobojo is awful. Sounds like a form of tramp....or something Piers Morgan would come up with.

Yeah, Gobojo is dreadful, it doesn't incorporate 'bike' and I don't know where the 'go' comes from.

I think Boris Bike is the way forward, although I can't see it being shortened to Boris - perhaps BoBike.

wgwarburton

lost_in_thought wrote:

Sewinman wrote:

Are we settling on 'Boris bikes'? I imagine that it will be shortened to 'Boris'.

"How did you get here?"

"Borised it over"

Gobojo is awful. Sounds like a form of tramp....or something Piers Morgan would come up with.

Yeah, Gobojo is dreadful, it doesn't incorporate 'bike' and I don't know where the 'go' comes from.

I think Boris Bike is the way forward, although I can't see it being shortened to Boris - perhaps BoBike.

Bojobike is worryingly snappy.

Cheers,
W.

owenlars

Given that Ken Livinsgtone started the whole thing off shouldn't they be BoKens which will be amended to BroKen when they are in for maintenance. Incidentally I tried one on Monday and they aren't half bad except for the low gearing.

HamishD

dresbo wrote:

I fully intend to hire them out simply to scalp people to embarass them.

I have a key fob, but I haven't ridden one yet. It must be possible to take a scalp. If you see some fool canning it to London Bridge from the city on one this evening, that will be me (if only there was parking right outside London Bridge station). Can't wait.

Like this :twisted:

Specialized Needs

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

And relay races where you go as far as you can for free, dock the bike and wait till you can begin a new session on a different bike.

Circuits of the boundary?

Boris bike pub golf of the boundary bike docks? - soft drinks and red bull only, of course.

lardboy

dhope wrote:

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Has anybody explored the potential for Boris Bike racing yet? You've got identically specced bikes with given departure points. All you'd need is to agree a finishing line and you have a race. The weight of the bikes would have course favour the bigger, more muscular rider, so you 'd maybe have to divide racers into categories from featherweight to heavyweight.

There could be distance races - how far can you go, docking point to docking point for free?

And relay races where you go as far as you can for free, dock the bike and wait till you can begin a new session on a different bike.

Or start west and go furthest east with no more than 2 bike switches? Picking a good route, knowing the BoJoDock locations and not switching bikes too early would all play a part...
Could be overcomplicating things

How about a N-E-S-W between the docks challenge?

Furthest North: Angel
Furthest East: Whitechapel
Furthest South: Oval
Furthest West: Olympia

Meet at Angel, ride to East, then South, then West and back tyo Angel in the shortest time, and as few changes as possible. Enforced change at the checkpoints, to register times on the system.

deptfordmarmoset

lardboy wrote:

dhope wrote:

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Has anybody explored the potential for Boris Bike racing yet? You've got identically specced bikes with given departure points. All you'd need is to agree a finishing line and you have a race. The weight of the bikes would have course favour the bigger, more muscular rider, so you 'd maybe have to divide racers into categories from featherweight to heavyweight.

There could be distance races - how far can you go, docking point to docking point for free?

And relay races where you go as far as you can for free, dock the bike and wait till you can begin a new session on a different bike.

Or start west and go furthest east with no more than 2 bike switches? Picking a good route, knowing the BoJoDock locations and not switching bikes too early would all play a part...
Could be overcomplicating things

How about a N-E-S-W between the docks challenge?

Furthest North: Angel
Furthest East: Whitechapel
Furthest South: Oval
Furthest West: Olympia

Meet at Angel, ride to East, then South, then West and back tyo Angel in the shortest time, and as few changes as possible. Enforced change at the checkpoints, to register times on the system.

Doing a quick cyclestreets.net route plan, the N-E-S-W-N looks tantalisingly close to a 2-hour ride. Doing each leg in under 30 minutes would merit a BoBi Dazzler award

N - E http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196175/
E - S http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196180/
S - W http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196185/
W - N http://www.londoncyclehire.org/journey/196194/

lardboy

No changes would be the ideal, but with the spinny gear, I reckon you'd be pushing it to get under 30 mins for each leg. Perhaps late at night, with emptier roads and a flexible attitude to red lights...