MEversbergII

I had a last minute trip up to DC with my fiance and a friend of mine. My fiance and I decided to give the bike share bikes a try, since they looked to be alright and weren't terribly expensive to rent. We took them around town, up and down hills and in traffic for about two hours. All in all they're actually very serviceable. We saw lots of people trying them out, as well, so they appear pretty popular.

They use 3 speed Nexus hubs, with front and rear hub brakes, both done by levers. The gear range isn't great, but it does do the job. I -suck-, but still managed to get up some of the steeper hills even on 2nd gear. Comfort isn't perfect, but it never hurt anything to ride them. The seats have quick releases (noted one abandoned quick release laying on the ground near the lockup), and the "cockpit" is fairly small. The ride is wholly upright. Components are basic. I noticed that the head tube was actually a giant hinge, not unlike a door. I'm guessing this is actually easier to maintain and is probably a bit more rugged - appeared to have a steering stabilizer built in as well. The bikes ride on real wide tyres - 26" x 2" I think, and the frames are stepthrough. Kickstand was actually pretty hardcore, with a wide "foot". A center mount dual leg would probably have been better.

Obviously these are, by very concept, some kind of compromise bike, and it does that job. It has fenders, a front purse rack w/ integral strap and dynamo "be seen" lights. HEAVY. However, these being bike share bikes, it is better to overbuild them than not. Weight wasn't really an issue. There were no rear racks on mine, but I saw a couple that appeared to have them. None of the ones at my lockup location did, and at best it was a handful that I saw - could be a personal accessory. Don't think a rack is really needed, though, as it's unlikely you'll be doing any shopping with these. Pretty much it looked like all the more serious cyclists already had their own. Could not believe how many bikes I saw there...makes me rethink buying this house in suburbia...

All in all I thought they were nice bikes. Far from Bontrager or Bianchi or anything, but that doesn't matter.

I don't often visit DC, but having these would make me think twice about bringing my own (I like taking the metro in). It makes it easier to see things, especially for me since I walk slow due to ankle issues. My group wants to do more road trips up there, so I fully intend to make use of these on each trip. If you're in the area, give it a check out!

M.

JimF22003

Nice report, M. Did you get a chance to ride any of the pink ones (themed for the Cherry Blossom Festival?)

Those go a lot faster

MEversbergII

There's actually only one in the city; didn't even know about it until after I got home.

Now the SO actually wants to get a bike pretty much exactly like that; no idea where I'd get one, though. Bixi went bankrupt last year and I'm not sure if they ever sold to individuals.

M.

dynaryder

Wheels are actually 700's. None have rear racks,but there have been people making their own,which is against the rules. I've seen pics of a kid's seat that clamps to the frame that looked sketchy as hell. They don't sell them to the general public,but if you just take one home,they'll charge your card $1000. Oh,and most of the bits are covered with shields that use tamper-resistant fasteners;the only things out in the open are the lower barrel adjusters on the brakes.

Pro tip: always check the brakes before you ride into traffic. Had a very close call once when the brakes just slowed me instead of stopping. Lots of newbs dragging the brakes down steep hills and burning up the grease,which Roller brakes don't like.

MEversbergII

Yeah, I think she liked the tamper proof shielding on the handlebars, in terms of style. I had good experience with both our brakes. First time I'd used a roller brake; very nice performance, pretty sure I'll set something like that up on my next bike...

M.