My Boris Bike experience
Discussion
Due to work, I quite often have to stop overnight in London (around once or twice a month). I'm usually stuck for something to do in the evenings other than sit in the pub, or sit and watch TV in a hotel room, so I thought I'd go for a ride on a Boris Bike.
I read up how it works etc before setting off to find a docking station, and had a little route planned out in my head where I could ride to a restuarant, dock the bike, eat, then go for a ride around and back to the hotel.
So I went to the nearest docking station, followed the on screen instructions and put in my card - "We are unable to process your transaction, please call xxxxx if you require assistance". Cockknobs. Tried another card - "We are unable....". Balls.
Looked on the (very good) map on the side to find the next nearest docking station (around 2-3 minutes walk at most), and tried my cards there too. "We are unable....". So I called the number, and after being on hold for around 15 years someone answered, asked me what the problem was, and said "thank you for reporting the faulty machines blah blah bye". Excellent, that has changed f
k all except I've paid a quid for a phone call. I walked to the next docking station as it was on the way to my restuarant. This one's card reader was out of service, and instructed me to use the terminal on the opposite side of the stand. I looked on the other side of the stand, there was just a map there. Excellent. So I went to my restuarant in a huff. After eating, I spotted yet another docking station, and tried my luck... SUCCESS!!
I chose a bike, checked the brakes and gears, adjusted the saddle, and off I went. Once I got over the initial fear of being flattened by buses and taxis (infact, it is gormless pedestrians who are far more of a problem) I really started enjoying the ride. Yes the bikes are heavy, but they feel very well built and sturdy (and are full of nice touches) and are absolutely no problem to build up a bit of speed on.
After about 20 minutes of pottering around, I docked the bike so that I could give myself enough time to get back to the hotel. While I was stood waiting for the 5 minute release limit, I watched another guy walk up and try to use the machine and recieve the same "We are unable..." message which I recieved earlier. He wandered off muttering about how ste the system was. Surprise surprise, when I tried to release a new bike, the same old error message. I yet again walked to the next nearest dock (fearing the worst), and managed to release a new bike to ride home with.
After yet another long rambling post, my conclusions are:
1) A 2 out of 7 success rate is piss poor for trying to release a bike.
2) Pedestrians are either gormless, or determined to be hit by a bike
3) The bikes are really well built, and good fun to ride around on
4) The help line is an excellent example of false advertising, no help whatsoever
5) The scheme is said to be aimed at casual users, rather than replacing other means of commuting - unless they sort out the reliability, it is not going to be very succesful in the long run
6) In my opinion the scheme is too cheap - £1 a day (provided you stick to the <30 minute rule) makes it very difficult to see how the scheme will ever turn a profit (or come close to breaking even)
Still, after all this, I will definitely give the bikes another go next time I'm in London.
I read up how it works etc before setting off to find a docking station, and had a little route planned out in my head where I could ride to a restuarant, dock the bike, eat, then go for a ride around and back to the hotel.
So I went to the nearest docking station, followed the on screen instructions and put in my card - "We are unable to process your transaction, please call xxxxx if you require assistance". Cockknobs. Tried another card - "We are unable....". Balls.
Looked on the (very good) map on the side to find the next nearest docking station (around 2-3 minutes walk at most), and tried my cards there too. "We are unable....". So I called the number, and after being on hold for around 15 years someone answered, asked me what the problem was, and said "thank you for reporting the faulty machines blah blah bye". Excellent, that has changed f
k all except I've paid a quid for a phone call. I walked to the next docking station as it was on the way to my restuarant. This one's card reader was out of service, and instructed me to use the terminal on the opposite side of the stand. I looked on the other side of the stand, there was just a map there. Excellent. So I went to my restuarant in a huff. After eating, I spotted yet another docking station, and tried my luck... SUCCESS!!I chose a bike, checked the brakes and gears, adjusted the saddle, and off I went. Once I got over the initial fear of being flattened by buses and taxis (infact, it is gormless pedestrians who are far more of a problem) I really started enjoying the ride. Yes the bikes are heavy, but they feel very well built and sturdy (and are full of nice touches) and are absolutely no problem to build up a bit of speed on.
After about 20 minutes of pottering around, I docked the bike so that I could give myself enough time to get back to the hotel. While I was stood waiting for the 5 minute release limit, I watched another guy walk up and try to use the machine and recieve the same "We are unable..." message which I recieved earlier. He wandered off muttering about how s
te the system was. Surprise surprise, when I tried to release a new bike, the same old error message. I yet again walked to the next nearest dock (fearing the worst), and managed to release a new bike to ride home with.After yet another long rambling post, my conclusions are:
1) A 2 out of 7 success rate is piss poor for trying to release a bike.
2) Pedestrians are either gormless, or determined to be hit by a bike
3) The bikes are really well built, and good fun to ride around on
4) The help line is an excellent example of false advertising, no help whatsoever
5) The scheme is said to be aimed at casual users, rather than replacing other means of commuting - unless they sort out the reliability, it is not going to be very succesful in the long run
6) In my opinion the scheme is too cheap - £1 a day (provided you stick to the <30 minute rule) makes it very difficult to see how the scheme will ever turn a profit (or come close to breaking even)
Still, after all this, I will definitely give the bikes another go next time I'm in London.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 28th June 23:30
I've used these a few times from the station to work and it's always been a hassle. You get the release code to only then find that the bikes in the rack are all faulty and can't be used so you have to wander off to the next nearest docking station only to find the same problem.
Eventually you get one and pedal off to your place of work only to then cycle around for ages trying to find a docking station with a spare dock.
You end up parking the bike a fair distance from where you want to be.
You then get p155ed after work and nearly cycle home with the thing when you remember that it has to be docked or you'll pay an enormous fine if you wake up and find it in your garden
Oh then the docks are all full up.
They work for a fun ride but not for a commute as you have to factor in time for all the mucking about.
Eventually you get one and pedal off to your place of work only to then cycle around for ages trying to find a docking station with a spare dock.
You end up parking the bike a fair distance from where you want to be.
You then get p155ed after work and nearly cycle home with the thing when you remember that it has to be docked or you'll pay an enormous fine if you wake up and find it in your garden
Oh then the docks are all full up.
They work for a fun ride but not for a commute as you have to factor in time for all the mucking about.
XitUp said:
What bikes do they use?
Are they made by Boris in his shed or does some bike manufacturer make them then he just sticks Barclays stickers and a computer on them?
They are made by a foreign manufacturer. The bike was the most (positively) surprising aspect of the whole adventure - as I said they appear very well made, and have some well thought out features.Are they made by Boris in his shed or does some bike manufacturer make them then he just sticks Barclays stickers and a computer on them?
The bikes themselves don't have a computer on them, just an RFID chip which interfaces with the docking station
croyde said:
I've used these a few times from the station to work and it's always been a hassle. You get the release code to only then find that the bikes in the rack are all faulty and can't be used so you have to wander off to the next nearest docking station only to find the same problem.
Eventually you get one and pedal off to your place of work only to then cycle around for ages trying to find a docking station with a spare dock.
You end up parking the bike a fair distance from where you want to be.
You then get p155ed after work and nearly cycle home with the thing when you remember that it has to be docked or you'll pay an enormous fine if you wake up and find it in your garden
Oh then the docks are all full up.
They work for a fun ride but not for a commute as you have to factor in time for all the mucking about.
This is my experience also. I think they made one bike for every dock. There needs to be more docks than bikes so there is space where ever you go. Eventually you get one and pedal off to your place of work only to then cycle around for ages trying to find a docking station with a spare dock.
You end up parking the bike a fair distance from where you want to be.
You then get p155ed after work and nearly cycle home with the thing when you remember that it has to be docked or you'll pay an enormous fine if you wake up and find it in your garden
Oh then the docks are all full up.
They work for a fun ride but not for a commute as you have to factor in time for all the mucking about.
pano amo said:
This is my experience also. I think they made one bike for every dock. There needs to be more docks than bikes so there is space where ever you go.
I don't think so, the problem is just that when you are trying to commute on them everyone is trying to go to the same places at the same time.Going against the flow, or using them out of peak hours I've never struggled to find either a bike or a dock.
Great fun to ride too, kind of bouncy and rock stable all at the same time.
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