So, they have the new Ubike station system up in Gongguan for trial … but the bikes don’t fit in the old system. So, you need to get back to Gongguan to park it.
That’s just… 
It better be a free to the public for 30m trial… that’s just stupid.
Wish I could say I was surprised…
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The original plan for the “new” YouBikes indicated there would be no station, just a parking area outlined on pavements, sounded exactly like all the other stationless bike rental schemes that failed in recent years.
It does make sense to increase the density at physical stations, the current ones are extremely wasteful of space. It doesn’t make sense that there are workmen installing a gen 1 station near my office right now if it’s likely to be replaced with a gen 2 in the very near future.
Here is a picture of what appears to be one of the new docking stations. Not sure the density is much better than before considering they still have be far enough apart so the handle bars don’t collide.
If the solar is on the bike and the bikes are out than how get it powered? The bikes must have a battery too which makes them heavier.
Probably a solar panel on both.
I hope they can somehow solve the issue I encounter commonly which is the app shows only a few bikes remaining and I go there to find the seat backwards indicating a flat tire. It would be great if the new system can track broken bikes so they don’t show as available. Would also help maintenance crews know where broken bikes are.
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Perhaps they don’t need to be powered? The locking mechanism could be on the bike side.
I often wonder what their process is to determine why the seat has been placed backwards. For example, I got a bike that kept slipping out of gear. I put the seat backwards when I returned it, but do they actually test ride them or just visually inspect them? I wish there was a way to send a message detailing the problem, à la GoShare.
Well I just grossed myself out. Rode the bike for about an hour. Then ate tacos with my hands and forgot to wash them before eating.
I don’t really see the advantage over the existing bikes, soo much complexity put on the bike for little value, looks big bulky and clunky to me.
More info and photos here, sorry (?) in German:
The comment is that testing starts today in Gongguan, the new bikes need less space due to integrating the easy card reader into the bike.
As an engineer dealing with electronics I do think it’s cool, but not sure if it’s worth all the problems you create by moving a stationary technology into a mobile platform.
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It would be helpful if it told you that your free 30 minute is about to be up…
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But more helpful to YouBike finances if they don’t.
Interesting, where is the 30min info from? I’m sure there’s better articles than the German language Taiwan PR that I linked ^^
The advantage is not in the bikes but the stations. They don’t need underground wiring anymore and all the tech is on the bike itself, which means the station is very simple and could be made redundant in the future. You could setup temporary stations for festivals, etc.
30 free minute is only if you have all pass ticket, but it’s literally 30 minutes at a time. Meaning I can ride the bike, park it, go to another station and get another 30 minutes free. So as you can see knowing how many minutes I have left is very helpful.
Making the station redundant would turn it into the mess of obike etc. I don’t think they would do that. The docks are good because they ensure there is a fixed location you can find a bike day after day.
Sure eliminating underground wiring is good. The whole thing must be solar powered though, so why can’t the bulk of the electronics stay on the dock but be solar powered.