7 ms·

- Quick battery swapping - No maintenance or upgrade cost - Low upfront cost - Low commitment

asdff 5y ago
Still cheaper to own. Maintenance with ebikes is not going to be very much. Throw lube on the chain every once in a while and have the bike shop do tires and brakes once every two years. Honestly you could buy a brand new $1200 ebike a year for the prices the services around me ask for their most basic plans which have mileage limits, and require a deposit anyhow. You can also turn around and sell your new ebike anytime, not much lock in or commitment there whereas I'm putting my blind faith in the fact that this particular subscription service will be easy to cancel (history says otherwise).
- thebean11 5y ago
  Where is "around you"? The economics in India might be a lot different (ie relatively more expensive scooters, cheaper labor)
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    You can buy an ebike for 1,000 or less. You can pay 99/month for typical ebike monthly rental.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - asdff 5y ago
    Socal, we have zoomo which is $20/wk.
- ceeplusplus 5y ago
  You're not getting a high quality ebike for $1200. I had a $600 e-scooter (Segway ES4) and by the time I hit 500+ miles on it the screws were falling off, the external battery connection was corroding, and the bottom floorboard light connection had broken. I just checked and the Ninebot Max is $949 on Segway's website and that's got a smaller battery than most ebikes. And I'd be willing to be that that scooter would also break down just like mine.
- bduerst 5y ago
  >Still cheaper to own. Bay Wheels is $159/year and about $2.00 a ride, meaning you would need to ride 520 times that year before it became cheaper to own. Also for regular bikes it's free each ride. That's ignoring that decent e-bikes are more expensive than $1200, the stress of having to lug around and securely park your property, the depreciation of the batteries, as well as any insurance & deductible costs you'll encounter for when (not if) it gets stolen. It's hands down better to be able to hop-on and -off wherever you want with an ebike than to deal with owning one in SF.
  - asdff 5y ago
    That sounds like a better model than zoomo around me honestly.
  - arcticbull 5y ago
    I think Bay Wheels is quite a bit more than that if you want e-bikes. [1] Looks like its $159 per year, so $13.25 per month. Then, your rides are $0.20 per minute for the first 45 minutes, $0.40 per minute thereafter, and an additional $2.00 fee for not parking at a station - stations which aren't always conveniently located. I own an e-bike now that I ride longer distances - that a Bay Wheels bike won't make anyways but I don't consider that a fair comparison. Based on my old commute from the Mission to downtown 5x weekly: - 1.5mi/12 minutes each way. $0 base + $2.40 assuming optimality. - Hub on one side, no hub on the other, average $2.00 extra there, $0 extra back. - Monthly fee assuming 40 rides per month is $0.33. So for this commute alone we're talking $7.46 per day, $149 per month or $1788 per year. Add on a few grocery runs, grabbing drinks with friends, lunch runs, not wanting to park at a hub when you're in a rush, and we're probably in the low-to-mid $2000 per year price range if you really buy into it. A VanMoof X3 is $2448 (or $88 per month) [2] It would pay itself off in like 14 months, or you can save 37% on the monthly payment vs Bay Wheels. Now you have something with almost a 100 mile range, a much better ride, that you can park anywhere. If it gets stolen, they'll also send out a team to pick it up via its onboard GPS, and fix it up for you. My point isn't that you should or shouldn't get a VanMoof X3, it's just that the pricing isn't exactly a slam dunk in favor of Bay Wheels. [1] https://www.lyft.com/bikes/bay-wheels/pricing https://www.lyft.com/bikes/bay-wheels/pricing [2] https://www.vanmoof.com/en-US/x3?color=dark https://www.vanmoof.com/en-US/x3?color=dark

Still cheaper to own. Maintenance with ebikes is not going to be very much. Throw lube on the chain every once in a while and have the bike shop do tires and brakes once every two years. Honestly you could buy a brand new $1200 ebike a year for the prices the services around me ask for their most basic plans which have mileage limits, and require a deposit anyhow. You can also turn around and sell your new ebike anytime, not much lock in or commitment there whereas I'm putting my blind faith in the fact that this particular subscription service will be easy to cancel (history says otherwise).

thebean11 5y ago
Where is "around you"? The economics in India might be a lot different (ie relatively more expensive scooters, cheaper labor)
- ipaddr 5y ago
  You can buy an ebike for 1,000 or less. You can pay 99/month for typical ebike monthly rental.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- asdff 5y ago
  Socal, we have zoomo which is $20/wk.
ceeplusplus 5y ago
You're not getting a high quality ebike for $1200. I had a $600 e-scooter (Segway ES4) and by the time I hit 500+ miles on it the screws were falling off, the external battery connection was corroding, and the bottom floorboard light connection had broken. I just checked and the Ninebot Max is $949 on Segway's website and that's got a smaller battery than most ebikes. And I'd be willing to be that that scooter would also break down just like mine.
bduerst 5y ago
>Still cheaper to own. Bay Wheels is $159/year and about $2.00 a ride, meaning you would need to ride 520 times that year before it became cheaper to own. Also for regular bikes it's free each ride. That's ignoring that decent e-bikes are more expensive than $1200, the stress of having to lug around and securely park your property, the depreciation of the batteries, as well as any insurance & deductible costs you'll encounter for when (not if) it gets stolen. It's hands down better to be able to hop-on and -off wherever you want with an ebike than to deal with owning one in SF.
- asdff 5y ago
  That sounds like a better model than zoomo around me honestly.
- arcticbull 5y ago
  I think Bay Wheels is quite a bit more than that if you want e-bikes. [1] Looks like its $159 per year, so $13.25 per month. Then, your rides are $0.20 per minute for the first 45 minutes, $0.40 per minute thereafter, and an additional $2.00 fee for not parking at a station - stations which aren't always conveniently located. I own an e-bike now that I ride longer distances - that a Bay Wheels bike won't make anyways but I don't consider that a fair comparison. Based on my old commute from the Mission to downtown 5x weekly: - 1.5mi/12 minutes each way. $0 base + $2.40 assuming optimality. - Hub on one side, no hub on the other, average $2.00 extra there, $0 extra back. - Monthly fee assuming 40 rides per month is $0.33. So for this commute alone we're talking $7.46 per day, $149 per month or $1788 per year. Add on a few grocery runs, grabbing drinks with friends, lunch runs, not wanting to park at a hub when you're in a rush, and we're probably in the low-to-mid $2000 per year price range if you really buy into it. A VanMoof X3 is $2448 (or $88 per month) [2] It would pay itself off in like 14 months, or you can save 37% on the monthly payment vs Bay Wheels. Now you have something with almost a 100 mile range, a much better ride, that you can park anywhere. If it gets stolen, they'll also send out a team to pick it up via its onboard GPS, and fix it up for you. My point isn't that you should or shouldn't get a VanMoof X3, it's just that the pricing isn't exactly a slam dunk in favor of Bay Wheels. [1] https://www.lyft.com/bikes/bay-wheels/pricing https://www.lyft.com/bikes/bay-wheels/pricing [2] https://www.vanmoof.com/en-US/x3?color=dark https://www.vanmoof.com/en-US/x3?color=dark