London Cycle Hire

I've just registered. It is going to be quite expensive. £45 for a year and £3 for a key. First 30 minutes thereafter is free. Doesn't say if there is a limit on the number of 30 minutes in a day. The registration asks what you are likely to be using the bikes for - commuting, leisure etc. I ticked the "other" box and then entered "racing".

The stands at Southwark Street are basically in the road, doesn't seem very safe...

DublinBikes scheme is ten euro a year.

Wow. Would have to be my main daily form of transportation if i payed £45 a year for this.
Could buy a shit mountain bike for slightly more.

Each cyclist trying to get back to cycle hire stand in under 30 minutes to lock it up so they don't get charged, then unlocking it again. could add to the fun.

Surely they will have thought of the possibility that people will just switch bikes before the 30 minutes is up. Maybe a fixed time like an hour before you can get another free 30 mins.

There's nothing on the website that suggests you cannot switch bikes. Maybe the idea is that in peak times you won't find one and so you either pay or catch the bus but at other times a simple switch is ok. Certainly the longer hire rates are prohibitive.

Costs

To hire a bicycle you will need to pay:

[]An access fee (gives you the right to use the scheme)
[]And a usage charge (based on the duration of the journey)
The first 30 minutes of each journey are free.
Access fee

[]24-hour access - £1
[]Seven-day access - £5
[*]Annual access - £45 (members only)
Usage charges

Up to 30 minutesFree
Then
Up to 1 hour£1
Up to 1 hour and 30 minutes£4
Up to 2 hours£6
Up to 2 hours and 30 minutes£10
Up to 3 hours£15Up to 6 hours£35
Up to 24 hours (maximum usage fee)£50

Other charges
Late return charge£150
Damage chargeUp to £300
Non-return charge£300

If you'd like to cycle for longer than a couple of hours it might be cheaper for you to use a company that specialises in hiring bicycles.
.

Race checkpoints:

LMNH
The Oval
High Street Ken
The Zoo
LMNH

The idea is that you can return your bike to a hire station before the 30 minutes are up and then take it out again immediately for another 30 minutes. That was an important part of the success of the Paris scheme.

EDIT: Oops, missed laner's post.

I'm pretty sure they are these with a new paint job?

They are everywhere in Montreal, riding on pavements, wrong way on busy streets, craziness. Many normal bike racks are cleared for their installation (the stands are temporary here because they are removed for the snow clearing in the winter).

That said, they are the only bikes in town with actual lights, so at least you can see them at night. They have a small front rack which looks useless...the other day I say a guy carrying a whole mountain bike on his (riding the wrong way on a bike path, of course)!

The London bikes are much the same, with added panels to advertise Barclay's *ank. They have also moved the front light so it doesn't have to shine through the bag you put on the carrier.

The huge difference is that the Montreal bike stands are mounted on a steel plate that can be lifted every year for maintenance, and can be re-positioned to meet demand, the electronics are solar powered and wifi linked. The London installations are heavy engineering with underground cabling and power and are immovable. A stupid waste of money which could have been spent on giving us more bikes and stands.

There's nothing on the website that suggests you cannot switch bikes...

The idea is that you can return your bike to a hire station before the 30 minutes are up and then take it out again immediately for another 30 minutes. That was an important part of the success of the Paris scheme.

This surprises me. So the idea is that keep logging the bike in and out as you 'round town for hours and hours, free? I suppose the availability of bikes isn't the idea*, just that people don;t take them home overnight.

*but it should be.

...EDIT: Oops, missed laner's post.

I was using laners jokey comment about a swaintoux on hire bikes to make a more general point, which you and clive duly addressed. I wasn;t interested in the idea of climbing Swain's 24 times on one of these heaps. Or a nicer bike for that matter.

I remain to be convinced that the whole enterprise isn't a

....A stupid waste of money ....

^ That is quoting Charlie well out of context, Ben--you might want to make sure that it becomes clear he doesn't think the Cycle Hire scheme is a waste of money (which he doesn't). It's just this one aspect.

I feel that the hire bike scheme will help combat bike crime, the likeihood of the police focusing on stolen hire bike will be higher.

another thing I'm already convince by it, there are time that I want to have a brompton so I can cycle to a train station and then take it with me, but with the hire bike, I can simply grab the bike, cycle to the train station, park it and forget about it.

also, with more inexperience cyclists on the road, drivers will eventually be force to be more cautious when driving in London, think of it akin to having the railing around London removed, it force them to slow down due to the likeihood of a peds wandering around aimlessly.

I was using laners jokey comment about a swaintoux on hire bikes

I wasn't joking. I want people to do this.

While i watch and laugh at their pain.

london hire bikes are on the road now i just saw a rack with 3 of the bikes on it in holborn just off grays in road just past condor cycles they are ugly as hell hopefully the will make fixed gear hire bikes next with aerospoke wheels and no brakes soon i will rent one out an review it

Prepare for a merging.

i have a feeling the double spokked fixie skidders you are hoping for might just get nicked by Dean diamond and his chav mates

i suggest sticking to ugly monstrosities painted pink as good a theft deterrant as tynans special seat paste

merged

if you're interested in what these bikes look like up close, I've had a bike for a while and got some shots up on bicycle images, but they're embargoed for a week or so.

pics are up on the blog / site

^ That is quoting Charlie well out of context, Ben--you might want to make sure that it becomes clear he doesn't think the Cycle Hire scheme is a waste of money (which he doesn't). It's just this one aspect.

I was intentionally, and with some humour, taking charlie out of context, and wouldn't want him to think otherwise. Have deleted his association with that isolated comment.

Thanks, Ben. Edit appreciated!

We just got a row of these near where I work and I inadvertently took a really uninteresting photograph.

Who pumps up the tyres..?? hmmn....