Using Citycycle ( a regelar cyclists review )
Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:22 am
OK here comes the story
On wednesday I took the day off work because I had a half day community/government meeting in the afternoon. Because of that I wanted to attend it in business attire (eg looking respectable) okay a bus trip not to keen on that $6 down the drain. I could of ridden my bike (yes,no shirt) and changed but a not the best look (yes i know I do it for work but I have a place to sit and dry first ther) and both my bikes were out of action (one exploded and one flat tire )
I chose to give citycycle a go as since the prices have come down dramaticly since last month. A day casual membership is $2. As I am increadably tight with money $6 compared with $2, citycycle was a go. In the morning I did the signup and pay bit, really quite easy, at the end they give you a personal number and you select your pin. Me being impatient went straight outside to the local station (100m away) to see if it worked. It worked out came a bike for me ( after i noticed I had to press the release button on the rack ). Alot of bikes now come helmets. I gave the bike a short ride up and down the path near it to see how it handled. Compared with my bikes that have turning circles of a small elephant the steering was very touchy. I also noticed the gearing was incredably low, top gear being far lower then what climb most hill and start off from lights in.
Time came for the meeting (after shower and shave) I dumped my sash bag (the least gay I could get, no it's not leather) in the front basket with the council helmet (i had my own on) and I took off. The first mistake I had forgotten to raise my seat after a few hundred metres I had to pull up and fix it. As i gradually climbed up to the storey bridge out of New Farm I realised how very important it is to have low gearing on a true city bike. Second Mistake I should of unbuttoned some of my shirt I started to heat up as I had to spin instead of my normal out of the saddle and slog. Travelling under the story bridge I found the bell a little short on volume compared with the bell on bike and the hub brakes do not grab quite like V bracks that said I was able to still decend the steep Ivory Lane safely if not quite slowly. From there on it was a slow potter along to the meeting at Albert St. Reraking seams to be the hardest bit trying to get it lined up. Ouch 20mins still within the first 30min free bit (per ride) but still twice as long as when with my own bikes. A little sweaty but not to bad. The ride home was fairly similar but I had to get off and push it up Ivory Lane a bit more respectable 15mins on the ride home.
All in all it worked quite well.
Useabilty - The log on system is quite easy and staight forward
- The station Towers are fairly simple just remember to read the screen
- The racks are simple just remember to press the release button before pulling out a bike and line it up when returning and wait for the green light.
Bikes - The gearing is very low but for people without regular cycling legs (etc strength) it would be quite good. The internal gear hub was essential as I was unsure what gear to be in (even though they were all very low)
- the steering took a bit for me to get used to but worked quite well the only thing wrong with it i found was that you could not pedel as you made a sharp turn as your foot would hit the front wheel.
- The ride was a bit on the bouncy side but this could of easily be fixed of the handle bar grips were changed to something a bit bigger.
- Speed while the bikes were vastly slower then mine the times were still faster then using the bus and walking to the meetings building, and were still faster then using my own bikes and having to pull my locks out and lock them up myself.
All in all it was easy and quick. While there were the down sides I will still being using this next time I have a Meeting in the City.
For more info see www.citycycle.com.au
Oh no i am not employed by citycycle ( work as a drafty )
Donald
On wednesday I took the day off work because I had a half day community/government meeting in the afternoon. Because of that I wanted to attend it in business attire (eg looking respectable) okay a bus trip not to keen on that $6 down the drain. I could of ridden my bike (yes,no shirt) and changed but a not the best look (yes i know I do it for work but I have a place to sit and dry first ther) and both my bikes were out of action (one exploded and one flat tire )
I chose to give citycycle a go as since the prices have come down dramaticly since last month. A day casual membership is $2. As I am increadably tight with money $6 compared with $2, citycycle was a go. In the morning I did the signup and pay bit, really quite easy, at the end they give you a personal number and you select your pin. Me being impatient went straight outside to the local station (100m away) to see if it worked. It worked out came a bike for me ( after i noticed I had to press the release button on the rack ). Alot of bikes now come helmets. I gave the bike a short ride up and down the path near it to see how it handled. Compared with my bikes that have turning circles of a small elephant the steering was very touchy. I also noticed the gearing was incredably low, top gear being far lower then what climb most hill and start off from lights in.
Time came for the meeting (after shower and shave) I dumped my sash bag (the least gay I could get, no it's not leather) in the front basket with the council helmet (i had my own on) and I took off. The first mistake I had forgotten to raise my seat after a few hundred metres I had to pull up and fix it. As i gradually climbed up to the storey bridge out of New Farm I realised how very important it is to have low gearing on a true city bike. Second Mistake I should of unbuttoned some of my shirt I started to heat up as I had to spin instead of my normal out of the saddle and slog. Travelling under the story bridge I found the bell a little short on volume compared with the bell on bike and the hub brakes do not grab quite like V bracks that said I was able to still decend the steep Ivory Lane safely if not quite slowly. From there on it was a slow potter along to the meeting at Albert St. Reraking seams to be the hardest bit trying to get it lined up. Ouch 20mins still within the first 30min free bit (per ride) but still twice as long as when with my own bikes. A little sweaty but not to bad. The ride home was fairly similar but I had to get off and push it up Ivory Lane a bit more respectable 15mins on the ride home.
All in all it worked quite well.
Useabilty - The log on system is quite easy and staight forward
- The station Towers are fairly simple just remember to read the screen
- The racks are simple just remember to press the release button before pulling out a bike and line it up when returning and wait for the green light.
Bikes - The gearing is very low but for people without regular cycling legs (etc strength) it would be quite good. The internal gear hub was essential as I was unsure what gear to be in (even though they were all very low)
- the steering took a bit for me to get used to but worked quite well the only thing wrong with it i found was that you could not pedel as you made a sharp turn as your foot would hit the front wheel.
- The ride was a bit on the bouncy side but this could of easily be fixed of the handle bar grips were changed to something a bit bigger.
- Speed while the bikes were vastly slower then mine the times were still faster then using the bus and walking to the meetings building, and were still faster then using my own bikes and having to pull my locks out and lock them up myself.
All in all it was easy and quick. While there were the down sides I will still being using this next time I have a Meeting in the City.
For more info see www.citycycle.com.au
Oh no i am not employed by citycycle ( work as a drafty )
Donald