News & Discussion: Cycling

[Llessur2002]

In addition to ofo it seems that obikes have also infiltrated Adelaide! Anne Moran will go nuts.

[Nathan]

Had to take a car in to CMI Toyota for it's airbag replacement this morning, so gave an OFO bike a shot to then get into work. I was quite impressed. The closest bike on the map wasn't there (it was showing in a lane off Wright St - I'm guessing someone has kept it inside their fence), so walked a little further along Wright St and there was a bunch just before Whitmore Sq. Scanned the QR code, bike unlocked and away I went. Very much a mamachari style bike, so you're sitting very upright and going at a slow pace (3 gears, all quite low). Takes a bit of getting used to if all you know is road bikes, but I've ridden enough in Japan to be familiar with them. Took me about 15 minutes to get from Whitmore Sq to the East End via Wright St and Frome St, parking outside the former PJ O'Briens. To finish all I had to do is close the wheel lock (while putting it through the helmet straps).

[monotonehell]

Had to take a car in to CMI Toyota for it's airbag replacement this morning, so gave an OFO bike a shot to then get into work. I was quite impressed. The closest bike on the map wasn't there (it was showing in a lane off Wright St - I'm guessing someone has kept it inside their fence), so walked a little further along Wright St and there was a bunch just before Whitmore Sq. Scanned the QR code, bike unlocked and away I went. Very much a mamachari style bike, so you're sitting very upright and going at a slow pace (3 gears, all quite low). Takes a bit of getting used to if all you know is road bikes, but I've ridden enough in Japan to be familiar with them. Took me about 15 minutes to get from Whitmore Sq to the East End via Wright St and Frome St, parking outside the former PJ O'Briens. To finish all I had to do is close the wheel lock (while putting it through the helmet straps).

I have seen several people using them over the past week. Although the cynic in me wondered if they were employees tasked with displaying the bikes about town...

[Kasey771]

Had to take a car in to CMI Toyota for it's airbag replacement this morning, so gave an OFO bike a shot to then get into work. I was quite impressed. The closest bike on the map wasn't there (it was showing in a lane off Wright St - I'm guessing someone has kept it inside their fence), so walked a little further along Wright St and there was a bunch just before Whitmore Sq. Scanned the QR code, bike unlocked and away I went. Very much a mamachari style bike, so you're sitting very upright and going at a slow pace (3 gears, all quite low). Takes a bit of getting used to if all you know is road bikes, but I've ridden enough in Japan to be familiar with them. Took me about 15 minutes to get from Whitmore Sq to the East End via Wright St and Frome St, parking outside the former PJ O'Briens. To finish all I had to do is close the wheel lock (while putting it through the helmet straps).

I have seen several people using them over the past week. Although the cynic in me wondered if they were employees tasked with displaying the bikes about town...

What is the name of the app you need to download please?

[monotonehell]

What is the name of the app you need to download please?

There's meant to be both Ofo and oBike in Adelaide. Although I've only seen Ofo bikes so far.

[Nathan]

What is the name of the app you need to download please?

There's meant to be both Ofo and oBike in Adelaide. Although I've only seen Ofo bikes so far.

Going by the maps in each app, it seems like currently the oBikes are more clustered around the markets, Rundle Mall, and UniSA - whereas the the ofo bikes are more spread around.

[mshagg]

There are racks of obikes (5 or so in each) on either side of Grote St at the intersection of Morphett.

What is the name of the app you need to download please?

"ofo - Smart Bike Sharing" on Google Playstore.

[Nathan]

Because I'm sure you would all like a comparison, I took an oBike for my return trip at the end of the day. tldr; ofo is much better.

the oBike was much heavier, had only one gear (ofo is 3-speed), and the dymo had waaaay more resistance. It took considerably more effort to ride compared to the ofo bike. Also, the oBike required me to pay a $69 deposit (refundable I assume, but still), ofo didn't even require payment details for my first trip. It took me 16min to do 2.4km on the oBike, vs 15min for 2.8km on the ofo, despite getting a much better run of lights on the oBike (aside from entering Whitmore Sq from Sturt St, I had greens the entire route).

On a side note, seeing the bikes on the streets and people riding around, the all yellow ofo bikes (and matching helmets) are much more visible than the silver/yellow oBikes.

[ghs]

Bike sharing is a disgrace. I was in Melbourne a few weeks ago and people dump them everywhere :
https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/366869 ... -service/

[Nathan]

Bike sharing is a disgrace. I was in Melbourne a few weeks ago and people dump them everywhere :
https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/366869 ... -service/

You'll probably find it's not the people using the bike share system that are dumping them, but vandals taking advantage of them not being locked to a fixed object.

For users, whilst you can park them in any safe place, ofo does mark 'preferred parking areas' within the app. If you park there, you get additional credits.

[mshagg]

Bike sharing is a disgrace. I was in Melbourne a few weeks ago and people dump them everywhere :
https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/366869 ... -service/

And this has what to do with the Adelaide bike hire schemes?

I just popped out for some lunch and there's cars just dumped everywhere. Along every bloody street in the city - rows of abandoned cars taking up entire lanes, slowing down traffic flows and making it almost impossible for people to cross the street. What a disgrace.

[Llessur2002]

I just popped out for some lunch and there's cars just dumped everywhere. Along every bloody street in the city - rows of abandoned cars taking up entire lanes, slowing down traffic flows and making it almost impossible for people to cross the street. What a disgrace.

This mindless dumping isn't just confined to the streets. Take a look at this picture I snapped at lunchtime:



Disgusting.

[Llessur2002]

As it's ride to work day obike are having a 'sale'.

Firstly, free rides today only.

But, much better than that, is that only a $10 deposit is required to join instead of the usual $69. Again, today only.

Well worth registering today if you were thinking about doing it.

[Nathan]

Did ofo add more bikes over the weekend? They supposedly only launched with 50, but I saw considerably more on my way to work this morning than I have previously.

[monotonehell]

Did ofo add more bikes over the weekend? They supposedly only launched with 50, but I saw considerably more on my way to work this morning than I have previously.

Don't know if more or just more widely distributed, but I'm seeing both brands all over.