Everything you wanted to know about the YouBike

Recreation Cycling
401

I rarely use youbike 1.0’s anymore because the stations are fewer, so it has been a pain in the ass to return them sometimes. But i have to say they are more comfortable, lighter and quicker to rent than youbike 2.0. I don’t like youbike 2.0, sorry.

Anyone else take great pleasure in ringing the bell for people to GTFO of the bike lanes? They always look annoyed about it, even though they chose not to move when they saw me coming. I wish i had a car horn for the bastard cars who stop over the bike lanes.

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402

I like 1.0 better than 2.0.

2.0 with the seat all the way up makes me lean forward in this odd uncomfortable angle it’s not good on the lower back.

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403

Youbike 2.0 is slooooooooooow to rent and slooooooooooooow to return. Talk about progress. They ride better though, I find. Some people just jump any direction when you ring the bell, so you have to be careful about ringing when you are too close. Other people don’t move no matter what.

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404

This is quite interesting, isn’t it? There’s little awareness here of passing on the left, walk more slowly on the right . . . everyone just does their own thing.

Compare this to Japan, where it’s understood that one walks on the left and one passes on the right. In contrast to the free-for-all in Taiwan, there is little room there for misunderstanding as people (other than tourists) know “the rules.”

Guy

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405

I had someone who didn’t want to move last week. I gave them 2 rings and they got the point.

@afterspivak Its a cultural quirk alright. The lack of anticipation is what gets me, they can literally see me in front coming towards them in the bike lane. What do they think is going to happen? teleportation? move!

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406

Unlike the bell on the 1.0 which you have to click with your thumb, the bell on the 2.0 is very easy to trigger, especially if you hold the handlebar close to the center. I rang it inadvertently more than a few times and got some dirty looks from pedestrians.

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407

My first week here I said the same thing. Just walking down the street those first days I noticed it that walking on the right doesn’t seem to be much of a thing. And when heading towards someone and one or both of you needs to move, they often go left. Annoying.

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408

[Feel free to move this to whichever appropriate YouBike thread]

My nearly 8-year problem with YouBike has been resolved! I’ve written about the situation in the past, but I want to record it here for posterity:

Jan. 2015: I rented a YouBike in Taipei. After a couple of hours, I returned the bike to a station near Da’an Park. The station gave me an error message, but the code number wasn’t readable (my two friends with me couldn’t make it out either). I tried to remove the bike to re-return it, but it was locked in place.

We were rushed for time to get to a party, so I figured everything would be ok since the bike was locked (my mistake for not calling YouBike, I admit).

Next Day: I get a call from YouBike informing me that the bike “was not returned.” I explain what happened and gave them the station and even the exact slot number where I returned the bike. They called back later saying they sent someone to check but the bike wasn’t there. They told me it didn’t show up in their system.

I asked what to do and they instructed me to make a police report and send it to them. I assumed that was that. However, within a month after sending YouBike the police report, I get a letter saying that my account has been locked out until I pay 9000NT.

Despite my protests, I couldn’t use an Easy Card anymore to rent bikes. I refused to pay the 9000 and started using a credit card instead to rent bikes (I still really love the system).

2018: My foreign friend is moving back home and gives me his Easy Card that is registered to You Bike. Much easier.

2021: I notice that the YouBike website has a list of missing bikes. I check and my bike isn’t on the list. However, when I check my account it’s still locked out. I don’t bother trying to deal with it because my friend’s card is working just fine.

Sept. 2022: My friend’s Easy Card finally cracks and is unusable. It’s back to the credit card.

Oct. 2022: I tell this story to one of my students who immediately wants to take action. She calls for me and speaks to a few people. They tell her:

  1. They never received the police report (I did, in fact, send it).

  2. They actually found the bike one month after my initial report,
    just sitting in their maintenance station!

When my friend asks why they didn’t inform me/release my account, they say they tried phoning me but I didn’t answer . This is totally possible because I sometimes don’t answer from unknown numbers, especially when I’m busy.

When I had her ask why they didn’t follow up with an email or postal letter (they had both addresses because they communicated by both originally), they had no answer.

So, in the end, I just had to fax the police report again then go to the service center here in Taoyuan where they unlocked my account.

“Mistakes were made” on both sides, admittedly, but my ordeal is finally over and I can freely use the great YouBike system once again :grin: :bike:

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409

How did you know the serial number of the bike that “disappeared”?

410

When the error message popped up and I couldn’t re-return the bike, I snapped a photo of the bike number and the station number, just in case something came up later. I’m really glad that I did, and since then I’ve always taken a pic of whatever YouBike or GoShare that I rent.

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411

Smart move!

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412

The fact that you have to swipe out despite the bike being in the machine and returned and locked is the biggest weakness and the biggest cause of headaches.

It should be smarter to know that it is safely locked in the machine.

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413

I haven’t used the new 2.0 system. Does anyone know if the card swiping process is the same?

414

I used it once with @GooseEgg but i have forgotten how it works

415

Yes, it’s the same.
But you swipe the card on the bike itself, not the dock

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416

First off, congrats on getting this resolved! That’s awesome news.

As you may know, the 2.0 docking stations do not rely on underground cables; all communication is through the cloud. So yes, if you elect to use a card (there’s another QR code option I’ve never used), it’s basically the same, although for the first step you need to specify that you indeed want to use a card, and the cloud system looks (at least to me) potentially more wonky, though it makes the docking stations way easier for the YouBike guys to set up, extend, or dismantle when needed.

Using 2.0 is (usually) a treat. You’ll love it when you visit places such as Kaohsiung.

EDIT: Plus what @RickRoll said. :slightly_smiling_face:

Guy

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417

:banana:

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418

More stories like this plzkthxbye.

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419

Lesson learned:

  1. Befriend proactive people
  2. Answer your phone (Download the Whoscall app if you want to screen calls but don’t want to miss important ones)
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420

And I guess it works fairly well in Taiwan?

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