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Hello HN! I'm Euwyn, one of the co-founders of Spin (also, 2x YC alum). We're excited about bringing the dock-less bikeshare model to our home city of SF. I've
by newy 10y ago
Hello HN! I'm Euwyn, one of the co-founders of Spin (also, 2x YC alum). We're excited about bringing the dock-less bikeshare model to our home city of SF.
I've lived in SOMA for years, and have always wanted to bike around, except: (a) it was always a hassle to deal with a bike after going around town, because I would inevitably end up Uber-ing somewhere after my first stop and (b) my bikes would get stolen :(
Would love to hear any questions you guys had about the business, and look forward to you guys riding our bikes soon.
ps. If you want to follow along or have any questions about Spin or startups in general, I'm 'euwyn' on Whale and Snapchat.
- MK999 10y agoSay a bike does get stolen, then you'd need to contact the police, but maybe the police are busy and don't actually care, that's the pain point that I see, maybe its a baseless concern.
- icebraining 10y agoAs far as I know, it's far from a baseless concern. Paris, for example, lost 9000 bikes just in a year. Relying on the police seems folly, they probably just have to make a good estimate and price-in the replacements into their business model.
- stevenrace 10y agoWhat are you using for for networking/on board computing? The article mentions 2G is used in China - however here in the US such services are being depricated [1]. [1] https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/wireless/KM1084805 https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/wireless/KM10848...
- dko 10y agoHey stevenrace, I'm Derrick, one of the co-founders of Spin. Given our roots in the US, we're building our bikes for the local market, and use different tech than the Chinese companies, for example, FCC-compliant devices or networks that are available in the US (3G and newer).
- openfuture 10y agoThis is a completely empty statement. Since you are one of the co-founders you should be able to spend at least some effort on answering the actual question or explain why you would chose not to do so.
- putsteadywere 10y agoI love my local bikeshare and dock-less would be a huge improvement. I've never noticed theft, and while there was some initial vandalism it never impacted our experience. My local program allows us to check out 4 bikes at a time, per account. Last summer, my partner and I would check out 8 bikes and go out on the town with friends. The ability to share my bikeshare with my friends allows me to ride a lot more - it sucks to be in the mood to go for a ride and be hanging out with people who don't have bikes.
- dko 10y agoThanks for the support! Making biking more accessible for everyone is one of our goals with Spin. Where are you based, and what's your local program? PS. This is Derrick, one of the co-founders of Spin :D
- putsteadywere 10y agoPortland Oregon's "Niketown" program
- cturitzin 10y agoHow do you deal with bike rebalancing?
- dko 10y agoWe've a few tricks up our sleeves here to make it effective and affordable for us.
- jackcarter 10y agoDynamic pricing to incentivize trips that bring bikes back to high-demand origin points?
- _rpd 10y agoThis is key, otherwise a bike being available at the right time just becomes too rare. Also, getting sign-off & GPS to work reliably in urban environments - it is super frustrating paying by the minute and being unable to stop the clock - or being directed to a bike location and finding nothing there.
- gthtjtkt 10y ago> (b) my bikes would get stolen This is why I don't ride a bike in Philadelphia. I don't know anyone here who rides a bike and hasn't had it stolen at least once. The only way to guarantee your bike isn't stolen is to bring it inside, which isn't an option at most workplaces. And even if it was an option it's a huge hassle.
- stdbrouw 10y agoAlternatively, buy a cheaper bike. Most folks in Belgium and the Netherlands use bikes that are 50-100 euro, so if your bike gets stolen every couple of years it's not that big of a deal.
- 234dd57d2c8db 10y agoStolen once a year is unrealistic in Philidelphia. Also then you just ride a crappy bike around the whole time. Hardly a solution imo.
- mikekchar 10y agoWhen I was working in London, I was always worried about having my bike stolen if I rode to work. Just before I moved back to Japan I started doing the math. My train fare was 18 GBP per day to go a grand total of 30 km each way (22 km as the crow flies). 18 GBP * 5 = 90 GBP per week. As long as I got my bike stolen less than once a month, I could have had a reasonably decent commuter bike and still come out ahead :-P By the time I realised it, I wasn't in good enough shape to ride 60 km a day and I was just about to leave anyway.
- closeparen 10y agoEven at 20mph, that's nearly 2 hours a day. What an insane amount of commute time.
- gideonparanoid 10y agoIt can be enjoyable though. You'll save time in other areas too - will be more awake, won't need to do cardio exercise at the gym etc.