Lyft's bike share e-bike woes

[fiamme red]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/17/tech/...hes/index.html

..But e-bike experts tell CNN Business the design of Lyft's bicycles make them more vulnerable to riders flying over the handlebars as the bikes tip forward.

Experts say the weight of a vehicle, be it a car or bicycle, should be centralized and as low as possible to prevent roll-over risks. Lyft's e-bikes have a motor in the front wheel and the battery sits on top of the down tube, the part of the bike frame that connects the wheels. This added weight shifts the bike's center of gravity forward and higher, increasing the risk that the bike will flip forward, these experts say.

Most e-bike manufacturers don't place the motor in the front wheel, according to Jonathan Weinert, a spokesman for Bosch, which says it supplies e-bike systems to 70 bike brands.

"It's been proven in the bicycling industry to be a bad idea," he said...

I'm not sorry to see them go. I've been passed by these "pedal-assist" Citi Bikes at 18 mph on a slight incline. Surely it can't be a good idea to have these bikes mix with 8 mph Citi Bikers in segregated lanes.

[jtakeda]

If there was a way to upload video here I have a video of a Ford Go Bike spontaneously combusting last week.

While I'm happy to promote alternative transportation these flaming hunks of mess gotta go.

I find it hilarious that Uber and Lyft starting these bike share and scooter share companies as a way to address the growing traffic concerns....Let us not forget that the traffic is largely due to uber and lyft

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by jtakeda

I find it hilarious that Uber and Lyft starting these bike share and scooter share companies as a way to address the growing traffic concerns....Let us not forget that the traffic is largely due to uber and lyft

Wait, Uber and Lyft aren't in bike share because of altruistic reasons?

Interesting information on John Allen's blog:

http://john-s-allen.com/blog/?p=7743

Citi Bike (New York City’s bike share system), also other bike share systems and the Lyft ride-share company, are recalling hundreds of electrically-assisted bicycles as of April 16, 2019, see this blog post. The brakes shown in the photo here are recognizable as Shimano Rollerbrakes, which rely on internal grease lubrication for normal performance.

These are drum brakes but the brake shoe-brake drum interface is bathed in grease like that of a coaster brake. If the grease dries out or burns off, friction increases and the brake easily locks up. Details about Rollerbrakes: https://sheldonbrown.com/rollerbrakes.html. A rental bicycle left outdoors and untended could develop this problem and as a rental bicycle has multiple users, a user is not aware of the problem’s increasing over time. The description as “touchy,” however, is nontechnical and may also describe brakes that would work for someone who knows how to use them. The problem is then in marketing bicycling as child’s play to, in the commonly used expression, people of all ages and abilities – as these are adult-size bicycles, to adults who learned everything they know about bicycling in kindergarten, by companies which turn a blind eye to that problem or are naively unaware of it. In that case, it is the marketing plan which is to recall, not the bicycles. But what I expect to be done instead is to weaken the front brake, and then crashes will occur instead due to the inability to slow or stop in as short a distance.

Here is a comment in the sheldonbrown.com article from mechanic Jeff Bertolet:

The life cycle of a brake goes something like this: add small amount of grease (pea size amount) in addition to factory grease when installing a new brake. After some months, the grease is washed away by rain. The brake is now dry and has poor or nonexistent modulation which locks the wheel with the slightest pressure on the lever. A normal consumer would regrease the brake immediately at this point, but our bikes [bike-share fleet bikes] can go a few weeks between being checked by staff. If it is being ridden dry for weeks, the drum and/or shoes are damaged beyond repair. Regreasing at this point can bring the brake modulation back to normal levels temporarily, but the brake will lose all stopping power within a few weeks or months depending on how much it is ridden.

Shimano says that this isn't the fault of their brakes: https://www.bicycleretailer.com/indu...9#.XLfhx-hKi70.