Comment 95325

By Kevin Love (anonymous) | Posted November 29, 2013 at 20:35:28

Very interesting. I have never been on one of these bicycles and am looking forward to giving them a try.

A few comments, which I'll split up into two posts. First about the bike itself, and then the Social Bike system.

The bike:

The bike has several good elements of Dutch bicycle design.

THE GOOD THINGS:

1. Correct positioning. The bicycle appears to have correct seat and handlebar positioning to ensure an ergonomically correct upright posture. This provides a comfortable ride and positions the rider to be able to properly look around to ensure road safety.

2. Internal hub gears and brakes. Low maintenance and reliable. I see that it comes in both a three-speed and eight-speed variant. I hope we get the eight-speed variant because Hamilton has hills.

3. Fenders and chainguard (shaftguard?). Good to keep our clothes clean on wet roads.

4. Dynamo generator. Hopefully the lighting system will be better than on the BIXI bike.


There are also several not-so-good bicycle design features that will seriously limit its usefulness.

THE BAD THINGS

1. Limited cargo capacity. The front basket is tiny and the rear security system appears to fail to provide a proper rear rack.

2. Shaft drive. Unproven technology. A big question mark here.

3. No coatguard/skirtguard. There is nothing to keep the rider's clothing out of the spokes. This is very dangerous.

4. No kickstand. Since this is a "lock up anywhere" bike, this may be a serious problem.

That's the good and bad of the bike itself. I also have some comments about the Social Bike system, which I'll put into a second post.

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