4 ms·

Here is what you mean when you say a scooter: https://www.limebike.com/hubfs/Assets/bike-s-2.jpg?t=1530481285543 https://www.limebike.com/hubfs/Assets/bike-s-2

Here is what you mean when you say a scooter: https://www.limebike.com/hubfs/Assets/bike-s-2.jpg?t=1530481285543 https://www.limebike.com/hubfs/Assets/bike-s-2.jpg?t=1530481... Here is what much of the world thinks is a scooter: https://emmy-sharing.de/wp-content/uploads/Schwalbe_45-links.jpg https://emmy-sharing.de/wp-content/uploads/Schwalbe_45-links... Just to clear that up. If it was between those two I'd take the latter given that hitting a pothole on that Lime thing is liable to stop all forward momentum suddenly and precariously. But really I'd want the electric bike. Though I think the unstated single most important selling point for the Lime scooter over the electric bike is that you don't need to deal with the homicidal, low awareness, little education American driver and the abhorrent infrastructure (and policies) that enable them.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> hitting a pothole on that Lime thing is liable to stop all forward momentum suddenly and precariously Didn't think of this. Makes sense why they're doing well on the West Coast but not yet rolling out on New York's ice-torn streets.
- ebikelaw 8y ago
  Oakland, California has some of the worst streets in America, and getting worse. There are Limes and Birds on every corner of downtown.
  - electricslpnsld 8y ago
    I live near Downtown Oakland and have yet to see one of these Scooters on the road -- so far the primary use case in Oakland seems to be teenagers blasting around Lake Merritt on the weekends.
    - ebikelaw 8y ago
      There were 6 on each corner of Broadway & Grand at 7am today.
      - ebikelaw 8y ago
        According to the Lime app, there are at least 50 Lime-S scooters within 1km of the corner of Broadway and Telegraph right now. There are 9 outside 12th St BART alone.
- workinfunk 8y ago
  I don't think that's the reason. Huge swaths of midtown, particularly, have near perfect pavement.
neom 8y ago
Not sure if you've seen Scoot, but they have all the versions of a "scooter"! :) https://scoot.co/ https://scoot.co/
master-litty 8y ago
The latter bit seems unnecessary.
seagull 8y ago
> Though I think the unstated single most important selling point for the Lime scooter over the electric bike is that you don't need to deal with the homicidal, low awareness, little education American driver and the abhorrent infrastructure (and policies) that enable them. How so? Both Lime scooters and electric bikes are supposed to be ridden in bike lanes on the road, although enforcement can be hit-or-miss.
johnm1019 8y ago
> Though I think the unstated single most important selling point for the Lime scooter over the electric bike is that you don't need to deal with the homicidal, low awareness, little education American driver and the abhorrent infrastructure (and policies) that enable them. Except you do some places. In San Francisco it is illegal to ride an e-scooter on the sidewalk. You are supposed to ride in the bicycle lanes.
- aventrix 8y ago
  In San Diego, it is legal to ride on the sidewalk, but pedestrians have the right away. I believe this stems from the city's desire to be bike friendly with their inability/unwillingness to fund proper and adequate bike lanes.
workinfunk 8y ago
Ok, I know we like to dump on Americans with impunity, and I'm not even going to get into whether it's deserved or not, but have you driven in much of the rest of the world?
Symbiote 8y ago
When necessary, they're called "kick scooters" and "motor scooters". There are electric versions of both. Probably half the younger children round here have a normal kick scooter. They can "walk" with their parents much further without getting tired.
sctb 8y ago
Nationalistic swipes are intellectually boring and perturbative—a bad combination. Please resist the temptation and stick with just the substantive content instead. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> hitting a pothole on that Lime thing is liable to stop all forward momentum suddenly and precariously Didn't think of this. Makes sense why they're doing well on the West Coast but not yet rolling out on New York's ice-torn streets.

ebikelaw 8y ago
Oakland, California has some of the worst streets in America, and getting worse. There are Limes and Birds on every corner of downtown.
- electricslpnsld 8y ago
  I live near Downtown Oakland and have yet to see one of these Scooters on the road -- so far the primary use case in Oakland seems to be teenagers blasting around Lake Merritt on the weekends.
  - ebikelaw 8y ago
    There were 6 on each corner of Broadway & Grand at 7am today.
    - ebikelaw 8y ago
      According to the Lime app, there are at least 50 Lime-S scooters within 1km of the corner of Broadway and Telegraph right now. There are 9 outside 12th St BART alone.
workinfunk 8y ago
I don't think that's the reason. Huge swaths of midtown, particularly, have near perfect pavement.

neom 8y ago

Not sure if you've seen Scoot, but they have all the versions of a "scooter"! :) https://scoot.co/ https://scoot.co/

master-litty 8y ago

The latter bit seems unnecessary.

seagull 8y ago

> Though I think the unstated single most important selling point for the Lime scooter over the electric bike is that you don't need to deal with the homicidal, low awareness, little education American driver and the abhorrent infrastructure (and policies) that enable them. How so? Both Lime scooters and electric bikes are supposed to be ridden in bike lanes on the road, although enforcement can be hit-or-miss.

johnm1019 8y ago

> Though I think the unstated single most important selling point for the Lime scooter over the electric bike is that you don't need to deal with the homicidal, low awareness, little education American driver and the abhorrent infrastructure (and policies) that enable them. Except you do some places. In San Francisco it is illegal to ride an e-scooter on the sidewalk. You are supposed to ride in the bicycle lanes.

aventrix 8y ago
In San Diego, it is legal to ride on the sidewalk, but pedestrians have the right away. I believe this stems from the city's desire to be bike friendly with their inability/unwillingness to fund proper and adequate bike lanes.

workinfunk 8y ago

Ok, I know we like to dump on Americans with impunity, and I'm not even going to get into whether it's deserved or not, but have you driven in much of the rest of the world?

Symbiote 8y ago

When necessary, they're called "kick scooters" and "motor scooters". There are electric versions of both. Probably half the younger children round here have a normal kick scooter. They can "walk" with their parents much further without getting tired.

sctb 8y ago

Nationalistic swipes are intellectually boring and perturbative—a bad combination. Please resist the temptation and stick with just the substantive content instead. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html