Do bikeshare bicycles have to be so heavy?
 

Eugene should be getting our new Bikeshare bicycles the end of this week. :)

I was at a presentation about bikepacking, and the presenter was discussing the weight of his rig. Bicycle, camping gear, rescue gear, food, and it came out to about 60 pounds.

Then it was mentioned that our new bikeshare bikes will also be about 60 pounds... EMPTY.

That means that these new bikes will be about the weight of a typical road bike plus 40 pounds.

I carry enough cargo, that it is pretty easy to hit 40 lbs of cargo, but one certainly starts noticing it, especially when one hits the hills (they seem to have cut most of the hills out of the rental zone).

I assume part of the idea is to make the bikes bombproof. But, I wonder if they've gone overboard.

I.E. Could one achieve similar robustness with a bike that was say 30 pounds? Does it really matter if a wheel can be thrown out of true in a wreck?

Maybe they dont want people using the bikes in races.. :thumb:

If you look at the bikes typically used for bike sharing systems, you'll see that these things resemble the kinds of bikes you and I would consider viable bikes only superficially. These are purpose-made to a very different set of criteria and usually include things like built-in locks, radio tracking device and associated battery/charger, a dropped down-tube (i.e. a girly-style) frame, wide sprung seat, and large flat-proof tires. They often also have racks and all sorts of reflectors. Remember that they market these things at city planners not individual bike buyers. Planners are looking for longevity, low-upkeep, long-term reliability, etc. I think they also seem to prefer bizarre looking design vs. traditional bike styles.

Well, here's an attempt at rationalizing it.

Just a SWAG...bike share bikes due to their readily identifiable utilitarian and heavy design are likely less of a target for thieves due in part to zero resale value.

If you think about it, who is going to take a chance at fencing a heavy worthless bike share bike? The flip side, I am sure some idiot has tried.

FWIW...

See plenty of people zipping around Philly on our heavy shared bikes. Even slight people.

Citibike in NYC has a limit of 30-45 minutes, depending on if you have an annual pass or not. Either way most rides I've taken are less than that. So they aren't designed for you to ride them all day, every day. They are designed to be 'sturdy' to withstand the rigors of city streets, sitting out side 24/7/365, and just not being shown the love you would show your bike. Despite the heavy, clunky bike, it's the best way to get around the city.

We were in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago & used the bike share bikes to go from the Pearl area to ride the Mission Trail, 32 miles round trip. They are heavy beast. Worst part was when we ended up on the River Walk downtown during busy time & had to carry them up the stairs to get off the River Walk & on the street where there was room to ride.
I wouldn’t want to ride them every day, but they worked well for what we did and only $12 each for the day.

nobody cares about rentals, without a big deposit as hostage.. billing your credit card for damage , changes motivations..



Maybe set up an identical bike hill climb race up Skinner's Butte, In Eugene, C.K. everyone will be equally handicapped..






..

They are what they are, they work well for their intended purpose. An entire population in the Netherlands use similar bikes, and they OWN them. City share bikes are not meant for long duration commuting or racing, they are meant to get people around a city while doing things like shopping or bar hopping. They are used and abused, and a 20# bike would likely do none of that well.

60 lbs seems excessive. That goes beyond them just making a robust cheap bike. Excessively heavy may cut down on possible tomfoolery with parked bikes?

If you are designing a bike for everyone, you need to design it for the heaviest person you think will ride it. Then add on a safety factor.


I'm 6'-3" and 240 lbs now that I've been lifting weights over the winter every other day to break up the boredom of riding a bike on the hamster wheel. Given this is America, I look thin compared to most people.


I'm going to go out on a limb and say they used at least 350 lbs as a design criteria. Maybe 400. Heavier frame, heavier tires, more spokes.

They're so heavy because they have to be lawyer-proof.

Yeah, I've often wondered the same thing.

The two times I've used bikeshare bikes - in Seattle (now defunct) and London - I felt like the design of the bike made me more of a hazard than anything. I mean, seriously, these things weigh nearly half what I do, and are terrible at normal urban bike tasks like navigating traffic and sharing paths.

I understand the need for certain features - IGH, bombproof wheels, step-through frame, and some kind of basket. Plenty of crappy older MTBs have survived years of abuse; why not use that design as a starting point, build it with internal gearing, toss on some accessories, and get a good machine in the 30-40# range?

Why are they so heavy? To make them harder to throw in a canal when you're done with it.

And the new ones look lighter than what they used to have.

Bike share programs like San Antonio's aren't meant for long rides, thus the requirement to dock them every 30 minutes (maybe 1 hour now?).

But you have my admiration. I do that ride at least once a month and have no desire to try it on a bike that heavy.

Just 60 lbs?? LOL ... I do centuries on that.
My Rohloff was pushing 120+ lbs up mountains in China.

Bombproof and inexpensive. And I imagine they have lots of gimmicks to make them difficult to cannibalize.

I'm not sure "inexpensive" is part of it.

I'm seeing estimates of $1000 to $5000 per bicycle. Plus, a bunch for every bicycle rack spot.

Part of it will be to minimize continuing maintenance, but as the Chinese notes indicate, they won't be entirely maintenance free.

Interesting analysis.

I think this may be the referenced report.
http://transweb.sjsu.edu/sites/defau...cle-safety.pdf

Then following the links, they're getting their control cycling data from the National Household Travel Survey. I'm downloading the raw data now, and then will have to figure out how to analyze it.

What I can say is that my cycling trips are very different than the typical bike share trips that are reported. But, my trips may not be average either.

What the report seems to also indicate is an amount of selection of the users. So, perhaps fewer "salmon" riders, and riders with risky behavior.

And, of course, also more restricted zones for bike travel. Even if I travel into a bike share zone (previously in Portland, but coming shortly in Eugene), I'll be spending significantly more time traveling from outside the zone into the zone than I actually spend in the zone.

They are around 40 to 45 pounds. That's still startling the first time you pick one up to turn it around...
The local ones have 3 speeds, and could use an even lower hill climbing gear.

It's quite funny to try to accelerate across an intersection. I get an instant burst of speed when I stand up on my road bike. But these bikes just kind of ooze off the standing start, it's completely different.

They are very stable at extremely low speeds, though.

~~~
I'll ride 20 to 50 miles on my road bike. Typical bike share rides are 3-10 miles, usually divided into multiple drop offs -- that's the main reason for these: to park them right where I'm going in the city, and not worry about them after that. I would never do that with my good bike.

You guys probably got the discount version. :foo:

You have a Rohloff?!?! Why havent you mentioned it before?**

Twice while traveling last year I used bike share program bikes. In Austin, TX, and in Venice Beach, CA. I didn't want to spend the nearly $1000 to rent a road bike, so I figured riding a heavy bike share bike for 20-25 miles is "pedaling" and good enough for a workout. But in each case I got interesting comments from pedestrians that I encountered. In Austin...several miles away from downtown...while waiting at a traffic light...someone said to me "Wow, I've never seen one of those bikes so far away from downtown." In California...I was riding along the Oceanfront path. A group of teenage girls waved me down and asked "Where did you rent that electric bike?"

Dan

Not many people want to steal a two wheeled brick.