Yellow hire bikes in Bristol

I signed up for one (of the three) schemes in Singapore. Signup verifies by an SMS to your mobile phone number, email address is optional.

It's tough to overstate how ubiquitous these bikes are now, they are pretty much everywhere. There are 10 within 200 metres of my apartment and looks to be ~50 within 500 metres. On my ride around the island this morning, I saw them parked all over the place, mostly in reasonable places.

So far, they seem to keep offering free hire on public holidays and weekends

When you sign up, you're credited with 100 points, at this "rating" the bikes are 50c (about 30p for 15 mins). If you report bad parking, you are credited 3 points. If someone reports the bike you last used as inconsiderately parked, you are docked 20 points.

As your points drop, so the cost per 15 min hire goes up dramatically. Between 60 and 79 points, it's $5 per 15 mins, if you drop below 60 points, the cost is supposedly S$50 per 15 minutes! 

Right now if you move an inconsiderately parked bike to a more suitable location, the company credits you with $credit, not just points. Not sure how they validate you did what you said...

The company has reported a "bad parking rate" of between 1-2% of total rides. But then Singaporeans are a pretty law abiding bunch.

Do they have a points based shame system to incentivise rider behaviour? Some of the Chinese companies do that now to try and stop people dumping them. 

I love this idea but they really need to be linked to real profiles and user reviews.

Download the app and they'll give you your first ride free, £1 credit on your account. Took one out tonight and had to walk all of 30 seconds to find one, had a pootle around central Brizzle on it for 40 minutes for a laught. When riding I found I was sitting up and back but a little too close to the bars and the 3 gears were too wide apart. Brakes worked but they are new so everything should be OK on the bikes.

Basic spec:

3 speed Shimano Nexus,

Calliper brake front and Nexus roller brake rear.

To unlock the bike you need a data/wifi connection on your mobile and bluetooth turned on too and simply scan the QR code where the rear brake is normally on a bike which then unlocks the bike. Off you ride for upto an hour if on your first ride but don't expect any KOMs on Strava with them. Whjen finished simply park the bike up and physically lock it and also end the ride on your phone so you're not charged for excess use or somebody elses ride. I was home before I remembered to end the ride I had just done but as I left the bike close to home where I found it it wasn't a major issue plus the bike was still where I left it.

"Regular cyclists can opt to buy an annual commuter pass for just £39, which entitles them to two, one-hour long rides per day."

Wow that is cheap. Think that has to be about on par the absolute minimum you can spend on annual maintenance of your own bike, probably cheaper. Which, although I guess annual passes will be the least part of the journeys used, makes me think the business model can't possibly be sustainable. Might have to get a pass and park one legally in my back garden!

However, as long as the GPS transponder is waterproof I suspect the location of most of these bikes is going to be in the harbour or the new cut by the end of the month.

These?

https://bristolcycling.org.uk/bike-sharing-scheme-yobike-launching-in-br...

Will be interesting to see how it works out.

Edit: found the website finally: https://yobike.co.uk/