Yobike has apparently started a scheme in Southampton...

N0bodyOfTheGoat

http://yobike.co.uk/

Basically sounds like "Boris bikes," where you either pay by the hour (£1), 24 hours (£5) or the year (two 1-hour trip per day for one-off fee of £39).

Sounds interesting, Southampton's streets can be heavily congested at times with motor vehicles, seems a reasonable price for someone not wanting to upkeep a bike.

But will it encourage motorists to ditch cars for short city journeys and do they ride like tanks? Might have to randomly try one in my cycling gear and go Strava segment crazy! :twisted:

wolfsbane2k

NitrousOxide wrote:

http://yobike.co.uk/

Basically sounds like "Boris bikes," where you either pay by the hour (£1), 24 hours (£5) or the year (two 1-hour trip per day for one-off fee of £39).

Sounds interesting, Southampton's streets can be heavily congested at times with motor vehicles, seems a reasonable price for someone not wanting to upkeep a bike.

But will it encourage motorists to ditch cars for short city journeys and do they ride like tanks? Might have to randomly try one in my cycling gear and go Strava segment crazy! :twisted:

Yeah, I saw the announcement in the daily smecho earlier, and thought it was time for a few beers around town...

redvee

I use the Bristol YoBikes and like the fact you can leave them wherever you want and a bonus for me is the closest parking place for my flat is also a preferred parking place so you only get charged 50p instead of £1 but be wary of their GPS locations. If you do not leave the bike in the exact spot of the GPS location of a preferred parking spot if such a thing exists in Southampton hen you'll get charged full price. The reason for preferred parking is to keep the bikes out of trouble spots, some were vandalised and I've seen some round Bristol with the lock mechanism missing.
The first ride I had was a freebie as they give you a £1 credit when you download the app and register, I've since topped up my account with £20 and got a £6 bonus and still have £15 to ride with.

defever

I'm going to bump this thread...

I've seen this in Southampton too, mainly around and within the campuses of the two universities in the city, and some random collection on the north end of Bassett Avenue (Chilworth Roundabout) where M3 starts.

£1 bike?! I thought that's pretty good for a basic Boris bike-type but without the constriction of certain docking stations to collect / return. There's a one off payment of £29.00 for individuals with valid university email address which is quite handy for city students without car / their own bikes.

I've seen some people use in the city centre, too. So I just looked into it and it's pretty good idea. But how long will the first batch of bike will last until they are a) vandilised, b) lost / misplaced in the most obscure places (I can see youths doing this, just like with traffic cones!), c) travels "outside" of Southampton disctrict and even far afield?

Anyone actually used these in Southampton?

fat daddy

defever wrote:

how long will the first batch of bike will last until they are a) vandilised, b) lost / misplaced in the most obscure places (I can see youths doing this, just like with traffic cones!), c) travels "outside" of Southampton disctrict and even far afield?

well they 1st appeared in Bristol in May ... and despite the odd story of vandalism they seem seem to be doing well, making a profit, people are using them ..... so far it seems to have been a success

Tashman

I regularly see the new ones in Brighton out and about now too. In fact the closest docking station to work is frequently empty (assuming in use, not nicked)

wolfsbane2k

defever wrote:

I'm going to bump this thread...

I've seen this in Southampton too, mainly around and within the campuses of the two universities in the city, and some random collection on the north end of Bassett Avenue (Chilworth Roundabout) where M3 starts.

£1 bike?! I thought that's pretty good for a basic Boris bike-type but without the constriction of certain docking stations to collect / return. There's a one off payment of £29.00 for individuals with valid university email address which is quite handy for city students without car / their own bikes.

I've seen some people use in the city centre, too. So I just looked into it and it's pretty good idea. But how long will the first batch of bike will last until they are a) vandilised, b) lost / misplaced in the most obscure places (I can see youths doing this, just like with traffic cones!), c) travels "outside" of Southampton disctrict and even far afield?

Anyone actually used these in Southampton?

Yes, I was geeky enough to go out for an afternoon/evening catching up with friends visiting real ale pubs around town that were generally too far to walk to - started in the Bitterne Triangle and found 5 bikes there for our group of 3.
Unfortunately there weren't any at the bitterne station when we got off, but we didn't have any problems for the rest of the evening.
And no, we weren't drunk riding, we limited ourselves to a half a pint each hour, it was more about the company.
Ended up covering 24 miles over 8 hours; without it, we'd have been spend significantly more on taxis or visited less pubs.

defever

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Yes, I was geeky enough to go out for an afternoon/evening catching up with friends visiting real ale pubs around town that were generally too far to walk to - started in the Bitterne Triangle and found 5 bikes there for our group of 3.
Unfortunately there weren't any at the bitterne station when we got off, but we didn't have any problems for the rest of the evening.
And no, we weren't drunk riding, we limited ourselves to a half a pint each hour, it was more about the company.
Ended up covering 24 miles over 8 hours; without it, we'd have been spend significantly more on taxis or visited less pubs.

Amazing, that's what its for sin't it. Get around the city with ease and further than walking distance and cheap bikes at your disposal.

I'm just starting to see the pros and cons... Safety equipments like lights and helmets; what about these? Are there front / rear lights integrated on the bike? What about helmet; I presume people will have to carry their own helmet if they intend to pick up one of the YoBike during their outings, which might be a turn off for some...? I don't know. These days, I feel like I should be leaving home with a re-usable bag for shopping, a waterbottle, a coffee mug, a set of cutlery and plates to be environmentally responsible (I think it's a great idea!) and a helmet in this case. I guess this was how it used to be in the middle ages with their tin mugs and stuff to go in pubs.

fat daddy - good outcome in Bristol, isn't it? I just Googled about the situation in Bristol and now it seems that YoBike is encouraging users to bring back the bikes within certain and small part of Bristol so that they can be returned within a reasonable distance = maybe it was so popular the bike spread a lot further than they initially anticipated?

I'm all for this sort of initiatives where things are made so simple and easy for people to benefit from being active at very low cost.

wolfsbane2k

defever wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Yes, I was geeky enough to go out for an afternoon/evening catching up with friends visiting real ale pubs around town that were generally too far to walk to - started in the Bitterne Triangle and found 5 bikes there for our group of 3.
Unfortunately there weren't any at the bitterne station when we got off, but we didn't have any problems for the rest of the evening.
And no, we weren't drunk riding, we limited ourselves to a half a pint each hour, it was more about the company.
Ended up covering 24 miles over 8 hours; without it, we'd have been spend significantly more on taxis or visited less pubs.

Amazing, that's what its for sin't it. Get around the city with ease and further than walking distance and cheap bikes at your disposal.

I'm just starting to see the pros and cons... Safety equipments like lights and helmets; what about these? Are there front / rear lights integrated on the bike? What about helmet; I presume people will have to carry their own helmet if they intend to pick up one of the YoBike during their outings, which might be a turn off for some...? I don't know. These days, I feel like I should be leaving home with a re-usable bag for shopping, a waterbottle, a coffee mug, a set of cutlery and plates to be environmentally responsible (I think it's a great idea!) and a helmet in this case. I guess this was how it used to be in the middle ages with their tin mugs and stuff to go in pubs.

fat daddy - good outcome in Bristol, isn't it? I just Googled about the situation in Bristol and now it seems that YoBike is encouraging users to bring back the bikes within certain and small part of Bristol so that they can be returned within a reasonable distance = maybe it was so popular the bike spread a lot further than they initially anticipated?

I'm all for this sort of initiatives where things are made so simple and easy for people to benefit from being active at very low cost.

Yep, cracking. Was a bit worrying while we were out Shirley way with them that someone would borrow our 3 and then not be able to get a replacement for one of us, but it thankfully didn't happen. Yobike charge extra if you don't drop it off at one of the "approved" areas, therefore trying to minimize them leaving the city limits..

Bikes have integrated lights. Helmet? Users choice. 1 went with, 2 without. (Lets not start the helmet debate - it's not a legal requirement)

voodooman

Let me guess on the pubs...

Butchers Hook, Overdraft, Cricketers, Rockstone, Wellington Arms, The Guide Dog and The Platform / Dancing Man? Or did you end up in the Beerfest in Guildhall Square.

Usually it's the Overdraft for me.

milemuncher1

They are brilliant. Except the fact every cycle rack in about 10 square miles, seems to be full of Yo Bikes. They are a good idea though.

wolfsbane2k

voodooman wrote:

Let me guess on the pubs...

Butchers Hook, Overdraft, Cricketers, Rockstone, Wellington Arms, The Guide Dog and The Platform / Dancing Man? Or did you end up in the Beerfest in Guildhall Square.

Usually it's the Overdraft for me.

Pretty much; Route was Butchers Hook, South Western, The Guide Dog, Rockstone, Somewhere in Shirley, town centre, woolston, bitterne, with a detour out to do a few laps of the common for the hell of it.

Overdraft? Yes, having checked, that's the Shirley one.

Doing the itchen bridge without gearing hurt a bit, that's for sure..

We borrowed aspiration from this; http://thomashallett.com/southampton-cr ... ale-guide/