It has been an eventful first week for the Cycle Hire Scheme. First we were told a few days before the launch that you had to pre-register. Then lots of people had problems registering and their cards being accepted. Upon launch a number of people reported bikes whose brakes were overzealous. Other people reported cycle hire docking stations not working. Lot’s of people forgot to register their cards and a few even got hit by big charges as they didn’t dock the bike correctly.
At the same time most people reported a completely smooth experience.
When I asked the question “Will you be registering for the cycle hire scheme?” the article received a huge number of responses and became the 2nd most commented on all the blog. It was fascinating to read through different people’s experiences and I was very glad to see TfL refunding those people who were hit with over charges. In this weeks Comment Friday I want to follow up and hear about people’s experiences with the scheme now that it has been going for 1 week.
Did you try it? Are you finding the bikes are available? Have you heard about the spinning the wheels trick? Have you still not received your key card? Did you enjoy being a “pioneer” of the scheme with fellow cyclists? Will you be using it for your daily commute or for short hops? Did you manage to stay in your first 30 minutes? What do you think of the bike? Any tips for fellow cycle hire users?
Leave your answers in the comments..
See also:
- 3 great routes to try using the cycle hire bikes
- Will you be registering for the cycle hire scheme?
- How to use the cycle hire docking stations
- B&M Ixon IQ light review
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As seen on The Guardian, BBC and The Independent.
GEARING on the bikes themselves: Has no-one else noticed how absurdly low the gearing is? or is it just me?
the 1st gear is so totally useless and should be up around 2nd. I’ve been riding around pretty much entirely in 3rd and still feel like i’m spinning loads at low speed.
Yeah – me too.
However, I can see they don’t want tourists doing high speeds around central London
The gearing is low, but it feels no different to a bike I recently rode around Amsterdam on. It wasn’t a ‘tourist’ bike either, just a standard Workcycles “City bike” model with the same Shimano Nexus hub gear set.
5-6mph is a good speed for pottering around central London’s back streets, really, and I think those of us who are more regular cyclists need to understand that the bike hire scheme isn’t really aimed at us – we’re expected to be cycling into town and using our own bikes most of the time. I think you’ll find that less strong cyclists actually prefer the combination of 1st and 2nd, with the speed that gives them, to the 2nd/3rd or just 3rd that we may find ourselves using. (When I’ve borrowed hub-geared Bromptons in the past, I always found them too low for my liking, but my usual ride is a substantially higher geared tourer.)
I also think that the same goes for commuters – those who are complaining already that there aren’t enough bikes around the morning and evening peak rush need to realise that there’s no way there ever could be sufficient hire bikes, it just wouldn’t be economical to have them sat around idle for so much of the day and all for just £45/year. We need more in-town cycle parking everywhere as well as the cycle hire stands.
Diary of a Boris Biker
11/8/10 (am) arrived at Belgrove St to find one of Barclays trucks handing out bikes as people arrived I’m response to the demand for bikes in the Kingscross area. Picked up bike and rode to William IV St. With things running smoothly on the bike front I now have a bit more time explore my route in to work trying to find anyway that avoids traffic lights, buses and pot holes. Last night I read about someone who was getting print outs of their journeys at each do king station but I could figure out how to do it and the help line could help either.
11/8/10 (lunch time) with my new found confidence in Boris’ bike have decided to see where I can go for lunch rather than trog down to Pret. End up on Embankment in a little park very nice.
11/8/10 (pm) – Although It appears dome thought has been given to the availability of bikes in the morning we still have a problem with congestion at docks in the evening again I get the last space at the Pancras Rd dock. I realy should figure out how to extend the free hire period as I’m sure I’ll get court out sooner or later.
12/8/10 – Everything running fine until tonight. Managed to get a space on Belgrove St (probably because not many people using bikes due to rain) anyway I didn’t see the green light come on when I docked so I called the help line to make sure they knew the situation. Unfortunately they are experiencing high call volumes, as usual. Anyway eventually got through to message monkey who takes my details including bike number and location promising that someone will call me back!!? There goes another £150!
Jim.
To get a print out of your journey, press the screen on the “tower” (what do they call that stand?) and it gives you the option of Print Your Journey. You put your key in the slot – Barclays face up – and print the journey you want. It shows about 8 of your most recent journeys on the screen. I’ve been caught a couple of times when it’s run out of paper but otherwise, it’s a good record.
Diary of a Boris Biker – The Honeymoon is over… such that it was
13/8/10 (am) – Finally worked up the energy to reset my Barclays Cycle Hire account password for the, erm forgotten how many times now, anyway did it. Only to see that despite numerous phone calls, promises of refund forms being raised and commitments to call me back on the matter £150 HAS been taken from my account. So called the help line and spoke to “Carl” who was very appologetic, confiremed they had a full history of my numerous calls etc. things were going well, if you can say that, until he then suggested he would take my details and get someone to call me back… I’ve been here before I think. So given TfL’s / Barclays performance to date in the we’ll call you back stakes I feel I have no choice I think we are going to court. I’ve never been to court but I’m thinking its a small claims court issue does anyone have any advice?
Diary of a Boris Biker – The £150
I should add that the £150 is the original £150 from two weeks ago and nothing to do with last nights docking problem which I believe is resolved, the bike did dock ok.
Money, money, money! TFL have CREDITED my cc account with the duplicate annual membership fee they took in error. They also phoned me on Wednesday to say it would be happening.
I suggest you all check your accounts again this morning as they must be starting all the repayments this week.
Having only had success in getting a BB on Monday morning from Waterloo this week, I brought my own bike this morning. I have to say riding over the cobbly bits of the roads was a lot more comfortable!
Diary of a Boris Biker – Gob Smacked
I’ve waited, its seems longer, 1-week 4 days and a number of hours but today I actually got a call back from who ever it is running the hire scheme. Not only that but “Olivia”, sounded very sweet, told me my £150 would be refunded, yipee I believe in Boris again!….
I walk between London Bridge and Liverpool street and would definitely use this scheme every day if they had a docking station in London Bridge, I have no idea why they don’t.
They have one in Southwark bridge road, but seems a bit out of the way to make me want to rush and sign up.
Anyone got any idea if they are planning more docking stations ?
Matt.
Matt – whilst there is a need at London Bridge for a massive docking station, say 100 + bikes and the same for Kings Cross and Waterloo, the problem is that we need more docking stations all over town. Getting hold of a bike in the morning might be one challenge but finding a convenient place to dock in the City at the moment is becoming a real issue. Around St Paul’s and Cheapside for example there are 5 DS which are constantly full during the day. I have also given up riding home to Kings Cross on the basis that I cant dock the bike when I get there.
Could I just make a point in favour of the bikes and Waterloo Station?
I’ve used the bikes every day this week apart from today when I brought my own. The tfl workers have about 150 bikes under careful watch besides the stands and as soon as a bike is hired, they replace it with another. At the end of the day, the opposite happens. As soon as a bike is safely docked, the tfl workers remove it freeing up docking stations for the next bikes.
I dont know how long the tfl workers are there, but they are doing a great job at Waterloo. Maybe this is one of the things Boris is evaluating to use similar systems at other mainline stations before the scheme is open to the general public?
Docking stations within the Square Mile is obviously another problem that needs addressing.
Well l am not impressed at all. Two keys and they both not working, wait for 15 min on the phone and all the they do is taking details and someone will call back, 2nd week and not a single call. I missed an important meeting and 4 times late for work and I am on the last worning . I give London cycle hire and TFL 0/10 .
I’ve been trying to sign up online for the past two weeks and the website never works for me. i’ve tried on a variety of computers, via different browsers. anyone have any tips for getting signed up?
Call them!
That’s what I had to do, and when I did they told me I should have called when I first had problems. If e.g. someone else has already registered in your house you will not be able to register at all! That was my problem
GL!
I’m enjoying it!
thanks so much! i’ll give it a go. now to find the pesky phone number….
I had a bit of a shocker. Took a bike from Soho to a client meeting in Holborn. All stations were full at not less than 6 locations. Ended up having to dock in Farringdon and get a cab back to Holborn – late for the meeting and ended up costing me more money! Great scheme but needs more docking stations in central London. 4 other people were having the same problem at the same time!
First experience today.
But the logistics simply don’t work – or at least weren’t today. For me, a ten-minute bike ride from Waterloo to Lincoln’s Inn ended in a twenty-minute route schlepp around six docking stations in the Holborn/Covent Garden vicinity trying to find a vacant slot! And panicking because I was running late for a meeting.
Also the gearing is pathetically low. How about five gears?
Overall it should be a great scheme though. Hopefully these things will be sorted
I don’t understand how anyone tolerates this scheme. There are very few bike stands compounded by the problem that they are either full or empty. Any stand in that condition (and that’s most) is worthless. I paid 45 quid for this rubbish too. Why not follow Paris which boasts 3 times as many stands? Good ol’ British cheep skatery, I suspect.
Mift, moi? not half!
I’ve had no problems so far except the green light not going on when I docked it. I rang the number on the info board (the 0208 one, which is in smaller letters and below and thus far less expensive) and they were quick and helpful. I’ve written a blog about the illicit thrill of cheating on my real bike:
http://thetrustysteed.blogspot.com/2010/09/committing-adultery-with-boris.html
Diary of a Boris Biker – Where did all the bikes go?
It’s been smooth sailing for the past couple of months obtaining and returning bikes has been almost effortless in fact as I leave the bike safely docked at the end of each journey I can’t help feeling uneasy as surely nothing can be this simple.
However, just recently I’ve had some trouble getting a bike in the mornings from Kingscross. Whereas there would normally be a store of bikes leaning on the wall by the Belgrove St. Dock waiting to top up the dock as the steady flow of bikers arrived in the morning there have been no bikes scalable recently. At first I wondered if major road works elsewhere ha prevented the trailers getting to Kimgscross a regularly as required but it’s two weeks now and every morning anytime between 7 and 8:30 there are no bikes… Where have all the bikes gone?
Hello, just doing some browsing for my Lancaster 4g website. Amazing the amount of information on the web. Not what I was looking for, but nice site. Have a great day.
Hi there,
I’ve been wanting for a while to find a way to give feedback about the scheme: this came up when I googled — doesn’t look active (last post back in January) but I live in hope that if someone at LCC will know how to pass my comments on to the cycle hire scheme so that they are taken seriously?
I love the scheme and think it is great. But there are some issues that are problematic:
1. The bells are really useless. You have to sort of swipe sideways at the edge really vigorously to get any noise out of them, trying a few times to get the knack. When it’s an emergency & you need to warn someone, it’s too late. This is dangerous in my view.
2. I have a fob: I can’t tell you how many times it is unreliable. Try bike after bike and they all go red, wasting several minutes each time before giving up and going on public transport. Not good enough. I was told last time this happened by the call centre that at rush hour the system “gets clogged up”. Needs sorting!
3. The online statements explaining your charges are badly presented: too complicated, hard to read, I am never really sure whether I have been charged correctly or not, because it’s really hard to reconcile the charges that hit my credit card with what shows on the screen.
4. They should publish the normal number along with the 0845 number on all signage / website / leaflets. The vast majority of callers will be using mobiles, on which 0845 numbers cost a fortune.
5. The maps showing where the nearest bikes are are very useful — but if you are at a station on the fringes or where there aren’t very many nearby bikes, they don’t show the nearest ones — can the larger area maps show where the further ones are, as well?
6. Can tube station maps and bus stop maps show the bike locations as well?
7. I would like to have more than one fob, but NOT connected to each other (see point 8): one for me, one for my teenaged daughter, one to have for guests/visitors. This is not possible without having three separate credit cards and email addresses, which seems ridiculous: I’m happy to be responsible for the costs of all 3 fobs, why can’t I have one account with three different fobs?
8. I do realise that I can have up to four fobs on one account, but that they would all be charged as soon as one is activated, which seems most odd: who one earth always cycles in unison with several other people? I can’t believe this odd arrangement suits many users.
I would greatly appreciate these points being passed on to the people responsible for managing the relevant aspect of the scheme.
Regards,
Helen Lianos
Helen,
My wife and I have two fobs on one account. I have been scanning forums for an hour or so and I keep on seeing people mentioning the same thing you did in point 8. I don’t get it. We use the bikes together sometimes and separately sometimes. I am looking at our “Activity Log” and I don’t see any times when we were charged double for anything. If we use for over 1 hour we’re charged 4 GBP and if we use for between 30 min and 1 hr its 1 GBP. Same happens if we ride together or if only one of us is using a cycle. So, where’s the double charge?
My question is how on the website do I request the other fobs for additional users. We have some friends coming to town and wanted to cycle together, and didn’t want the hassle of paying with a card. Do I actually have to call?! I Hate the call center. Ugh what a hassle? Please assist. Anybody?
- Sam
- sam
Sam – it was the ‘membership’ fee. If you opt for the daily fee (pay on the days when you use it) then the system would charge the fee for both fobs, even if only one hired a bike and returned it within half an hour.
(For the first year I had two fobs, both paying the yearly fee. But we didn’t actually use them enough to justify paying that, and the double-charging fiasco has meant we’ve never used them since.)
I’ve been waiting two weeks for my key to arrive. Called the help line a few days ago and it’s seems to have gone ‘missing’. They’ve reissued a second key and I’m still waiting!! Didn’t hesitate to debt my bank account straight away. Typical!
A copy of my e-mail to Barclays cycle hire.
The flakiness of the system (from bike to web site)
is driving me up the wall.
—————-
Dear Madam, Sir,
I’m sending this as an e-mail, since your web “contact us” form
does not work (no matter what I try, it always returns the same
page with the word “Invalid” in red letters under my message):
I’m a professional software developer, and am amazed at the poor
functioning of this part of your web site.
A complaint, March 14, 2012:
————————————
Dear Madam, Sir,
Just now I tried to take out a bike at Notting Hill Gate.
After a few tries (!) I found a bike that gave me a green light.
As I tried to pull it out, the light immediately turned yellow, then red.
Other bikes there gave me an immediate red light.
I walked to the next station (Palace Gardens Terrace), where I could not
take out a bike. I called, spent 10 minutes on the phone with one of your
people, who couldn’t fix the problem.
Because of this I wasted a lot of time, money, and I missed an appointment.
I’m not happy that frequenty I have to try multiple times before
I get the green light.
I would appreciate it if you would let me know what went wrong.
In addition: I sent an enquiry about a week ago, and have not yet received a reply.
best regards,
Patrick
incident date: 14/3/2012
time: 17.48
station: Notting Hill Gate
————————————————————–
A second enquiry, sent March 2, with no response from you:
Hello,
Yesterday morning I biked from Notting Hill Gate to Cardinal Place Victoria
(arrival approximately 10.45, March 2). If I remember correctly, my bike number
was 14784. When putting it back in the slot, the light came up red.
I also can’t find this trip in my recent activity list.
I tried taking the bike out again, and putting it back in, but the light
again came up red.
What exactly happened here?
thanks,
Patrick
——————————————————–
Patrick, I’ve had the same problem trying to send a feedback message to Barclays Cycle Hire.
When I tried to send it as an attached txt file I received a file format error “application/octet-stream” MIME attachment.
When I tried to send it as an attached pdf file it returned “Required” under the empty message box.
So I tried with a short (2-line) message which again returned “Invalid”.
What was successfully submitted? a message consisting of a space character (‘ ‘) and an attached pdf containing the actual message! Riddle solved :p
Nikos