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I would love to introduce this to my country, Germany. I think in large cities it might work well, especially for the last meters after public transport, but al

I would love to introduce this to my country, Germany. I think in large cities it might work well, especially for the last meters after public transport, but also in university towns. We already have rentable bikes, but Ofo and Mobike proved that you don't have to have overengineered docking stations and complicated locks. If you let people just leave the bikes where they want, it works surprisingly well. Problems are: - I have no capital, and you'd need a high investment upfront. Even the simplest bike is not going to cost less than 200-300 €, and those are not the most durable. Also, in Germany you require light. However, I think Ofo has proven that you do not need GPS or electronic locks (initially), and you don't need docking stations. - Germans sometimes hate new things. It is my gut feeling that I'd get a lot of resistance. Especially after the first accident, or the first bike gets thrown into a river. One problem is that in Beijing, apparently there is an Ofo graveyard. I haven't seen it myself, but broken Ofo bikes are piling meters high. You just need one bad competitor who creates a mess, and the whole idea is in danger. But: - As a renter, you are not obliged to get insurance for the riders AFAIK. - Bike infrastructure is good already. - It should be possible to make a sustainable business, but you'd have to reach a certain scale.

sveme 9y ago
Don't you have Callabike in your city? It's exactly the same concept, the lock isn't complicated and it all works like a charm. Use the app to find one, ride to wherever you want to, leave it there and log out. Then there's Nextbike, which I haven't used yet but works similarly and stuff from local public transportation companies like MVG Rad in Munich which has stations but allows you to leave the bike also in a certain area. How does Mobike provide more than these offerings?
- captainmuon 9y ago
  Yes, but in my town you can only pick them up at the train station and have to bring them back there. In larger cities there are more stations, or in some places you can leave them anywhere, but I've never been to a place where they were abundant. From what I've heard, Munich is a particularly good place. The difference to the chinese bikes is: - The chinese bikes are dirt simple. They sometimes have reliability-oriented features like special tires, otherwise they are just commodity bikes with a lock, painted colorful. Call a bike in contrast is really overengineered, with custom frame and everything. (OK, this is more of an advantage for the company than for the user.) - There are no stations. This is the big difference. Where ever I can walk, I can ride faster. I never look for a bike, I just grab one when I find it. - The bicyles are absolutely abundant. Even at a small subway station in beijing, there are at least 50 of each brand. Contrast it with Hamburg, where in the city center, 2 stops away from the central station, you find a sad docking station with eight empty places. Maybe this is only possible due to "chinese scale", I don't know.
rorykoehler 9y ago
I doubt the bikes cost more than €50/bike.
- captainmuon 9y ago
  At scale - maybe. If I go to a manufacurer and say "Hi, I'm a startup, I'd like to buy 100 bikes", they say sure and point me to their regular catalog.

sveme 9y ago

Don't you have Callabike in your city? It's exactly the same concept, the lock isn't complicated and it all works like a charm. Use the app to find one, ride to wherever you want to, leave it there and log out. Then there's Nextbike, which I haven't used yet but works similarly and stuff from local public transportation companies like MVG Rad in Munich which has stations but allows you to leave the bike also in a certain area. How does Mobike provide more than these offerings?

captainmuon 9y ago
Yes, but in my town you can only pick them up at the train station and have to bring them back there. In larger cities there are more stations, or in some places you can leave them anywhere, but I've never been to a place where they were abundant. From what I've heard, Munich is a particularly good place. The difference to the chinese bikes is: - The chinese bikes are dirt simple. They sometimes have reliability-oriented features like special tires, otherwise they are just commodity bikes with a lock, painted colorful. Call a bike in contrast is really overengineered, with custom frame and everything. (OK, this is more of an advantage for the company than for the user.) - There are no stations. This is the big difference. Where ever I can walk, I can ride faster. I never look for a bike, I just grab one when I find it. - The bicyles are absolutely abundant. Even at a small subway station in beijing, there are at least 50 of each brand. Contrast it with Hamburg, where in the city center, 2 stops away from the central station, you find a sad docking station with eight empty places. Maybe this is only possible due to "chinese scale", I don't know.

rorykoehler 9y ago

I doubt the bikes cost more than €50/bike.

captainmuon 9y ago
At scale - maybe. If I go to a manufacurer and say "Hi, I'm a startup, I'd like to buy 100 bikes", they say sure and point me to their regular catalog.