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the entire bicycle manufacturing industry is being wiped out thanks to Mobike and its competitor ofo (each has about 50% of market share). one of them ordered 5

the entire bicycle manufacturing industry is being wiped out thanks to Mobike and its competitor ofo (each has about 50% of market share). one of them ordered 5 million bikes a couple months back, according to the files submitted to the Chinese regulator, the manufacturer building those bikes are making less than 1.5 USD per bike - you don't need to be smart to imagine the conditions faced by those workers actually building the bikes. bike shops around the country are being shutdown as people no longer buy/upgrade/repair their own bikes, they rent one for 6 USD cent each ride. you see less fun/cool/stupid/crappy bikes on street, they all look the same now. do they reduce emission? well, rather than walking to the metro stations to catch metro people now ride a mobike/ofo to catch the metro, I don't see any reduced cars on street. There is no stats to back the reduced emission story at all - otherwise you'd be seeing them pointing to those figures jumping up and down on daily basis. do they make cities better? well, see photos below, remember - they don't clean up their mess, they just deploy their tens of millions cheap bikes onto your streets. http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170327/3e5e188412ef46ca892d20f57d6a7ab3_th.jpeg http://img.mp.itc.cn/upload/20170327/3e5e188412ef46ca892d20f... http://s2.imbiker.cn/201705/22/b25b38ba8cda6df9c686657044f4813d.jpeg http://s2.imbiker.cn/201705/22/b25b38ba8cda6df9c686657044f48...

skbohra123 9y ago
Why are you so outraged by their success?
- dis-sys 9y ago
  success? you mean successfully polluted my city with millions of un-managed bikes causing chaos everywhere? or maybe I should just blindly support it just because it is mobile internet based? http://cdn1.powerapple.com/upload/news/article_attachments/file/2017107/1492400632_702691.jpg http://cdn1.powerapple.com/upload/news/article_attachments/f...
  - Al-Khwarizmi 9y ago
    The problems you point out seem rather easily solvable. And anyway, I'd rather pollute my city with more metal lying around if it would mean breathing less carcinogenic smoke every day.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
rahimnathwani 9y ago
"the entire bicycle manufacturing industry is being wiped out thanks to Mobike and its competitor ofo" If fewer bicycles are being produced due to higher usage per bike, that's good for the environment, right? Even if reduces the size of the bicycle manufacturing market. "manufacturer building those bikes are making less than 1.5 USD per bike - you don't need to be smart to imagine the conditions faced by those workers actually building the bikes." I don't see how the profit made my bicycle manufacturers affects worker conditions. These are determined by the overall labour market, as these workers aren't bicycle specialists. "I don't see any reduced cars on street." The effect would have to be huge in order for you to be able to notice it. (I'm assuming you didn't actually collect data.) "do they make cities better?" Yes. The subway journey from my place to work is unacceptably long, due to the long walk at one end. Mobike has solved that problem. Three-wheeler electric tuktuks riding the wrong way down the service lane are less prevalent now, too, which is a bonus.
- dis-sys 9y ago
  "If fewer bicycles are being produced due to higher usage per bike, that's good for the environment, right?" The manufacturers are being hit hard because their profit margin is squeezed to the absolute limit. 8 RMB or less than 1.5 USD is the profit you get for building and shipping a bike. With this in mind, do you seriously believe that they are going to maintain the same level of control to limit pollution when making those bikes? Well, your room for environmental protection is now at less than 1.5 USD each bike, that is assuming the manufacturer is willing to give up _ALL_ profit to battle pollution caused during production. "Yes. The subway journey from my place to work is unacceptably long, due to the long walk at one end. Mobike has solved that problem. Three-wheeler electric tuktuks riding the wrong way down the service lane are less prevalent now, too, which is a bonus." Great, would you like to share a few photos on how the metro station look like during peak hours? let's focus on those mobike/ofo pollution outside the station. I have a few for you: http://www.52qixiang.com/uploads/allimg/170421/1-1F4211AU9.jpg http://www.52qixiang.com/uploads/allimg/170421/1-1F4211AU9.j... http://p3.pstatp.com/origin/1b7a00067dfae9a90762 http://p3.pstatp.com/origin/1b7a00067dfae9a90762
  - rahimnathwani 9y ago
teknologist 9y ago
The real issue is that there's no recycling strategy and these companies don't know what to do with worn/broken bikes, seemingly choosing instead to throw them all on a big pile. http://oi63.tinypic.com/e19s7t.jpg http://oi63.tinypic.com/e19s7t.jpg
- dis-sys 9y ago
  recycling is just a small part of the story. all those bikes are basically un-managed. that is actually the core strategy to minimise operational costs. the real question that need to be asked here is - if I need to pay for parking my car on street, how can those two multi billion business[1] enjoy such privilege to park their 10 million revenue generating bikes on streets for free. https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/15/mobike-raises-600-million/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/15/mobike-raises-600-million/
ttflee 9y ago
> I don't see any reduced cars on street https://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=zh-CN&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://www.zhihu.com/question/56407490 https://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=zh-CN&ie=UTF8&p... Quote from the link above: Gaode map traffic data show that driving users within 5 km of travel accounted for more than 30%, travel accounted for the largest proportion. From the shared bicycle travel mileage data, more than 90% of the shared bicycle travel scene concentrated in less than 5 km, which shows a short distance travel, sharing the bike instead of driving a large potential. Compared with the first quarter of last year, first-tier cities driving users within 5 km of short-distance travel accounted for has been reduced and relatively obvious decline in Beijing, driving within 5 km by 3.8%, Shanghai 3.2% reduction, this phenomenon may be associated with the emergence of shared bicycles A short distance driving trip.
- dis-sys 9y ago
  This is _not_ conclusive at all, there are way too many questions to be asked - 1. did those reduced mileage caused by more carpooling, improved public transport, e.g. Shanghai route 71[1]? or maybe people just choose to walk more often due to the slightly improved air quality in 2017? 2. Baidu map is on a head on competition with AutoNavi (gaode), Baidu claimed to have overtaken AutoNavi as the No.1 in 2016. With such claimed shrinking market share from AutoNavi's side, a 3% figure which is probably smaller than the error margin allowed, together with the fact that AutoNavi's parent company actively invested in such bike sharing scheme, you need to really religious about mobike/ofo to consider such claimed "reduction" meaningful. [1] https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E5%85%AC%E4%BA%A471%E8%B7%AF#/media/File:Shanghai_Bus_Route_71_Buses_at_Huashan_Road_Station.jpg https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E5%85%AC%E4...
captainmuon 9y ago
> the manufacturer building those bikes are making less than 1.5 USD per bike That sounds like stupidity on side of the bicycle manufacturers. I've heard anecdotally the opposite, that the new ride sharing schemes have revitalized the bicycle industry. I was in Beijing 4 years ago, and all of the famous bicycles were gone. The bicycle lanes were used for cars. Now they cleared the lanes again, and people are riding. I'm not sure the current details are sustainable, but the idea in general has potential to be a game changer.
schuke 9y ago
It definitely reduced my frequency in driving to work. I had to walk for 30 mins on my way to work, so I preferred driving. Now it's reduced by 2/3--a ten minute bike ride. Instead of being caught in the traffic with a full bladder, I now get more exercise and get to read books on the train, even though it's packed and sweaty. I don't think my use scenario is particularly special.
netheril96 9y ago
Why do the bicycle companies make less when Mobike and OFO dramatically increase the demand for them?
Bakary 9y ago
The bicycle industry is the least of the workers' worries. Automation will be a bloodbath. I'm reminded of that factory which "shed" 90% of its workforce a year ago.

skbohra123 9y ago

Why are you so outraged by their success?

dis-sys 9y ago
success? you mean successfully polluted my city with millions of un-managed bikes causing chaos everywhere? or maybe I should just blindly support it just because it is mobile internet based? http://cdn1.powerapple.com/upload/news/article_attachments/file/2017107/1492400632_702691.jpg http://cdn1.powerapple.com/upload/news/article_attachments/f...
- Al-Khwarizmi 9y ago
  The problems you point out seem rather easily solvable. And anyway, I'd rather pollute my city with more metal lying around if it would mean breathing less carcinogenic smoke every day.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

rahimnathwani 9y ago

"the entire bicycle manufacturing industry is being wiped out thanks to Mobike and its competitor ofo" If fewer bicycles are being produced due to higher usage per bike, that's good for the environment, right? Even if reduces the size of the bicycle manufacturing market. "manufacturer building those bikes are making less than 1.5 USD per bike - you don't need to be smart to imagine the conditions faced by those workers actually building the bikes." I don't see how the profit made my bicycle manufacturers affects worker conditions. These are determined by the overall labour market, as these workers aren't bicycle specialists. "I don't see any reduced cars on street." The effect would have to be huge in order for you to be able to notice it. (I'm assuming you didn't actually collect data.) "do they make cities better?" Yes. The subway journey from my place to work is unacceptably long, due to the long walk at one end. Mobike has solved that problem. Three-wheeler electric tuktuks riding the wrong way down the service lane are less prevalent now, too, which is a bonus.

dis-sys 9y ago
"If fewer bicycles are being produced due to higher usage per bike, that's good for the environment, right?" The manufacturers are being hit hard because their profit margin is squeezed to the absolute limit. 8 RMB or less than 1.5 USD is the profit you get for building and shipping a bike. With this in mind, do you seriously believe that they are going to maintain the same level of control to limit pollution when making those bikes? Well, your room for environmental protection is now at less than 1.5 USD each bike, that is assuming the manufacturer is willing to give up _ALL_ profit to battle pollution caused during production. "Yes. The subway journey from my place to work is unacceptably long, due to the long walk at one end. Mobike has solved that problem. Three-wheeler electric tuktuks riding the wrong way down the service lane are less prevalent now, too, which is a bonus." Great, would you like to share a few photos on how the metro station look like during peak hours? let's focus on those mobike/ofo pollution outside the station. I have a few for you: http://www.52qixiang.com/uploads/allimg/170421/1-1F4211AU9.jpg http://www.52qixiang.com/uploads/allimg/170421/1-1F4211AU9.j... http://p3.pstatp.com/origin/1b7a00067dfae9a90762 http://p3.pstatp.com/origin/1b7a00067dfae9a90762
- rahimnathwani 9y ago

teknologist 9y ago

The real issue is that there's no recycling strategy and these companies don't know what to do with worn/broken bikes, seemingly choosing instead to throw them all on a big pile. http://oi63.tinypic.com/e19s7t.jpg http://oi63.tinypic.com/e19s7t.jpg

dis-sys 9y ago
recycling is just a small part of the story. all those bikes are basically un-managed. that is actually the core strategy to minimise operational costs. the real question that need to be asked here is - if I need to pay for parking my car on street, how can those two multi billion business[1] enjoy such privilege to park their 10 million revenue generating bikes on streets for free. https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/15/mobike-raises-600-million/ https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/15/mobike-raises-600-million/

ttflee 9y ago

> I don't see any reduced cars on street https://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=zh-CN&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https://www.zhihu.com/question/56407490 https://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=zh-CN&ie=UTF8&p... Quote from the link above: Gaode map traffic data show that driving users within 5 km of travel accounted for more than 30%, travel accounted for the largest proportion. From the shared bicycle travel mileage data, more than 90% of the shared bicycle travel scene concentrated in less than 5 km, which shows a short distance travel, sharing the bike instead of driving a large potential. Compared with the first quarter of last year, first-tier cities driving users within 5 km of short-distance travel accounted for has been reduced and relatively obvious decline in Beijing, driving within 5 km by 3.8%, Shanghai 3.2% reduction, this phenomenon may be associated with the emergence of shared bicycles A short distance driving trip.

dis-sys 9y ago
This is _not_ conclusive at all, there are way too many questions to be asked - 1. did those reduced mileage caused by more carpooling, improved public transport, e.g. Shanghai route 71[1]? or maybe people just choose to walk more often due to the slightly improved air quality in 2017? 2. Baidu map is on a head on competition with AutoNavi (gaode), Baidu claimed to have overtaken AutoNavi as the No.1 in 2016. With such claimed shrinking market share from AutoNavi's side, a 3% figure which is probably smaller than the error margin allowed, together with the fact that AutoNavi's parent company actively invested in such bike sharing scheme, you need to really religious about mobike/ofo to consider such claimed "reduction" meaningful. [1] https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E5%85%AC%E4%BA%A471%E8%B7%AF#/media/File:Shanghai_Bus_Route_71_Buses_at_Huashan_Road_Station.jpg https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E5%85%AC%E4...

captainmuon 9y ago

> the manufacturer building those bikes are making less than 1.5 USD per bike That sounds like stupidity on side of the bicycle manufacturers. I've heard anecdotally the opposite, that the new ride sharing schemes have revitalized the bicycle industry. I was in Beijing 4 years ago, and all of the famous bicycles were gone. The bicycle lanes were used for cars. Now they cleared the lanes again, and people are riding. I'm not sure the current details are sustainable, but the idea in general has potential to be a game changer.

schuke 9y ago

It definitely reduced my frequency in driving to work. I had to walk for 30 mins on my way to work, so I preferred driving. Now it's reduced by 2/3--a ten minute bike ride. Instead of being caught in the traffic with a full bladder, I now get more exercise and get to read books on the train, even though it's packed and sweaty. I don't think my use scenario is particularly special.

netheril96 9y ago

Why do the bicycle companies make less when Mobike and OFO dramatically increase the demand for them?

Bakary 9y ago

The bicycle industry is the least of the workers' worries. Automation will be a bloodbath. I'm reminded of that factory which "shed" 90% of its workforce a year ago.