Originally Posted by
The Golden Boy
It's going to be an interesting thing if items like this get to be collectible... Even if they don't, just knowing someone appreciates them can help get some respect for them.
I doubt if they'll ever be collectible (and I certainly hope not, because people will start stealing them if so), but I do think it's worthwhile for history's sake to preserve an example of each.
And yes, it's another way to change perceptions and build better appreciation for what bike share can do, even if it's less about the service and more about the bikes.
Originally Posted by
ryansu
I am of two minds on this Lime type bike share, on one hand I am all for using bikes for short trips/commuting on the other hand for a while the streets of Seattle were littered with these bikes and not all the users were particular aware of where they got left when they were done or how leaving a bike in the middle of a sidewalk might impact other members of society. Now that I think about it, seems like Lime has dialed back their presence a bit but they are still all over and now we have the Uber Jump bikes which I have heard are a bit nicer than the Limes, I did ride a Lime E bike just for kicks but found the electric assist a bit vague for my tastes and while I expected the bike to be heavy it was a tank of the bloated King Tiger variety.
The early implementation of some dockless services could have been better, yes - and I've seen ofo's Seattle implementation in particular. Yech.
Surprisingly enough, Lime, more than any other company, did an excellent rollout along Miller Dr./57th Ave here in Miami. They would put about five conventional Limes and one Lime-E per bus stop on the only route in Miami that has anything resembling a protected bike lane (half of the sidewalk just got striped in green and the intersections were left dangerous as ever - a
zero effort attempt), and there was more than enough space for them. Unfortunately, this also got the axe thanks to the County.
I've ridden the Jump, and it's
moped levels of heavy, but the assist feels perfect. I've ridden a Cannondale Contro-E Speed, and it wasn't even a contest - the Jump felt better, if a bit more industrial.
Lime had some E's down here before they backed out. They're all now in Orlando. Gotta bug them to bring one out for a review, seeing as I'm a bike share journalist now
-Kurt