I think it’s a great idea, and they just added a new YouBike station in my neighborhood with a whole row of brand new bikes neatly parked in it beckoning me. The trouble is I haven’t seen a single person using it. The directions seem convoluted. So I need both an Easycard and a “chip credit card” to first join and become a member before I can rent one? I’m sorry but I usually don’t put my credit card against some sensor at an unmanned kiosk with bad English instructions. If you’ve successfully rented and ridden one, please share.
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So you can just use your cellphone if you don’t trust credit cards 
Btw. I just signed up online. There is a bug, when you switch to English it won’t accept the captcha code, you have to switch back to Chinese, then it workds.
More proof that Taipei has way too much money on their hands. How about a tax break instead? Or at least spend the money making bike lanes for everyone rather than a rent-an-ugly bike scheme no one will use.
They just installed a few at (my local) Kunyang MRT Station. I thought no-one would use them there, but I’ve been very pleasantly surprised.
I’ve seen a lot of people riding them around the past two evenings. It looks like the bikes are way too small for me. It looks like some of the stations (Tech building, Da an) were out of commission for a few days for wiring problems.
It looks like a cool idea.
I watched the video; I want to ride where they’re riding—nary taxi nor blue truck to mow you down!
According to their website, the bikes are suitable for people between 140 and 190 cm. I wonder if you can adjust the height of the seat.
Let us know how it is when you do rent one.
That’s pretty standard back in the west now (well minus the bad - no, that’s there too). Most parking lots take credit cards, for example.
[quote=“Incubus”]According to their website, the bikes are suitable for people between 140 and 190 cm. I wonder if you can adjust the height of the seat.
Let us know how it is when you do rent one.[/quote]
I’m 184 cm, and the seat can be raised high enough to be comfortable - I’m sure experienced cyclists will complain, but for it’s good enough for a short ride. The comfy saddle and three gears help you along - the bikes are definitely designed for casual cyclists.
I tried it about ten days ago. Simple enough after registering my easy card on the website, though I don’t think you even have to do that. A simple swipe of the card and it releases the bike. A quick ride from Nangang Expo to Songshan, and I left the bike there. Zero NT with the registered card :discodance:
I walked back to Kunyang where I planned to grab a second bike, but all the (functional) bikes were gone 
If anything it seems to be suffering from over use. If the weather’s good my nearest stand (Nangang Expo) is full each morning as the commuters head east, then empty in the evening. We’ll see if it calms down a bit after the initial honeymoon period.
Now, if anyone can find a way to put stabilisers on them, I may even be able to convince the wife to use them.
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[quote=“kabbie”]If anything it seems to be suffering from over use. If the weather’s good my nearest stand (Nangang Expo) is full each morning as the commuters head east, then empty in the evening. We’ll see if it calms down a bit after the initial honeymoon period.[/quote]That’s a problem that unfortunately takes away a lot of the point of this being environmentally friendly. Here in Stockholm they use large trucks to haul all the bikes back to where people want to pick them up
So that means I need to have a backup station just in case my intended destination is full? It would be pretty ironic if I can’t find a parking spot at my intended station and have to resort to a backup station and then take a cab to get to my destination. :aiyo:
Finally rented one today. The bike was nearly brand new. It seems to be getting popular as I rented one of the last three bikes at the station in my neighborhood. While the seat height is adjustable, the handlebar is just too low (more suitable for people under 170 cm). The bells and whistles (literally) are nice. The light makes night riding safer, and the back brake is a disc brake. I only had a minor problem when I returned the bike; you have to insert the bike’s lock plate into a slot. But you need to insert it in a slight angle for it to catch. Only then will the blue light begin to flash and the easy card can be swiped. All in all, a nice ride. Hope they add more bikes and set up more stations around the city.
sounds cool!
Went for another ride yesterday. What came as a shock was when I got to my destination, there were at least 7 or 8 people standing around the station waiting for the next available bike. As soon as I swiped my card, the bike was snatched up by the person that happened to be standing closest to the parking spot I picked. Yes, ubiking is definitely catching on.
Found a nifty little feature on their website. If you log in to your account, you’ll find a record of all of your transactions, complete with the place and time (down to the second) you rented and returned the bike. So you can try to set and break your own record as you go from point A to point B. When I first started renting it last month, it took me 24 minutes to go from Bade Rd to NTU. My best time now is 18 min.
Hope they could match the wonderful system in place in Paris…
This scheme has been around for years folks, as has one in Kaoshiung. Guess they have expanded the Taipei one finally.
Yep. Around forever but from what people are saying it is finally being expanded so it forms an actual useful network.
11 pm the other night and two unfortunate young Taiwanese guys at Hongshulin MRT discovered that no, they couldn’t take their Youbike on the MRT on a weekday. It’s a long ride back to the nearest youbike rental place.
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The lights on the bikes seem to become defective easily. Lately I’ve had two bikes without working lights. I thought I could avoid the problem by lifting up the back wheel and spinning the pedals to see if the light would come on while the bike is still locked in place, but that didn’t seem to work. 