Citi bikes are called Indegos in Philadelphia by the way. Not sure if they are the same company. Citi bikes are pretty darn heavy and hard to ride uphill. I’m pretty new to biking and only have riding experience on my specialized expedition and citibike, but about a year ago I did attempt to take a citibike up the Wissahickon trail and I almost cried With that being said, Citibikes got me to work and school safely on countless occasions.
When Citibikes were fairly new, I would always find a free dock when I needed it and the bikes were in decent shape with little issues. As more people became aware of and using the Citibikes, they starting going downhill in quality.. many times I spotted bikes with flat tires on the docks, broken seats, problems with the screens at the stations, etc.. also, I started to have problems finding an available dock when I was finished with my ride. If I was super tired that day, that’s a bit of a problem. Mind you, when this would happen it was usually around 11pm when most docks are full.
Dont get me wrong I am a full advocate for the program. It got me to love riding, lose my first 15 pounds without even trying, and whatever gets people to bike and bring attention to better bike lanes I am ALL for. And the Indego people are great. I see the company vans around my neighborhood all the time and they have put in a ton more docks. I’ve also had to call customer service a few times and they were awesome. I guess the challenge for them is keeping up with the demand and the repairs that are needed.