Originally Posted by prathmann

A heavy ill-fitting bike located just down the block is a better option than some superior bike locked up securely miles away at your home. I am one of very few people in our bike club who regularly uses a bike for regular transportation functions. Most of their bikes 'with top-rated components' stay securely at home except when used for a recreational ride where the bike is never out of sight.

The feasibility and utility of docked bike systems seems pretty well established, at least for dense urban areas like New York City. An advantage of these systems is that the renter has some responsibility for keeping the bike safe and undamaged while it is away from a docking station and the docking stations can be designed to minimize the chance of theft and/or vandalism while bikes are stored there. Dockless systems strike me as inherently far more problematic for both the city/public with bikes potentially left in hazardous or inappropriate locations and for the system operator due to problems with theft, vandalism, and increased maintenance issues.