snow_echo_NY

such good information here. thanks for sharing. i had citibike for one year (buying a membership a month before it launched) but i let my membership lapse last year as i wasn't using it enough. when they expand in 2017 i may renew again. i just don't hang out in Manhattan - i hang out in Brooklyn so i use my own bike for that.

wilfried

Some news about Citibike in Crain's, now that it's under new management:

Citi Bike turnaround: so much promise, so many problems

I also got an email saying that they're upgrading all docks and stations over the coming weeks. Here's the link to the schedule:

Station Improvement Schedule 2015

Improvements are afoot. I'll be interested to see how this pans out. Jay Walker, former head of the of the MTA and the Hong Kong transit system, is now CEO of Motivate, the reorganized Alta. Them's pretty big guns, and hopefully more competent than the previous management.

noglider 

Thank you for these, @wilfried. I am surprised to see membership has decreased. The system appears so busy to my eyes.

Whizzer283

Thanks for the tip. How about this one? The bike docks more easily if you lift the front as you insert. Works much better than slamming the bike.

wilfried

Citi Bike Could Expand to 86th Street This Summer | Streetsblog New York City

Is it possible, could it be, that we'll get bike share up to 86th St. this summer? Will I be able go to the museums without hauling my own bike (since I ride a Brompton without a lock, that pretty much doesn't work)? Given how these things go, I won't hold my breath, but here's hoping.

I wonder how much backlash there'll be when they bring this to the community boards. The cries of doom and destruction and blood in the streets that happened when the first stations went in will be muted, but I wonder how much NIMBY obstructionism there'll be. Also, there's no decent route downtown from the UES, which might be a bit of a problem.

zacster

I still have the same problems now as I did last year. There are never bikes when you want them and the docks don't work. On the day of Bike Expo at the pier, I took a Citibike and tried to dock at the closest station. It took 10 tries to find one that worked. I complained to the Citibike booth there, but I'm sure they were just working the booth and had no way to report this.

flattie

My morning commute featured a new model citibike today. There's some info on the citibike webpage that describes the changes https://citibikeblog.tumblr.com/post/...the-bike-lanes They have a few pics up - I took some of my own but they don't really show anything different from what you can find on the website. Here's the changes I noticed.
First - sturm and archey shifter and front and rear hubs vs. shimano. The shift mechanism is a twist shift and it has a window with a gear indicator. 3rd gear seemed a little taller to me which is nice.

Second, they replaced the chain guard, and both front and rear fenders with plastic instead of metal - I assume this yield a little weight savings.

Third, the rear red LED's are no longer embedded in the lower part of the rear frame, instead they are part of the rear fender and likely more visible.

Fourth, the handlebar grips are a bit smaller in diameter and have a bit of texture. Hopefully they don't get as "sticky" as the existing grips seem to do which transfers black residue to my hands occasionally.

Fifth, the "front end" seemed a bit stiffer in terms of steering. When I dismounted to return the bike to the rack I noticed that they had a spring attached to to the underside of the front down tube that runs to the back of the handlebars. I assume this is why the front end feels tighter.

Sixth, the tires had a bit more tread and were a few mm's narrower in width.

Lastly, the kick stand is a pletcher style with two legs.

noglider 

Oh, I didn't know there are new bikes. I saw one passing me today. I didn't know it was a new model, it's just that the front hub grabbed my eye, and I didn't know why. Now I know it's because it's a Sturmey Archer.

The seat looks like an improvement.

A taller third gear would be very good for me. I totally understand why they geared the bikes so extremely low, so it can appeal to everyone, including tiny people. But it is a small annoyance for me.

Is the frame different? I heard a rumor that the maker of the original model is out of business, but I don't know if that's true. Does anyone know?

hotbike

Uhh, they changed the protective shield on the cargo carrier. Now, this clever hack, for mounting a selfie stick, won't work:
Photographic Bike Tour by AviationMetalSmith, on Flickr

hotbike

Here's a set of before and after photos:

Side-By-Side Comparison: Old Citi Bike vs New Citi Bike - ANIMAL

zacster

I rode a Citibike (or whatever it is called) in San Francisco and while the bikes were otherwise the same, they had 8 speed hubs. Of course San Fran has hills that would intimidate even the best riders here.

I thought I saw that the front lights on the new bikes were beam with lens types, not the 5 flashing LEDs the old ones have.

flattie

So I was trying to find out which Sturmey Archer hub was on the new bike and googling lead me to a PDF you can see here which is a pretty good overview of the bike that is being built by Motivate.

https://files.mtc.ca.gov/pics/5-27-15...te_Bicycle.pdf

And here's a blog on Motivate making their own bikes

America?s Biggest Bike-Share Operator Now Makes Its Own Bikes | Streetsblog New York City

snow_echo_NY

awesome. cool to see the new bikes! thanks for sharing. i've shared with my citibiking co-workers.

flattie

Looks like the expansion of service area is going to become a reality.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/us...ttan.html?_r=0

The new bikes are starting to appear more and more. I will admit to seeking them out - they are definitely geared better for me.

https://citibikeblog.tumblr.com/post/...bikes-new-bike

noglider 

The new bikes are so good. They are a little lighter, but they feel much lighter. I can't figure out why. Geometry? They're also nicer going over bumps. The brakes require a lot less force from the hands, too, so they're much easier to work.

hotbike

I think the Brakes were good originally, but after two years , the Brakes need to be squeezed harder...
I stil haven't tried the "new" Citi Bike, and it's 88°F today,so not today, but soon, I will try it...

noglider 

I have to disagree. The brakes were always hard to actuate. Wait until you try the new one, and you'll see the difference.

I just rode 22 miles on my own bike. You missed a great day to be on a bike. The sun is warm but the air is cool and breezy. It is now four days in a row of idyllic weather here.

wilfried

We just had the four best cycling days of the summer. Alas, I had to work, but I got in a fair bit of riding in the evening. Evening is kind of nice, without the sun beating down on you, and I'm not afraid of it getting dark.

The new bikes are definitely geared higher, so you don't have to spin like a madman to go a reasonable speed, and the lower gears are actually useful. The two pronged kickstand is odd. The new gear shifter also throws me off, since they goes the opposite direction of the old ones. I find I have to think, and look, to see what gear I'm in.

Here's another interesting article about Citi Bike:

A Mission for Citi Bike: Recruiting More Female Cyclists

I think that the number of women on bicycles is a reasonable measure of the mainstreaming of cycling, and that Citi Bike has gotten more women on bikes. It's changed a lot in just the three years I've been riding in the city.

And here's an article about density of station on the Upper East and West Sides (they will be less dense there than in the current Manhattan footprint):

DOT Finalizes Weak Bike-Share Station Maps for Manhattan Expansion [Updated] | Streetsblog New York City

noglider 

It is an adjustment to go from the Shimano twist shift to the Sturmey Archer one. Then we have to go back and forth on them as we change bikes. But the SA one is just like the old trigger shifters in that a looser cable setting gets you a higher gear. This is OK until your cable breaks, and you're stuck in high gear. But that's not a problem on Citibike, as all cables are protected and unlikely to break.

Just for fun, I rode a new model fast briefly a couple of nights ago. It is really a much quicker bike. It's also much comfier over bumps. Did I say that already?

wilfried

Citi Bike is in the news; here's yet another ariticle about redistributing bicycles between stations. Last month, they moved 2,140 bikes a day, compared with 1,370 in June 2014. But the problem is just getting worse.
her article:

Two Years In: More to Like About Citi Bike - WSJ

Things really have gotten better since they upgraded the system. I've only had a couple of glitches with docking or undocking a bike. It's now pretty much worry free; I no longer approach stations bracing for problems. There are now very few non-working docks. The phone app is now mostly accurate; if it says there are one or two bikes available, or one or two docks, that generally seems the case. In the past, one could pretty much count on those last couple bikes or docks being nonexistent, or not usable.

Rebalancing I think will be the long term intractable problem; it's systemic to the way bike share works. Though in my neck of the woods at least, it seems marginally better. The East Village/Lower East Side alternates from no bikes to no parking in the entire neighborhood on summer weekdays, rendering the system near useless. This summer, it seems a little less extreme, and I've managed to find bikes and parking (if not exactly where I wanted it) when I've needed it.

I mostly ride my own bike, but Citi Bike I find a very useful supplement.

vol

I saw a new Citi bike station on upper east side 85th street today. Don't know how long it has been there, probably not in use yet, but did see 3 Citi bikes parked at the station and a worker working there.

Looks like soon one can travel much of Manhattan by Citi bike between uptown and downtown, though not sure about such neighborhoods like Harlem and far north.

wilfried

There's been quite a lot in the news about this. They're getting close to finishing the first phase of expansion of the system in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan up to 86th St. You can see a map of the system here, with planned and active stations; the Upper East and West Sides are the last of it, and they look to be about half done:

https://member.citibikenyc.com/map/

vol

Thanks. So the one I saw is already in use.

Now if there were also something like Citi Boats or Citi Kayaks on Hudson and East River...

mr_bill

Don't worry - there's already opposition to the station at 82nd and 2nd.

-mr. bill

vol

Those who complain probably also complain about many other things in life, too.